Emergency Cardiac Care
Ready to Assist at a Moment’s Notice
Many cardiovascular events are emergent by nature, which means that the emergency room is often the first point of contact our health system has with a patient in need of critical cardiac care. Because of this, the Emergency Department at Memorial uses the current best practices and protocols for getting these patients triaged and cared for as quickly as possible. Some of the iinitial cardiovascular services and practices utilized by the Emergency Department at Memorial include:
- Door-to-Balloon Time – The goal for patients in cardiac arrest is 90 minutes from the point of ER arrival to the point of having an interventional procedure performed.
- Defibrillation – In cases where a patient is in severe cardiac arrest, a defibrillator may be used to send electrical pulses to the heart to cause the heart muscle to contract and steady the heartbeat.
- Electrocardiogram (ECG) – Patients are tested for electrical activity of the heart for both the strength and rhythm of a patient’s heartbeat.
- Cardiac Enzyme Blood Testing – A blood test that checks for certain enzymes that indicate damage to the heart muscle from a heart attack may be administered.
- Cardiac Monitoring – Special cardiac monitoring devices consistently measure a patient’s vital signs and will immediately indicate any abnormality or change.
- Appropriate Referrals and Follow-Ups – Once the emergent cardiac issues are diagnosed, the patient may then referred to a specialist for follow up testing, treatment, procedure or surgery.
