EMS Telemetry Program

About the Program

Category: Health (Best in Category)

Year: 2010

Through a coordinated effort with all four Lake and Sumter County, Florida hospitals and their physicians, the Lake-Sumter Emergency Medical Service agency (LSEMS) implemented a life saving telemetry program designed to transmit heart monitor data to attending physicians prior to hospital arrival. While 12-lead electrocardiograms (EKGs) have been a regular part of the pre-hospital assessment for many years, the idea of transmitting the EKGs directly to the emergency room physician, before arrival, is a new undertaking for LSEMS. The EMS Telemetry Program goal was to reduce the “door-to-balloon” time once a heart attack victim arrives at the receiving facility. National guidelines developed by the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association state that, “hospitals treating STEMI patients with emergency PCI should reliably achieve a door-to-balloon time of 90 minutes or less.” As a result of this program, they have received reports from hospital administrators of door-to-balloon time of less than nine minutes, 90% shorter than the guidelines. Additionally, LSEMS provides EMS coverage for Sumter County, Florida in a cooperative agreement so that citizens of both counties benefit from this life saving program.