Chicago-based CommonSpirit’s Mercy Hospital in Durango, Colo., has implemented real-time EMS-to-hospital communication technology to streamline and enhance cardiovascular care.
The program utilizes a communication platform called Pulsara. The platform transmits patient data from EMS teams to Mercy Hospital emergency room physicians, enabling cardiac specialists to prepare for intervention as the patient is en route, according to a July 14 news release from the health system.
“Our goal is that it only takes 90 minutes from EMS’ first contact with the patient on scene to the time that a patient’s artery is unblocked, and so far we have met that goal with every patient we’ve seen since implementation of the technology,” Shelley Langenhorst, DNP, RN, Mercy Hospital’s cardiovascular program manager, said in the release. “When it comes to a heart attack, every minute matters, and especially in a rural community like ours.”
Mercy Hospital serves a catchment area encompassing the southwestern corner of Colorado, southeastern corner of Utah, northeastern corner of Arizona and northwestern corner of New Mexico.
The hospital and its EMS partners plan to expand the program to include other critical care areas in the future, the release said.
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