Page 13 - Christiana Care Focus August 2018

| Heart & Vascular Health
250,000+
Americans each year experience the deadliest type of heart attack caused by a blockage of blood flow to the heart.
Every year, more than 250,000 Americans experience an ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) — the deadliest type of heart attack — caused by a blockage
of blood flow to the heart that requires timely treatment. To prevent death, it’s critical to restore blood flow as quickly as possible by either mechanically opening the blocked vessel or by providing clot-busting medication.
According to Kirk N. Garratt, M.D., MSc., medical director of the Center for Heart & Vascular Health, “Between Wilmington Hos- pital, Middletown Emergency Department and Christiana Hospital, we manage more than 400 STEMI patients each year. This American Heart Association award shows that we’ve built a highly effective system of care for these very sick patients.”
The Mission: Lifeline pro- gram’s goal is to reduce system barriers to prompt treatment for heart attacks, beginning with the 9-1-1 call to EMS transport and continuing
jointly by the Emergency Department and Cardiology teams, has shortened the time to treatment for many heart attack victims, helping Christiana Care qualify for the Mission:Lifeline Gold Award.
“We’re confident that shaving 15 or 20 minutes off the time needed to stop a heart attack will let more people in our community survive and get back to productive living,” Dr. Garratt said.
The Mission: Lifeline initiative provides tools, training and other resources to support heart attack care following protocols from the most recent evidence-based treatment guidelines. Christiana Care met specific criteria and standards of performance for quick and appropriate treatment through emergency procedures to re-establish blood flow to blocked arteries in heart attack patients coming into the hospital directly or by transfer from another facility.
Delivering the right care for heart failure patients
Patients with heart failure can avoid hospitalizations, reduce the risk of other organ failure and gain years of life if they receive the right medications and make the right choices about what to eat and how to live. Recommended medicines and lifestyle choices are summarized in clinical guideline documents that doctors use to direct care.
The American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines — Heart Failure initiative recognizes doctors and hospitals that use these guidelines consistently.
The Christiana Care Heart Failure Program was awarded the 2018
AHA Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award for providing optimal care to heart failure patients consistently for over two years.
“Between Wilmington Hospital, Middletown Emergency Department and Christiana Hospital, we manage more than 400 STEMI patients each year. This American Heart Association award shows that we’ve built a highly effective system of care for these very sick patients.” Kirk N. Garratt, M.D., MSc.
through hospital treatment and discharge. Speed is essential in providing optimal care for a person suffering a heart attack. Typically, patients suspected of having heart attacks arrive by ambulance at the Emergency Department for evaluation be- fore they’re declared a heart attack patient. This evaluation can be done quickly, but it still requires time, often 15 or 20 minutes.
In2017, Christiana Hospital launched a “Direct To Lab”
“We’re really proud of this award because it reflects the hard work of so many members of our heart failure team,” said Sourin Banerji, M.D., medical director of the Christiana Care Heart Failure Program. “Adherence to these guidelines really does make a big difference in how well people cope with heart failure.” 
Sourin Banerji, M.D.
project that effectively skipped
this step. Select patients with convincing symptoms and specific
findings on their electrocardiograms (EKGs) make a very brief stop in the Emergency Department and are sent directly to the cardiac catheterization laboratory for care. This coordinated care plan, developed
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