Doing the Right Thing, Every Time
Date: August 22, 2011

A few weeks ago, I had a lovely conversation with a friend’s mom, who was hospitalized for a heart attack. As she shared with me her experience from the time her chest pain began until she received intervention, I couldn’t help but do quality checks in my mind.

It was such a special conversation for me, as I realized how every step of her journey was a safe one, as our Floyd staff did the right thing, every time, from the EMS pick-up through emergency treatment and continuing on.

It All Began with Floyd Emergency Medical Services
Her story started something like this:
“I am feeling much better today. Would you believe those sweet boys that picked me up came and visited me today in the hospital?  I just couldn’t believe it! How nice of them, to follow up and check on me! Did you know I was having a heart attack on the way in here? I started having chest heaviness at home, so I sat down and rested a bit. Then, it got really bad. I called my daughter, and when she didn’t answer, I just called 911. Dr. Frank Stegall told me I was really smart to do that. Those boys must have known it was bad because they told the lady they were talking to on the phone something about an elevation and emergency traffic.”

I knew exactly what she was talking about. Her elevation meant that the 12-lead electrocardiogram the EMTs were running showed that she was having a heart attack, proof that Floyd’s decision to have this capability on our ambulances does save valuable minutes.

Treatment in Less than 90 Minutes
She told me that the EMTs kept the mood light to keep her from worrying, and that before she knew it, she was in the cardiac catheterization lab receiving a stent. I later learned that only 82 minutes passed from the time my friend’s mother entered the Emergency Care Center to the time she was in the lab receiving her stent.

I couldn’t help but marvel at how far we have come in the past few years. It wasn’t that long ago that we didn’t offer Interventional Cardiology. Now we provide that service plus cardiac rehab, and it’s a smooth process that includes instructions for medications and rehab by our Cardiology educators before our patients are discharged to the excellent hands of our rehab staff.

I also couldn’t help but reflect on the special people who make up Floyd: Clinically astute paramedics who know to go “emergency traffic” and care enough to come back and check on patients. ED staff who get patients to the Cardiac Catheterization Lab–stat, and a Catheterization Lab staff who have coronary vessels open in less than 90 minutes after a patient comes to our emergency room. I felt truly blessed to be a part of the Floyd team.

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