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Saturday, July 20, 2013

State Issues New Protocols For Heart Attack Patients

A change in the way paramedics treat cardiac arrest patients could delay their arrival to the hospital, but could also increase their chances of survival.

New protocols released by the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems create two major practice changes for EMS providers. As of July 1, providers will first treat medical cardiac arrest patients on the scene rather than rushing them to a hospital.

They also now have the authority to declare a patient dead on the scene.

“The public expects that we swoop in, we scoop up the patient, and we swoop out,” said Alan Butsch, battalion chief for the EMS section of Montgomery County Fire & Rescue Service.

Now, EMS providers are required to perform “high-quality continuous CPR” for 15 minutes on the scene. If a patient regains cardiac activity during that time, then the patient would be taken to a hospital.

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4 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's scary. the last time I suffered a heart attack the ambulance arrived at hospital before EMT could get IV started. So now we have to sit in the yard for 15 minutes while he tries to hit the vain?

Anonymous said...

This only applied to Cardiac Arrest (no heart beat), not a heart attack. Therefore, no, you will not be on scene for 15 minutes trying to find a vein.

Anonymous said...

6:17.....Try reading the article, it talks about patients in cardiac arrest, about effective CPR & early defibrillation. Must you criticize those trying to save lives. READ THE ARTICLE, then you won't make stupid comments, such as you did.

Anonymous said...

Very, very bad title!!! The title is very mis leading because not all cardiac arrest are heart attacks and not all heart attacks turn into cardiac arrest