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Media
Contact:
Denice Connell, Director of Marketing and Community Relations
319-339-3676 or e-mail: denice.connell@mercyic.org
New
software keeps Mercy one step ahead when heart attack strikes
May 1, 2010/Iowa
City, IA: You’ve seen it on TV. Even while an ambulance races
toward the ER with a heart attack patient, the crew is in contact
with the hospital, sharing vital information about the patient’s
condition.
Mercy is now using a new tool to increase its lifesaving capabilities.
Called LifeNet, it is software that allows Mercy’s ER to receive
12-lead EKG results transmitted wirelessly from the ambulance en
route. With LifeNet, physicians in the ER can interpret the EKG
results before the patient even arrives. If the cardiologist is
also en route, he or she can access the EKG results on a smartphone
or other portable device.
“This means faster, more efficient, more effective treatment
for heart attack patients,” said Dr. Stephen Scheckel, ECU
Medical Director. “When we talk about heart attack patients,
we say ‘time is heart muscle.’ So this system is significant
and potentially lifesaving.”
“LifeNet sets the wheels in motion even quicker for a heart
attack patient,” said Steve Spenler, Director, Johnson County
Ambulance Service. “It helps us give better care to the patients
we serve.”
Other regional ambulance services are working toward obtaining the
necessary new transmission equipment.
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