Regional "Call 911" Emergency Department Protocol to Reduce Interfacility Transfer Delay for Patients With ST-Segment-Elevation Myocardial Infarction

Safety and Adverse Events During Primary Care Paramedic Interfacility Transfer of Stable STEMI Patients

OBJECTIVE

Current guidelines recommend that patients presenting with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) to hospitals not capable of performing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) be transferred to a PCI-capable hospital if reperfusion can be accomplished within 120 min. Most STEMI patients are accompanied by an advanced care paramedic (ACP, equivalent to EMT-P), nurse, or physician who can manage complications should they arise. In our region, stable STEMI patients are transported by primary care paramedics (PCPs, similar scope of practice to advanced EMT) in cases where a nurse, physician, or ACP paramedic is not available. Our goal was to describe adverse events and need for advanced interventions among initially stable STEMI patients during interfacility transfer by PCPs.

METHODS

We reviewed ambulance and hospital records of initially stable STEMI patients (as determined by first set of vital signs documented by paramedics) transferred to a PCI-capable hospital by PCPs between March 1, 2014, and December 31, 2019. We identified whether pre-determined adverse clinical events occurred during the transport as well as the potential need for advanced care interventions not within the PCP scope of practice. Adverse events upon arrival in the PCI lab were also identified.

RESULTS

Of 346 STEMI patients transferred, 179 met inclusion criteria. The mean age of included patients was 61 years (SD 12.1) and 74.9% (134/179) were male. Median transport interval was 36 min (IQR 3.0). During transport, 47/179 (26.0%) patients experienced pre-defined adverse events; for 16/47 (34%), one or more adverse events was major. Three patients met criteria for ACP interventions. One patient suffered a cardiac arrest and was promptly resuscitated with defibrillation by the PCPs.

CONCLUSIONS

We found PCP-interfacility transport of initially stable STEMI patients was safe and associated with a moderate proportion of adverse events, the majority of which did not require an advanced care intervention. These findings may help decision-making to avoid delays transferring stable patients to PCI-capable centers.

Characterization of prehospital time delay in primary percutaneous coronary intervention for acute myocardial infarction: analysis of geographical infrastructure-dependent and -independent components

BACKGROUND

Prehospital delay in reaching a percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) facility is a major problem preventing early coronary reperfusion in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). The aim of this study was to identify modifiable factors that contribute to the interval from symptom onset to arrival at a PCI-capable center with a focus on geographical infrastructure-dependent and -independent factors.

METHODS

We analyzed data from 603 STEMI patients who received primary PCI within 12 h of symptom onset in the Hokkaido Acute Coronary Care Survey. We defined onset-to-door time (ODT) as the interval from the onset of symptoms to arrival at the PCI facility and we defined door-to-balloon time (DBT) as the interval from arrival at the PCI facility to PCI. We analyzed the characteristics and factors of each time interval by type of transportation to PCI facilities. In addition, we used geographical information system software to calculate the minimum prehospital system time (min-PST), which represents the time required to reach a PCI facility based on geographical factors. We then subtracted min-PST from ODT to find the estimated delay-in-arrival-to-door (eDAD), which represents the time required to reach a PCI facility independent of geographical factors. We investigated the factors related to the prolongation of eDAD.

RESULTS

DBT (median [IQR]: 63 [44, 90] min) was shorter than ODT (median [IQR]: 104 [56, 204] min) regardless of the type of transportation. However, ODT was more than 120 min in 44% of the patients. The min-PST (median [IQR]: 3.7 [2.2, 12.0] min) varied widely among patients, with a maximum of 156 min. Prolongation of eDAD (median [IQR]: 89.1 [49, 180] min) was associated with older age, absence of a witness, onset at night, no emergency medical services (EMS) call, and transfer via a non-PCI facility. If eDAD was zero, ODT was projected to be less than 120 min in more than 90% of the patients.

CONCLUSIONS

The contribution of geographical infrastructure-dependent time in prehospital delay was substantially smaller than that of geographical infrastructure-independent time. Intervention to shorten eDAD by focusing on factors such as older age, absence of a witness, onset at night, no EMS call, and transfer via a non-PCI facility appears to be an important strategy for reducing ODT in STEMI patients. Additionally, eDAD may be useful for evaluating the quality of STEMI patient transport in areas with different geographical conditions.

Emergency Interhospital Transfer of Patients With ST-Segment-Elevation Myocardial Infarction: Call 9-1-1-The American Heart Association Mission: Lifeline Program

The American Heart Association Mission: Lifeline program objectives are to improve the quality of care and outcomes for patients with ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction. Every minute of delay in treatment adversely affects 1-year mortality. Transfer of patients safely and timely to hospitals with primary percutaneous coronary intervention capability is needed to improve outcomes. But treatment times continue to show delays, especially during interhospital transfers. A simple 3-step process of an interhospital "Call 9-1-1" protocol may expedite this process. This STAT TRANSFER process uses a systems approach that considers diverse ways in which patients access care, how EMS responds and determines destinations, how referring hospital transfers are performed, urban and rural differences, and how receiving hospitals prepare for an incoming patient with ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction. This initiative suggests a strategy to reduce variability in interhospital transfer times using a STAT TRANSFER and a Call 9-1-1 process in a system of care that involves all stakeholders.

Reduction in Interfacility Transfer Response Time after Implementation of an AutoLaunch Protocol

Background: Interfacility transfers (IFTs) are an essential component of healthcare systems to allow movement of patients between facilities. It is essential to limit any delays in patients receiving the care they require at the receiving facility. The primary objective of this study was to assess whether IFT response time was reduced after implementation of an AutoLaunch protocol, in which an ambulance is dispatched to the sending facility prior to acceptance of the patient by the receiving facility. The secondary objective was to describe the frequency and amount of time ambulances had to stage outside the sending facility in situations where the ambulance arrived prior to the patient being accepted by the receiving facility. Methods: This was a retrospective pre-post analysis of patients undergoing IFT for services not available at the sending facility between October 1, 2018 and September 30, 2019, with the AutoLaunch protocol being implemented on March 25, 2019. IFT response time was defined as the time the transfer request was initially made to the time the ambulance arrived at the sending facility. Dispatch call logs and transport records were analyzed before and after implementation of the AutoLaunch protocol to assess for a difference in IFT response time as well as frequency and amount of time ambulances had to stage. Results: Of 1,881 IFTs analyzed, 885 (47.0%) were completed under the traditional protocol and 996 (53.0%) were completed under the AutoLaunch protocol. The median IFT response time under the traditional protocol was 27.5 minutes (interquartile range (IQR): 17.9, 43.3), compared with 19.9 minutes (IQR: 12.8, 28.2) under the AutoLaunch protocol (p < 0.01), representing a 27.6% reduction in response time, or 7.6 minutes saved. Of the 996 AutoLaunch transfers, there were 215 incidents (21.6%) in which the IFT ambulance had to stage, and the median staging time was 10.1 minutes (IQR: 4.9, 24.2). Conclusions: Implementation of our AutoLaunch protocol resulted in a significant reduction in ambulance response time for interfacility transfers. Further studies are needed to assess whether the reduction in response time is associated with improved patient outcomes for certain conditions.

Social media communication shorten door-to-balloon time in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction

Primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) is the preferred treatment method for ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Many efforts had been made to reduce door-to-balloon (DTB) time in patients with STEMI. The objective of this study is to demonstrate how intrahospital social media communication reduced DTB times in STEMI patients requiring an interhospital transfer.We retrospectively enrolled patients with STEMI who had been transferred from other hospitals during 2016 and 2017. Patients were divided into 2 groups. The previewed group had an electrocardiogram (ECG) done at the first hospital that was previewed by the cardiologist via social media. The control group was treated using the conventional clinical approach. We compared DTB time and outcome between 2 groups.The 2 groups shared some similar clinical characteristics. However, the previewed group had significantly shorter DTB times than the control group (n = 51, DTB 52.61 ± 42.20 vs n = 89, DTB time 78.40 ± 50.64, P = .003). The time elapsed between ECG and the call to the laboratory decreased most apparently in the previewed group (-11.24 ± 48.81 vs 16.96 ± 33.08, P < .001). The previewed group also tended to have less in-hospital major adverse cardiovascular events (P = .091).When the patients with STEMI required transfer to the PCI-capable hospital, using social media to preview ECG reduced DTB time, mainly because the cardiologists activated the catheter laboratories much earlier, sometimes even before the patients arrived at the PCI-capable hospital.