Cardiac Emergencies: Every Second Counts

Faster care for cardiac emergencies

An ambulance carrying a heart attack patient in Rotterdam transmits an EKG image to the Emergency Department (ED) at Ellis Hospital and to the cell phone of an on-call cardiologist. By the time the heart attack patient arrives, the cardiac team is waiting to treat the patient's blocked coronary artery. This is just one of the ways Ellis is rethinking cardiac protocols and streamlining procedures to improve response times and save lives.

Cardiac Fast Track program saves lives

Nearly half of all heart attack victims do not present classic symptoms, so early diagnosis and treatment is critical to save lives during cardiac emergencies. Ellis Medicine’s Cardiac Fast Track program and dedicated chest pain unit ensures that patients get prompt attention and appropriate treatment. Our experienced cardiac team can recognize and begin treating atypical symptoms before they do serious, irreversible damage to heart tissue. [more]

Door-to-balloon times that beat national goals

Ellis Hospital’s door-to-balloon time (the average time for a heart attack patient to get from the emergency room to the catheterization lab where we restore blood flow) averages about 30 minutes faster than the national benchmark, to provide potentially lifesaving treatments much sooner. Successes like our door-to-balloon times are important milestones in our ongoing commitment to innovation and procedural efficiencies that improve outcomes and quality of life for our patients.

New initiatives to improve heart attack outcomes

Ellis Medicine is continually researching and implementing innovative new protocols to improve patient outcomes. Hypothermic Therapy is one such process, used to rapidly lower the body temperature in order to prevent or reduce brain damage in a cardiac arrest patient. [more]

Get the cardiac care you need, close to home

During a heart attack, it’s important to get to the nearest hospital that can stabilize your condition and prevent more serious damage to heart tissue. Ellis is centrally located to serve Southern Saratoga, Western Albany and Schenectady Counties, as well as Fulton, Montgomery and Schoharie Counties in central New York. Because we can deliver top-quality care close to home, Ellis is a top choice for cardiac care.

For more information about Ellis Medicine’s Wright Heart Center or Emergency Care, please call 518.243.3333.