Powhatan wins $16,000 ambulance equipment
POSTED: May 21, 2008
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Also during the event, Wheeling Hospital donated a $16,000 monitor-defibrillator-pacemaker with 12-lead capability to the Powhatan Point Volunteer Fire for its emergency squad. The department’s name was randomly drawn among the squads attending.
EMS squads from the West Virginia Northern Panhandle and Eastern Ohio were invited to the free seminar, which included dinner. This is the hospital’s third such seminar in the past year with additional ones to be schedule for later this year.
“Over the past year, we’ve been on a mission to reduce local heart related deaths through an aggressive public education program. This includes providing the latest cardiac care training to our region’s paramedics and emergency medical technicians (EMTS),” said Dr. Angelo Georges, Wheeling Hospital chief medical officer.
Their work in the field helps us determine what actions needed taken when the patient arrives. That’s why it’s important that we’re on the same page with our area’s paramedics and EMTS.”
Dr. Robert Fanning, the seminar’s featured presenter, added, “EMS personnel play a vital role in assessing and treating patients before they arrive at the hospital. Since Wheeling Hospital is the only local facility able to open blocked coronary arteries causing chest pain and heart attacks, we strive to ensure we’re on the same page with EMS personnel as they treat heart attack patients in route to our ER.”
Over the past 10 years, Fanning, an interventional cardiologist, has performed nearly 2,000 angioplasties/stents in the catheterization lab to open blocked coronary arteries.
“Time is muscle and muscle is mortality. The longer you wait to open a blocked artery causing a heart attack, the more heart muscle is lost and the greater the chance of dying from that heart attack. The sooner a patient is stabilized by the EMS professionals and brought to us, the greater the chance of survivability,” remarked Fanning.
“Basically, the focus of my presentation included how to interpret EKG readings to determine myocardial infarction, showing correlated obstructed coronary arteries, explain how we quickly open arteries, what’s the best care for chest pain and what sets our cardiac services apart from other facilities.”
Kim Auten, RN, BSN, director of critical care and emergency services, added, “The ability of EMS personnel to recognize heart attacks, transmit the information to Wheeling Hospital and have the patient taken directly to our cardiac cath lab certainly will reduce mortality from heart disease.”
In addition to Georges, Fanning and Auten, other speakers included Wheeling Hospital’s Dr. Virgil Smaltz, emergency room director, and Dr. Edward Chiu, cardiologist.
