Conway Regional Health System
Minutes matter during a heart attack
Door-to-balloon time is an important statistic when it comes to heart care.
This statistic measures the period of time from when a patient comes in contact with a health provider until a blocked artery is cleared. Heart care experts like Dr. Don Steely know that “time is heart muscle.” It is crucial to restore the flow of blood to the heart as quickly as possible.
“Not only does it affect that person’s life but also their quality of life,” said Steely, an interventional cardiologist at the Conway Regional Cardiovascular Clinic. He has more than 24 years of experience in heart care. “Every 30-minute delay in care increases the risk of death and heart failure by almost 30 percent,” he said.
During the first three months of 2017, the Conway Regional heart team averaged a 43-minute door-to-balloon time, said Scott Foley, Director of Cardiovascular Services. “Achieving such a high standard of care requires the consistently high performance of a team that includes cardiologists, the cardiac catheterization lab staff, the emergency department staff and the emergency medical services agencies, particularly MEMS [Metropolitan Emergency Medical Services].”
The American Heart Association recently honored Conway Regional with a bronze Mission: Lifeline Quality Achievement Award. The award recognizes hospitals for implementing specific quality improvement measures for the treatment of patients who suffer severe heart attacks. One of the major criteria in achieving the award is consistently averaging a door-to-balloon time that is less than 90 minutes.
Kenneth and Terri Rains can testify to the importance of immediate heart care. Kenneth worked for Conway Regional for 38 years before retiring as director of respiratory care, so he knew exactly where to go when experiencing symptoms of what became a major heart attack. After Terri drove him to the emergency room, Kenneth was diagnosed and quickly taken to the cardiac cath lab, where Steely discovered the severity of his heart condition and used an intraaortic balloon pump to stabilize Kenneth until cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Dennis Woodhall and the operating team could perform four bypasses to save his life. Woodhall has been performing open-heart surgery at Conway Regional for the past seven years.
Kenneth Rains’ door-to-balloon time was 51 minutes. After spending five days in the Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit, Rains began rehabilitation under the care of the cardiac rehab staff. He was able to return to his second career as a respiratory therapist at the Conway Human Development Center within three weeks.
“I can’t say enough about the whole team: the emergency department, Dr. Steely and his team, and Dr. Woodhall and his team, CVICU and Rehab,” Rains said. “I never saw it coming, and this is why it is so important to have people that you have faith in locally who can provide all the services that you need, including open-heart surgery. I don’t think I would have made it to Little Rock.”