Los Angeles County Certified Regional Heart Attack Treatment Center

Cardiovascular disease is the number-one killer of Americans. A person experiencing a heart attack can benefit from access to a system of care that helps restore blood flow to the heart muscle as quickly as possible.

Lancaster Community Hospital is one of 33 STEMI Receiving Centers in Los Angeles County that have been certified by the American Heart Association (AHA). STEMI stands for ST-elevation myocardial infarction, the technical term for a heart attack. In order to be certified by the AHA as a STEMI Receiving Center, a cardiac catheterization lab must work toward the goal of providing treatment to a patient within 90 minutes after a cardiac event occurs.

A call to 9-1-1 prompts a response from paramedics trained to identify an acute heart attack "in the field." While in the field, emergency medical service technicians (EMT's) alert the cardiac team at a STEMI Receiving Center, like Lancaster Community Hospital. This collaboration between the EMS and emergency room teams helps save lives, every day.

"We are proud to be saving lives as part of the Los Angeles County STEMI Receiving Center System," says Robert Trautman, CEO of Lancaster Community Hospital. "We are proud of the personnel, who are dedicated to helping our community, and proud to be making a difference."

Stopping damage quickly
Sam Gadallah, MD, cardiologist and Medical Director of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory at LCH, underlines the importance of responding rapidly to heart attacks with the phrase: "Time is muscle ... heart muscle, that is. When it comes to treating heart attack patients, moving quickly is of the essence because damage to the heart begins as soon as the coronary artery is blocked."

Dr. Gadallah says cardiologists frequently save lives by quickly unblocking clogged coronary arteries. "Our goal is to stop damage by opening that artery as soon as possible," he explains. "Once a heart attack is suspected, the paramedics perform an EKG in the field. If it shows ‘heart attack,' the staff at the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory immediately are activated—with the goal of opening the patient's blocked artery (or arteries) within 90 minutes from the time the paramedics arrive at the scene."

Facilities fully equipped
Certified STEMI facilities are fully equipped to deliver emergency coronary care with maximum speed and efficiency. The term "ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction," the technical name for a heart attack, describes the EKG finding that confirms the presence of this emergency heart condition.

Cardiac teams informed promptly
"It's very comforting to know that when paramedics alert Lancaster Community Hospital's Emergency Department that they are transporting a heart attack patient, all four-member cardiac teams also get the call," says Wendi Westerfeld, RN, Administrative Director of the LCH Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory (cath lab).

"This certification means that patients who experience heart attacks in our area can be brought here for immediate evaluation and advanced treatment," she adds.

Ms. Westerfeld recalls a patient who recently suffered a heart attack and was treated at LCH. "We had a 43-year-old heart-attack patient brought into the cath lab, and we were able to meet the 90-minute standard for opening the blocked artery without delay," she says.

"By treating heart attacks as rapidly as possible, we can limit heart damage in patients to the absolute minimum."

To learn more about heart attack symptoms, please visit Cardiology/Heart Disease.