New Cardiac Life Link at UAMS

The new system dubbed "CALL" or Cardiac Action Life Link could significantly reduce the time to treatment for a patient experiencing a heart attack by getting the data more quickly into the hands of the doctor who can decide the best treatment. Ibrahim Fahdi, M.D., a cardiologist and an assistant professor of internal medicine in the UAMS College of Medicine and a staff physician with CAVHS, worked with wireless provider Verizon Wireless and Metropolitan Emergency Medical Services (MEMS) to get the technology in place. MEMS ambulances in the Little Rock metropolitan area will be able to transmit ECG recordings to the cardiologist on call and to the emergency department at either UAMS Medical Center or the John L. McClellan Memorial Veterans Hospital. An ECG records the electric activity of the heart and can be used to identify the signs of a heart attack taking place. The cardiologist receives the ECG information via a handheld wireless device donated by Verizon Wireless. Verizon Wireless also provided transmission equipment and wireless phones for the ambulances. The physician can mobilize personnel and equipment before the patient arrives, even allowing the patient to bypass the emergency department and go directly to a catheterization laboratory for treatment of blockages to restore the blood flow to the heart. Heart experts say that heart attack patients benefit most when receiving treatment within 90 minutes from the time symptoms start. (Copyright 2006 Newsroom Solutions, LLC)