For Release:
Immediate (Tuesday, August 28, 2007)

Contact:
Collin Parker
Fletcher Allen Health Care
802-847-2886

Tom Middleton
Burlington Fire Department
802-864-6923

Saving Precious Minutes- Fletcher Allen Provides Mobile ECGs for Ambulances

BURLINGTON, VT – Each year, more than one million Americans have a heart attack.  For many of those people, the difference between life and death hinges on how quickly they are treated.

Through a generous donation from the Argosy Foundation and other private contributions, Fletcher Allen Health Care has teamed up with Vermont Emergency Medical Services (EMS) District 3 to provide mobile electrocardiogram (ECG) capability its ambulance services.  The addition of the ECG devices will mean doctors at Fletcher Allen will be able to save valuable time in treating heart attack patients.

“Through advances in technology, we are now able to send critical information from the ambulance to the Emergency Department,” said David Schneider, M.D., medical director of Cardiology at Fletcher Allen.  “Transmission of these ECGs will allow Fletcher Allen to prepare for patients suffering a heart attack.  This will save precious minutes that, in turn, will save lives.”

Burlington Fire Chief Michael O’Neil said, “This added technology will allow us to strengthen the teamwork between EMTs in the field and physicians at Fletcher Allen, to provide a better outcome for the patients.”  Burlington Fire received the first two ECG devices, scheduled to go into service in September.

An electrocardiogram device, or ECG, uses a series of electrode sensors to detect and record the heart’s electrical activity.  Physicians then use that information to quickly pinpoint the location of a patient’s heart trouble.  The installed devices are “12-lead”, which refers to the number of sensors used in the monitoring of heart activity.

This technology, available now for the first time in EMS District 3, will enable crews to transmit ECG readings via cell phone or radio while en route to the Emergency Department at Fletcher Allen.  Physicians will receive a printout of the patient’s heart activity, allowing them to activate Fletcher Allen’s cardiac catheterization team in advance of the patient’s arrival and providing a head start in preparing to treat the patient.

Vermont EMS District 3 includes all of Chittenden County and portions of Grand Isle, Addison, and Lamoille Counties.

In all, the program includes 16 mobile ECG devices.  Burlington Fire will have two, the other EMS services will have one, and two are used for training.

Distribution of ECG Devices in EMS District 3
Burlington Fire Department, 2 devices
Charlotte Rescue
Colchester Rescue
Essex Rescue
Grande Isle Rescue
Milton Rescue
Richmond Rescue
St. Michaels Rescue
Shelburne Rescue
South Burlington Fire Department
South Hero Rescue
UVM Rescue
Vergennes Area Rescue Squad
(plus 2 devices for training)

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