IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v11y2014i2p2346-2360d33254.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Pre-Hospital ECG E-Transmission for Patients with Suspected Myocardial Infarction in the Highlands of Scotland

Author

Listed:
  • Gordon F. Rushworth

    (Highland Clinical Research Facility, Centre for Health Science, Old Perth Road, Inverness IV2 3JH, UK)

  • Charlie Bloe

    (Cardiac Unit, Raigmore Hospital, Old Perth Road, Inverness IV2 3UJ, UK)

  • H. Lesley Diack

    (School of Pharmacy and Life Sciences, Robert Gordon University, Riverside East, Garthdee Road, Aberdeen AB10 7GJ, UK)

  • Rachel Reilly

    (School of Pharmacy and Life Sciences, Robert Gordon University, Riverside East, Garthdee Road, Aberdeen AB10 7GJ, UK)

  • Calum Murray

    (School of Pharmacy and Life Sciences, Robert Gordon University, Riverside East, Garthdee Road, Aberdeen AB10 7GJ, UK)

  • Derek Stewart

    (School of Pharmacy and Life Sciences, Robert Gordon University, Riverside East, Garthdee Road, Aberdeen AB10 7GJ, UK)

  • Stephen J. Leslie

    (Cardiac Unit, Raigmore Hospital, Old Perth Road, Inverness IV2 3UJ, UK
    Highland Campus, Centre for Health Science, University of Stirling, Old Perth Road, Inverness IV2 3UJ, UK)

Abstract

Patients with ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) require prompt treatment, best done by primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI). However, for patients unable to receive PPCI, immediate pre-hospital thrombolysis (PHT) is the best alternative. Evidence indicates that diagnostic and management support for staff increases the use of PHT. This study aimed to describe the patient demographics and management of patients, to determine any potential inter-area differences in referral rates to the ECG e-transmission service and to explore the views and experiences of key staff involved in ECG e-transmission within NHS Highland. Data from 2,025 patient episodes of ECG e-transmission identified a statistically significant geographical variation in ECG e-transmission and PHT delivery. Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) staff were more likely than GPs to deliver PHT overall, however, GPs were more likely to deliver in remote areas. Interviews with six Cardiac Care Unit (CCU) nurses and six SAS staff highlighted their positive views of ECG e-transmission, citing perceived benefits to patients and interprofessional relationships. Poor access to network signal was noted to be a barrier to engaging in the system. This study has demonstrated that a specialist triage service based on e-transmission of ECGs in patients with suspected STEMI can be implemented in a diverse geographical setting. Work is needed to ensure equity of the service for all patients.

Suggested Citation

  • Gordon F. Rushworth & Charlie Bloe & H. Lesley Diack & Rachel Reilly & Calum Murray & Derek Stewart & Stephen J. Leslie, 2014. "Pre-Hospital ECG E-Transmission for Patients with Suspected Myocardial Infarction in the Highlands of Scotland," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-15, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:11:y:2014:i:2:p:2346-2360:d:33254
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/11/2/2346/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/11/2/2346/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Chun-Liang Lee & Chung-Yuan Huang & Tzu-Chien Hsiao & Chun-Yen Wu & Yaw-Chung Chen & I.-Cheng Wang, 2014. "Impact of Vehicular Networks on Emergency Medical Services in Urban Areas," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-23, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:11:y:2014:i:2:p:2346-2360:d:33254. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.