In The News

White Memorial's STEMI Receiving Center Reaches 29-Minute Door-to-Balloon Record

Martha Preciado, MD, (left) and Rainier Manzanilla, MD, (right) in the catheterization lab with a STEMI patient (not Sabino Gonzalez).

The lives of Sabino Gonzalez and his family changed forever on March 13, 2007. Soon after picking up his grandchildren from school, Gonzalez, 69, decided to finish cutting up a pine tree in the back yard of his home. A few minutes later, Gonzalez’ wife and grandson heard him cry for help. Gonzalez had collapsed, with sharp pains in his chest and his left arm.

Paramedics rushed Gonzalez to White Memorial, which is now a specialty center for the treatment of heart attacks (STEMI Receiving Center). Only 29 minutes after arriving in the emergency department, Gonzalez was in the hospital’s cardiac catheterization lab, undergoing a balloon angioplasty to open his two clogged arteries. This lightning-fast “door-to-balloon” time was undoubtedly one of the reasons Gonzalez feels like a new person today. This has been WMMC’s lowest time yet since the STEMI designation was implemented in March.

The American Heart Association and other key national healthcare organizations have determined that heart muscle damage can be reduced or even prevented if patients receive care to open blocked heart vessels within 90 minutes or less after arriving at the hospital.

“Every patient that we treat is different, but we work just as hard and efficiently with each one. It’s a race against the clock in making sure that we provide the patients with the best quality of care,” said Nenita Francisco, RN, manager of the Catheterization Lab.

Posted 5/5/07