American heart journal
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American heart journal · Apr 1992
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study Clinical TrialRelative importance of emergency medical system transport and the prehospital electrocardiogram on reducing hospital time delay to therapy for acute myocardial infarction: a preliminary report from the Cincinnati Heart Project.
Substantial time delays from symptom onset to diagnosis and treatment of patients with acute myocardial infarction have been demonstrated. To determine the relative importance of prehospital mode of patient transport and the relative impact of emergency medical system transport with or without a prehospital cellular electrocardiogram (ECG) on hospital time delays to initiation of thrombolytic therapy, four prospective parallel groups of patients with acute myocardial infarction were evaluated. ⋯ Specialized emergency medical system transport alone did not facilitate in-hospital initiation of thrombolytic therapy in patients with acute myocardial infarction when compared with those brought by local ambulance or by private automobile. A significant reduction in hospital time delay to treatment was observed only in patients transported by the emergency medical system who had cellular transmission of a prehospital 12-lead ECG from the field.