Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Clinical Trial
Impact of community intervention to reduce patient delay time on use of reperfusion therapy for acute myocardial infarction: rapid early action for coronary treatment (REACT) trial. REACT Study Group.
Reperfusion therapy for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is a time-dependent intervention that can reduce infarct-related morbidity and mortality. Out-of-hospital patient delay from symptom onset until emergency department (ED) presentation may reduce the expected benefit of reperfusion therapy. ⋯ Community-wide educational efforts to enhance patient response to AMI symptoms may not translate into sustained changes in reperfusion practices. However, an increased odds for early reperfusion therapy use during the initiation of the intervention and the association of early therapy with ambulance use suggest that reperfusion therapy rates can be enhanced.