Spring 2011: FMH Emergency Services - Frederick Memorial Hospital

Paramedic and Frederick County Battalion Chief David Chisholm with Bridget
Plummer, RN (far left) and George and Bettie Delaplaine of The Delaplaine Foundation.
E
very moment following a heart attack is critical, because the earlier a patient can be treated, the more heart muscle can
be saved. And outcomes improve even more when heart attack patients are taken to hospitals like FMH that offer
emergency cardiac catheterization and angioplasty programs.
And here’s even better news. Now, thanks to a grant from the Delaplaine Foundation, patients suffering heart attacks are getting
treatment even faster with the help of a system called LifeNet.
LifeNet is a system that transmits a patient’s electrocardiogram, or EKG, from the ambulance to the FMH Emergency Department. If
doctors determine from the EKG that the patient is an angioplasty candidate, they can immediately page the FMH Interventional
Cardiology and Catheterization teams, reducing wait time once the patient arrives.
According to Interventional Cardiologist Dr. Stephen Williams, the recommended “door-to-balloon time,” or the time between arrival
in the ED and the inflation of a balloon in the coronary artery of the heart, should not exceed 90 minutes. At FMH, door to balloon
times are closer to 60 minutes, which is far better than the national average and the fastest average time in the state of Maryland.
“LifeNet allows us to activate our heart teams earlier, shaving precious minutes off the time it takes to open a blocked coronary
artery,” said FMH Medical Director of Interventional Cardiology, Dr. David Brill, FACC, FSCAI. “The ability of this technology to
help save heart muscle can’t be overestimated.”
When Daniel Videtto, 59, felt some discomfort in
his chest last February, he initially attributed it to a
pulled muscle. But when the pain and pressure got steadily
worse, Danny knew there was something far more dangerous
going on. Minutes after Danny’s wife, Linda, called 9-1-1,
EMTs from the Damascus Volunteer Fire Department Station
13 arrived at the couple’s home.
As soon as Danny was settled in the ambulance, he was
connected to LifeNet, which sent his EKG electronically to
Dr. Karen Pheasant in the FMH Emergency Department.
When Dr. Pheasant determined that Danny needed an
angioplasty, Dr. David Brill and the interventional cardiology
team were ready and waiting when he arrived in the ED.
“Literally minutes after I was brought into the Emergency
Room, I was being taken into surgery,” said Videtto. “I don’t
recall any waiting at all.”
LifeNet
When It’s A Race
Against Time
Living Proof: Danny’s Story
A catheter with a balloon on the end was threaded through a
blood vessel to the blockage, where a balloon was inflated,
widening the inside of Danny’s artery and restoring blood flow.
A small mesh tube called a stent was then put in the artery to
help keep it open. In just over an hour, Danny was recovering
in his hospital room.
“I owe my life to my wife’s quick thinking, the EMTs,
LifeNet and everyone at Frederick Memorial Hospital,”
says Danny Videtto. “If I had to rate the nurses and the
doctors at FMH between 1-100, I’d give them 110. They
were just exceptional.”
“Thanks to all of them, the future looks bright. I’m making
some changes in my lifestyle, and I’m feeling great.”
WellAware | Spring 2011 | page 5