The Dearborn Fire Department and Oakwood Healthcare System are using the latest technology to treat cardiac patients in as little as 40 minutes—less than half the national standard time.

And that’s good news for Dearborn residents because the faster a cardiac patient can receive treatment, the better his or her odds of making a full recovery—without long-term damage to the most important muscle in the human body.

Using Bluetooth technology, paramedic crews can transmit data directly to the cell phones of hospital physicians, who can analyze it wherever they are and respond accordingly. The information can be transmitted in as little as zero point-three (0.3) seconds, said Jeff Beutner, Dearborn Fire Department Battalion Chief, Emergency Medical Services.

“The hospital is looking at the same thing our paramedics are looking at,” he said. “In essence, we’ve not only brought the emergency room to the patient, we’ve also brought cardiology into the fold, too.”

Whether EMS is evaluating patients in their living room or in the ambulance, Beutner said, it’s like “we’ve got the emergency room physician and the cardiologist standing right behind us. It’s really having a huge impact on patient care.”

(more…)