A WEST Midlands Ambulance Service study is researching if heart attacks can be identified earlier to prevent deaths across the UK.
In the UK there are nearly 200,000 hospital visits each year due to heart attacks, the equivalent of one every three minutes.
Around seven out of 10 heart attacks were fatal in the 1960s, however advances in treatment mean that today at least seven out of 10 people survive.
Data already shows that in about a third of cases, when a patient is having a heart attack, they haven’t had an ECG done by the ambulance crew.
This is because the patient didn’t show any of the classic signs – chest pain or pain in the arm, neck, and jaw, or feelings of sickness, light-headedness or shortness of breath.
And earlier studies show this is more common in older people and particularly women.
Research Paramedic Josh Miller, said: “This study will look to see if there are other atypical signs that ambulance staff should be looking out for.
“This is important because if an ECG was done on these patients they would get the specialist treatment they need more quickly, which might result in the crew bypassing the local hospital and going straight to a specialist centre, meaning more patients will survive.
“In this study we will be looking back at the medical records where we know the patient had had a heart attack to look at whether an ECG was done by the ambulance crew, and if not, if there is an indication as to why they didn’t do one.
“We will also hold focus groups with paramedics to understand better their decision making processes on whether to do an ECG.”
The research being carried out by West Midlands Ambulance Service and two other ambulance services is being funded by the British Heart Foundation.
