Loyola University Medical Center, in Maywood, is aiming to save time -- and lives -- by being the first Illinois hospital to have a rapid-response team for heart attacks in the hospital 24 hours a day.
It's proven that heart attack victims who get an angioplasty within 90 minutes of arriving at the hospital are much less likely to die, so, starting next month, the Maywood hospital will have a rotating team of cardiologists, nurses and technicians on hand at all times, with the goal of performing emergency angioplasties within an hour of a patient's arrival.
"The cardiologist is in-house, can meet the patient at the door and go right into surgery," said Dr. Mark Cichon, Loyola's director of emergency medical services.
Copyright CHIST - SunTimes
