When EMS suspects a STEMI, the ED has to decide quickly whether to activate the cardiac cath lab. A false activation can cost as much as $7,000, especially after hours, when physicians, nurses and technical staff are called in. HCA Chippenham needed more accurate communication between EMS and its cardiologists, STEMI coordinators and ED directors to cut down on false alarms.

With GD’s e-Bridge Communication Platform, cardiologists now review the 12-lead ECG from the field in real time and make the call before the patient arrives.

“We are able to reduce false Cath lab activations by 40% using GD e-Bridge Communication Platform as part of our process.” – Ken Smith, Emergency Management

For STEMI patients, time is heart muscle. Baystate’s cardiology, emergency and prehospital departments knew that triage and team coordination had to start at first medical contact, not at the ED doors. Before e-Bridge, activating the STEMI and cath lab teams meant call lists, paging, multiple phone calls and EKGs sent without clinical context.

With e-Bridge, paramedics start the case in the field, and EMS, the ED and the cath lab all work from the same patient information.

“It has given us a platform where EMS, the Emergency Department, and the Cath Lab can all collaborate with the same patient information and work together to move the patient to the cath lab faster than we have ever seen before.” – Alina Capatina, STEMI Coordinator

In 2018, Southeast Health’s ED needed a better way to learn about incoming patients from EMS so teams could prepare before arrival. Those alerts also couldn’t disrupt care with constant loud noises and alarms. On top of that, the team needed to shave minutes off treatment times.

GD worked with Southeast Health to configure CAREpoint and e-Bridge for its stroke and trauma teams. Now teams get the details they need on incoming patients, efficiently.

“GD e-Bridge connects the dots for our Stroke Team and enhances internal communication between team members.” – Ramona Johnson, Stroke Program Coordinator

For STEMI patients, every minute before treatment counts. NGMC wanted more accurate ECG interpretation, better access to patient information, and better documentation, all with the goal of lowering STEMI mortality. In the field, though, medics were sending photos of ECGs, had no direct line to a cardiologist, and couldn’t always notify the hospital in time for teams to prepare.

To close those gaps, NGMC implemented GD’s e-Bridge Communication Platform and CAREpoint ED Workstation. Together they connect EMS, the ED, and hospital care teams.

Despite its ED volume, the hospital had no standardized way to alert care teams across departments. Staff struggled to answer every EMS call and had no way to record or document them, which made quality assurance a hassle. As travel nurse staffing grew, the hospital decided it needed one seamless alerting and activation process for everyone.

“It was very clear, the usability was better. I can use it as a pager, I can get it as a text, I can get it to my phone.” – Director of Trauma Services

Naperville’s response times were already improving. The bigger challenge was what happened after crews reached the patient: getting triage-specific data to the ED quickly enough for teams to be ready with an accurate diagnosis and the right treatment.

With e-Bridge, the ED now gets notified before crews even arrive on scene, and triage information streams in real time during transport.

“The GD e-Bridge Communication Platform has effectively closed the gap between response time and triage-specific treatment.” – Jim Kubinski, Naperville Bureau Chief

Jackson-Madison’s communication with cardiology used to run on paper, pagers and fax machines. Pages went unreceived, faxes had to be resent, and the ER often had to call the operator just to find out who was on call. By the time staff reached the right doctor, they sometimes didn’t have the patient’s name or EKG. For time-critical cardiac patients, that delay was dangerous.

Once the team switched to CAREpoint, the change was immediate. Staff training took only a week, and buy-in came fast.

“It was only a few years ago that we were back in the stone age using pagers. We’re in rural West Tennessee and a lot of the time our teams didn’t even receive the page.” – Dallas Griggs, Executive Director, West Tennessee Heart & Vascular

The hospital’s previous ED workstation had rigid forms and monthly fees, and notes from every call had to be logged by hand. Worse, it frequently shut down. When it went down, communication between EMS and the ED stopped, and incoming patients arrived before the team could prepare.

Once the team switched to CAREpoint, the change was immediate. Staff training took only a week, and buy-in came fast.

“Training was [only] a week and buy-in was instant because people saw how difficult our old system was and how often it went down.” – Melissa Carter