ABSTRACT
Acute ST segment myocardial infarction (STEMI) is a growing, international health concern with at least 500,000 events annually in the United States (1). The pathophysiology of STEMI involves complete occlusion of a coronary artery with a thrombus arising from the site of a ruptured plaque. Cessation of blood flow to the area of affected myocardium would lead to myocardial necrosis and subsequent loss of function. “Time is muscle” (2) became the guiding practice and opening up the occluded artery became standard of care. Mortality from STEMI increases by 7.5% for every 30 minutes revascularization is delayed (3,4). Prompt revascularization can increase survival for patients. Initially the fastest way to revascularize STEMI patients was with fibrinolytic therapy. Currently, percutaneous coronary intervention offers better clinical outcomes than treatment with fibrinolytics and has become the revascularization method of choice (5). Hospitals and public health officials can influence (6) outcomes by developing systems and processes that minimize the intervals between onset of patient systems and revascularization.
