Helping Heart Attack Patients Survive Through a Coordinated System of Care

When a heart attack occurs, immediate treatment is needed to prevent death and avoid permanent damage to the heart muscle. 

The MaineHealth AMI (Acute Myocardial Infarction) PERFUSE (Patients Emergently Reperfused by Facilities United for STEMI Excellence) Program is a regional system that aims to provide the fastest, most appropriate heart attack care and in turn ensure the best possible outcomes for patients. The regional system involves all MaineHealth hospitals, and the emergency medical services providers in the communities they serve. Here is how the program works:

• When a person with symptoms of a heart attack arrives at the emergency department of their local hospital, clinicians work as quickly as possible to complete an electrocardiogram (EKG) and, if the patient is having a heart attack, provide medications.
• Treatment can begin sooner when the local emergency medical responders are called; technicians with advanced training in heart attack care perform EKGs in the ambulance so that hospital emergency departments get the information before the patient arrives.
• The patient is then transported to Maine Medical Center as soon as possible to receive surgery to repair the arteries causing the heart attack.
• Timeframes are set by American College of Cardiology and the American Hospital Association.

A critical part of the program’s success is ensuring that patients return to their local community for ongoing cardiovascular care.