Door-to-balloon time for a patient with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (or STEMI) should be less than 90 minutes. Wireless electrocardiography (or EKG) programs around the country are helping to reduce door-to-balloon time by transmitting EKG data to hospitals via broadband internet, where a specialist at the hospital makes a diagnosis and prepares to treat the incoming patient. What are some of the challenges, and advantages, of such programs? Mr. Jim Scheulen, chief administrative officer for the Johns Hopkins Department of Emergency Medicine and president of Johns Hopkins Emergency Medical Services, and Dr. Jeffrey Trost, assistant professor in cardiology, director of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory and director of the Interventional Cardiology Program at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, helped create a Baltimore consortium of hospitals that donated wireless EKG technology to the city's paramedic units. How effective has the Baltimore program been at improving treatment for MI patients, and how is this program similar to others around the country? Dr. Janet Wright hosts.
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