open access

Vol 3, No 2 (2018)
Review paper
Published online: 2018-09-28
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Acute coronary syndromes in the practice of the emergency medical team

Dominika Telecka-Gądek1, Marcin Madziała2, Łukasz Szarpak2, Sandra Pyda3
·
Disaster Emerg Med J 2018;3(2):61-66.
Affiliations
  1. International Institute of Rescue Research and Education, Warsaw, Poland
  2. Lazarski University, Warsaw, Poland
  3. Emergency Medicine Student Scientific Circle at the Department of Emergency Medicine, Medical University of Warsaw, Poland

open access

Vol 3, No 2 (2018)
REVIEW ARTICLES
Published online: 2018-09-28

Abstract

An acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is described when myocardial ischemia occurs due to impeding blood flow through the coronary vessels, which in turn results in insufficient supply of oxygen. As a disease entity, it causes almost half of all deaths in Poland. The high mortality of ACS is primarily in the pre-hospital setting. The classification of acute coronary syndromes is based on criteria such as clinical symptoms, the nature and type of changes in the electrocardiogram, and indicators of myocardial necrosis. In the conditions of the emergency medical team, the division is based on the image of the ECG test. On this basis, ACS with elevation of the ST segment (STEMI) and without ST segment elevation (NSTEMI) are defined. Pre-hospital diagnosis of ACS includes an interview with the patient and a 12-lead ECG performed preferably in no more than 10 minutes since the first medical contact. The task of the emergency medical team is to quickly recognize, perform teletransmission to the interventional cardiology centre and implement pharmacological treatment, and then provide transport to the nearest centre of invasive cardiology, where the procedure should be performed to clear the blocked coronary artery. Therefore, it is important that the staff of medical emergency teams have appropriate knowledge and proper equipment for ambulances.

Abstract

An acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is described when myocardial ischemia occurs due to impeding blood flow through the coronary vessels, which in turn results in insufficient supply of oxygen. As a disease entity, it causes almost half of all deaths in Poland. The high mortality of ACS is primarily in the pre-hospital setting. The classification of acute coronary syndromes is based on criteria such as clinical symptoms, the nature and type of changes in the electrocardiogram, and indicators of myocardial necrosis. In the conditions of the emergency medical team, the division is based on the image of the ECG test. On this basis, ACS with elevation of the ST segment (STEMI) and without ST segment elevation (NSTEMI) are defined. Pre-hospital diagnosis of ACS includes an interview with the patient and a 12-lead ECG performed preferably in no more than 10 minutes since the first medical contact. The task of the emergency medical team is to quickly recognize, perform teletransmission to the interventional cardiology centre and implement pharmacological treatment, and then provide transport to the nearest centre of invasive cardiology, where the procedure should be performed to clear the blocked coronary artery. Therefore, it is important that the staff of medical emergency teams have appropriate knowledge and proper equipment for ambulances.

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Keywords

acute coronary syndrome; ischemic heart disease; myocardial infarction; emergency medical teams; prehospital treatment; STEMI; NSTEMI.

About this article
Title

Acute coronary syndromes in the practice of the emergency medical team

Journal

Disaster and Emergency Medicine Journal

Issue

Vol 3, No 2 (2018)

Article type

Review paper

Pages

61-66

Published online

2018-09-28

Page views

2018

Article views/downloads

755

DOI

10.5603/DEMJ.2018.0014

Bibliographic record

Disaster Emerg Med J 2018;3(2):61-66.

Keywords

acute coronary syndrome
ischemic heart disease
myocardial infarction
emergency medical teams
prehospital treatment
STEMI
NSTEMI.

Authors

Dominika Telecka-Gądek
Marcin Madziała
Łukasz Szarpak
Sandra Pyda

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