As February rolls in and we celebrate another Heart Month, we must remember not only the impact that EMS has had on improving patient outcomes when it comes to cardiac emergencies but also to remain vigilant that there is more work to be done. No one can deny the role that prehospital providers play in the early care of those suffering a cardiac event, from myocardial infarctions to full-blown cardiac arrest.
Those first on scene play a pivotal role in the patient’s overall outcome. As EMS has developed, simply arriving quickly and transporting to the closest hospital is insufficient. Throughout the years, the decision, actions, and advances in EMS have continued to save lives, improve long-term survival rates, and impact patient recovery rates.
EMS had little focus or resources for cardiac events at its inception, but it was quickly seen as a potential solution. Prehospital cardiac treatments and care were developed and implemented through organizations like the American Heart Association and the American Red Cross.
With the creation of “the Chain of Survival” but the AHA, it was also identified that EMS, while critical in these types of events, was just part of the solution needed to profoundly change the trends of the time. Basic and advanced cardiac life support provided the resources for field providers to systematically intervene during these chaotic events in a meaningful and proven manner.
The technological advances that have been developed and are widely used in the current EMS setting continue to change the landscape of what is possible. While automatic external defibrillators (AEDs) have become so common that they are hung on walls in most establishments, the advancement in monitoring and treatments continues to drive what EMS can accomplish.
Advanced pharmacology, point-of-care testing, and procedures once reserved only for the in-hospital setting have been introduced and now become the gold standard of prehospital medicine. Never before have so many healthcare resources been brought to the incident and been at the preverbal fingertips of the patient.
While the advances brought to the field are quite impressive, understanding the “Chain of Survival,” we know that EMS is a part of the bigger picture but also plays a massive role in the equation and needs significant support from the community. Public awareness programs and community CPR initiatives have become critical to the overall success of any larger program.
Heart Month, hands-only CPR programs, and general safety and awareness programs brought out into the community are often brought by the local first responder agencies to give back to the communities they serve.
The fast-paced world of medicine waits for no one, and the faster-paced world of EMS is ever-adapting to the community landscapes. We have clearly come a long way since the 1970s version of EMS, and who is to know just how far EMS in the U.S. will eventually go?
Today, organizations work as hard as possible to serve their communities. We know where we have been and are now through the collection of data and research. Still, as good a job as we are doing, there is always room for improvement, and together, EMS and the communities they serve need to continue to find our parts to the solutions to the medical problems that plague our society.
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