Orlando Health Heart and Vascular Institute interventional cardiologist Dr. Prakrut Patel. (Photo/Orlando Health)
Each year, approximately 350,000 people die from cardiac arrest in Florida, and it remains the third-leading cause of death in the United States. Orlando Health St. Cloud Hospital has taken a step to try to prevent those deaths here in our area.
The hospital has announced it's launched a STEMI (ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction) program with a cardiac care team available 24/7 to treat the most serious types of heart attacks in the hospital’s cardiac catheterization lab.
“Every minute counts when someone is having a major heart attack — the sooner our team can open that blocked artery, the better the chance of saving heart muscle and reducing permanent damage,” said Orlando Health Heart and Vascular Institute interventional cardiologist Dr. Prakrut Patel.
When a patient arrives at the hospital’s emergency department with symptoms of a heart attack, the goal is to diagnose the condition and begin treatment within 90 minutes, as the hospital said the American Heart Association recommends. With this care now available locally, Osceola County patients will spend less of that critical time en route to a care center.
“Through this STEMI program, our patients can receive the advanced cardiac care they need much closer to home, without losing valuable time during emergency transport outside St. Cloud," Patel said. "It also enables a patient’s loved ones to remain close by, which supports their recovery. We are proud to offer this exceptional level of compassionate, specialized care to the community we are grateful to serve.”
