By Jamie Thompson
EMS1 Senior Editor
LONG BEACH, Calif. — Two heart attack survivors were successfully implanted with a cutting-edge detection device Tuesday, becoming the first patients west of the Mississippi River to receive the outpatient procedure.
The cardiac monitor and alert system is comprised of an internal implantable device about the size of a standard pacemaker with a lead into the heart, a pager device, and a programmer that aids physicians in evaluating heart signals.
Patients wear the pager at all times and are alerted by a combination of vibrations, beeps, and a flashing light to notify them to see a doctor or call 911, depending on the number of beeps.
When the system detects an abnormality, it alerts the patient to seek medical attention by vibrating gently, and a sends signal to a small, portable external alarm device.
Tuesday’s procedure saw Long Beach Memorial become the sixteenth U.S. hospital to participate in the pilot study for the AngelMed Guardian device.
When a patient calls dispatch after being alerted, it will enable them to identify it as a heart attack warning and not as a more routine call, said Nick Nudell, senior field clinical engineer at Angel Medical Systems.
“Because the system is warning the patient so early, they may not even be aware of any symptoms,” he said. “It will help EMS as well as the hospital to be better prepared to treat a patient — even though they may not have obvious symptoms at that stage — and that they need to be considering as having a heart attack.”
About 50 patients are currently taking part in the clinical trial, which began about three years ago. Nudell said it was difficult to predict when the device could reach the market, but said he hoped it could happen in the next two to four years.
“It will be dependant on the number of patients we can enroll into the study so we can prove that it works the way we think that it should,” he said.
A second heart attack within the first year of survival is common — 35 percent of female survivors and 20 percent of male survivors.
“Unfortunately, most patients don’t go to the emergency room until three hours after symptoms start,” said John Messenger, M.D., of Long Beach Memorial Medical Center.
“Alerting patients that they need immediate medical attention before it’s too late could profoundly change heart attack survival rates.”
According to the American Heart Association, one of every five deaths in the United States is attributable to coronary heart disease. Further, fifty percent of heart-attack fatalities occur within one hour of symptom onset and occur before the patient even reaches the hospital.
For EMS personnel looking to learn more about the device, contact Nick Nudell at nnudell@angel-med.com.