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In February 2012 the Honolulu City Council announced that 2300 people had died from heart disease in 2009, making it Oahu Island’s biggest killer. While Honolulu’s Emergency Medical Services have been lauded for their quick response time, the City Council has used the opportunity to highlight the importance of immediate emergency treatment, as saving lives can be just a matter of minutes. Honolulu started administering telephonic CPR instruction in 1992, in a bid to give the patient as much assistance as possible before emergency services could arrive on the scene.
As part of its ongoing commitment to affording a high level of care to heart disease and heart attack sufferers, Queens Medical Center has also made big headlines, paving the way with revolutionary technology to streamline the process. Your ACLS certification in Hawaii can play an integral role in promoting public awareness and administering the right treatment to people who have cardiovascular disease.
Queens Medical Center has initiated a seamless new system that has been designed to save valuable minutes while a cardiac patient is in transit to a hospital. The new system allows EKGs or electrocardiograms to be transmitted wirelessly to the hospital’s emergency department, and ensuring that medical staff are prepped before the patient’s arrival.
Officials have stressed the importance of a patient receiving potentially life-saving care within the first 90-minutes of experiencing a heart attack, and using this new system will cut out lengthy time delays. It allows medical professionals to assess a patient’s condition and make crucial, life-saving decisions ahead of their arrival. Honolulu has enjoyed some success with its telephonic CPR sessions for people who call into emergency centers to report heart attacks. The City Council’s Emergency Medical Services are also visible in the public eye and conduct a number of educational programs to equip citizens to deal with situations that require urgent action. The EMS makes regular appearances at health and career fairs on the Island as part of their commitment to public education.
Towards the end of 2011, Queens Medical Center announced another industry first: a procedure called Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement which is minimally-invasive and used to treat aortic stenosis or narrowing of the arteries. The procedure has been introduced as an alternative to patients who may not be eligible for open heart surgery, and Queens Medical Center is the first hospital to offer the alternative. The prognosis for aortic stenosis has traditionally been poor with 50% of patients not surviving a year or two after their diagnosis. A large percent of aortic stenosis sufferers fall into the older age group, making heart surgery impossible.
The operation entails replacing the aortic heart valve using a catheter that is inserted into the groin area. With 400 to 500 people being diagnosed with aortic stenosis every year this new procedure has been welcomed by the medical industry and residents of Oahu.
With so much focus on cardiovascular health, there is no doubt that this state gives the same amount of importance to the Hawaii ACLS certification.
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