Post by Damon Darsey

Triage decisions matter. Fifty-eight miles from the nearest cardiac center, a paramedic recognized a heart attack that needed specialized treatment—fast. That first decision mattered. The same type of decision made inside a hospital emergency department carries tremendous medical and financial value: identify the emergency, start the right treatment, and move the patient to the right level of care. So why shouldn’t ambulances have the ability to make those same time-sensitive decisions—and carry the same life-saving medications? Some do. And in this case, it happened again. The patient was moved to a larger hospital while receiving treatment comparable to what they would have received in an emergency department. The result: heart muscle saved, normal heart function after catheterization, and an estimated savings of more than $89,000 for the healthcare system by avoiding unnecessary local hospital care, helicopter transport, ICU stay, and added hospital days. EMS is healthcare. And some of the most critical decisions in healthcare are made by quiet professionals on the side of the road, in homes, and in the back of ambulances—often before a patient ever reaches the hospital.