Three departments collaborate to give patient new lease on life

Oct 05, 2018 News

The entrance to the Accident and Emergency Department of the GPHC.

A 64-year-old man was given a new lease on life after undergoing emergency medical treatment at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation [GPHC]. The case is one that saw three departments – the Emergency Medical Services, Accident and Emergency and the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit [CICU] – working in close collaboration to render the life saving medical care.
The whole life saving process was kicked into motion when the man developed intense chest pains and had no one to transport him to hospital. He resorted to dialling 912.
The 912 number is the emergency number to report a fire. However, with the launch of the Emergency Medical Services [EMS] in 2016, which is done in collaboration with the Guyana Fire Service, people within the confines of Georgetown can dial the same number to have an ambulance with Emergency Medical Technicians [EMTs] on board come to their aid.
There are currently three ambulances utilised by the EMS programme which are dispatched by the Fire Service.
When the man in question placed the call for medical support an ambulance was rushed to his Hadfield Street, Georgetown residence. EMTs who are a part of the response are trained to ensure that patients are stabilised as they are rushed to hospital.
Upon their arrival at the man’s residence EMTs rushed him into the ambulance and immediately started communicating with doctors at the GPHC about his condition.
They were able to render basic services to stabilise the man. However, the man was barely hanging on.
“Literally when they rushed him through the hospital door he suffered a cardiac arrest,” related EMS Director, Dr. Zulfikar Bux. The patient was immediately administered Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation [CPR] said Dr. Bux as he added, “he was shocked three times in total…we brought back his heart three times.”
Once the man’s heart was beating again he was placed on a life support machine. By this time the team from the GPHC’s CICU, including Dr. Mahendra Carpen, was lending support.
The man was taken to the CICU where he was prepped for an emergency angiogram.
“We started to do that…and what we saw was 100 percent blockage of his left anterior descending artery [a key artery]…that is responsible for one of the deadliest forms of heart attack and has been referred to in the past as the widow maker,” Dr. Carpen shared.
Having deduced that the man had suffered a massive heart attack, the medical experts saw the need for a stent to address his condition.
A stent is a small expandable tube that is used to treat narrowed arteries in the body.
“He was paralysed, unable to speak…a ventilator was breathing for him,” said Dr. Carpen who with pride related that soon after receiving the needed treatment the patient’s blood pressure had stabilised and he no longer required the support of the ventilator.
“It is one of those demonstrations that if systems are in place they can work and save lives. It cost the patients nothing if these systems are put in place,” added Dr. Carpen.
Even as he shared about the patient being able to sit up in bed by the next day and was expressing appreciation to those responsible for helping to save his life, Dr. Bux added, “If it wasn’t for this collaboration starting with the EMTs quick response through the EMS service, the Accident and Emergency Unit and the Cardiac ICU this could have been another man dead at home,” said Dr. Bux.

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