Pune's AiMS Hospital and Philips Healthcare launch first chest pain clinic

Pune-based AiMS Hospital and Research Centre and Philips Healthcare today said they have opened India's first Chest Pain Clinics in Pune district.

The Chest Pain Clinics are aimed at enabling small hospitals and nursing homes to provide timely and quality, emergency cardiac care.

While cardiovascular diseases have quadrupled in the last 40 years, 50 per cent of the affected patients arrive too late for appropriate treatment. If patients receive treatment within one hour of the attack, called 'the golden hour', the possibility of saving their life increase manifold.

To be operated under the ''hub and spoke'' model, this initiative will include four ''spoke'' hospitals or the Chest Pain Clinics, one ''hub'' hospital (AiMS) and will reach out to approximately 9.5 million people.

''To combat coronary artery diseases and reduce mortality rates, we need a combination of medical interventions and general awareness. It is here that Chest Pain Clinics will play a key role in creating an eco-system which brings together cardiologists, emergency medicine and cardiac health professionals to enhance patient care by reducing time to treatment for patients suffering from cardiac ailments'' said Dr Shirish (M.S) Hiremath, director of the Ruby Hall cardiac cath lab, and  chairman AiMS, Pune. 

He  added, ''The Chest Pain Clinics will also play a critical role in community outreach and educational programs to raise awareness on cardiac ailments and the need for preventive care.''

Each Chest Pain Clinic will be a clinic or a small healthcare facility equipped with Philips ECG-100 systems, which will wirelessly transmit ECGs of patients in real time from the spokes to the hub.

Once a patient is confirmed as suffering from a myocardial infarction (a heart attack), he / she is immediately transported via an ambulance from the spokes to AiMS, for primary percutaneous coronary intervention within the golden hour.

Philips Healthcare will train AiMS staff, record and store all ECG-related data, developing protocols and periodic review of data.

''Where 50 per cent of patients arrive too late for appropriate treatment, we are proud to partner with AiMS in an initiative which will ensure rapid access to emergency critical care in the Pune district of Maharashtra'' said Shankar S, senior director, Philips Healthcare.