Q: What‘s the ultimate purpose of this campaign?
A: Information for public awareness. Call 911 if you think you are experiencing symptoms of a heart attack! Currently 60 percent of heart attack patients come by car often long after the onset of symptoms thinking it might go away or it’s just stress, a pulled muscle or indigestion.

The focus of the project is closing the gap between onset of symptoms and interventional angioplasty versus the common focus of decreasing the amount of time from the door of the hospital to angioplasty. (Every hospital must report to Centers for Medicaid and Medicare services its time from door to balloon.) EMS professionals in Fulton County have been trained to recognize heart attack symptoms and can separate signs of a blocked artery from those that are not so urgent. Five competitive hospitals in Fulton County that can perform interventional angioplasty and four EMS organizations are working together to make it happen.

Q: How can your Dial 911 Don’t Drive program benefit me?
A: MACC and its partners are working to decrease the time between the onset of cardiac symptoms and hospital treatment by transmitting full 12-lead EKG information from the transporting ambulance to one of the five hospitals, triggering activation of the hospital’s emergency catheterization team and rapid intervention upon patient arrival. Delays of registration and testing in the hospital emergency department are avoided as well as delays encountered when the patient needs to be transferred to a hospital that can perform life-saving angioplasty.

Q: I can probably get to the hospital from where I live faster if I drive myself. Why isn’t that the best way to go if I have a heart problem.
A: The emergency equipment and medications used in ambulances, and the ability of EMS staff to send information to specialists so they can make plans for your arrival at the hospital, make it the best choice to save time in your treatment, and that time saves lives. EMS can maximize time by treating you en route, and make sure you get there safely in case you lose consciousness.

Q: How does calling for help instead of driving save time?
A: From the vehicle of one of the participating EMS organizations, data from an EKG unit can be transmitted to one of the five hospitals equipped with receiving units. The emergency physician at the hospital reads the EKG and activates the emergency catheterization laboratory for urgent angioplasty. The patient bypasses the emergency room visit and goes straight to the catheter lab for angioplasty. Up to an hour, or more, can be saved by calling 911 and getting treatment en route.

Q: What types of patients are helped the most?
A: Patients who have an EKG pattern that shows a high probability a blocked artery exists and the patient is having a heart attack. The longer the heart attack goes untreated, the higher the chance of death or permanent damage.

Q: Does insurance pay for this kind of heart attack intervention and medical service?
A: Insurance companies will pay for an ambulance trip to the hospital if the situation can reasonably be considered urgent, as well as any hospital bills in large part.

Q: How much is this initiative costing and who’s paying?
A: The cost is modest considering the benefit to the community. Equipment for the ambulances is approximately $10,000 each, and the receivers for the hospitals approximately $18,000. Most of the cost involved has been in the advanced training of EMS personnel, which has been shared by the hospitals and the American Heart Association. Other in-kind support has been provided by AT&T, Nokia Corporation, and Medtronic Physio-Control Corporation and Rural Metro Emergency Medical Service.

Q: My doctor prescribed drugs to lower my cholesterol and reduce my chance of heart attack. Isn’t that enough?
A: No! These drugs do not wipe out coronary disease. Drugs can reduce coronary rates by 25 to 40 percent, reduce strokes by 30 percent, and improve survival. However, that's not 100 percent. A lot of people who take the drugs still die of heart attacks, so it’s important to remember to call 911 if you suspect any symptoms of cardiac distress. And we have controlled clinical trials that show that diet is extremely important in prevention of coronary heart disease.

Q: Should people take aspirin?
A: In patients who have had a heart attack or who have atherosclerosis, we know that aspirin is beneficial. About 85 percent of them take it, which is good.