Spartanburg Regional Chest Pain Center

Chest Pain Center Accreditation

With the rise of Chest Pain Centers came the need to establish standards designed to improve the consistency and quality of care provided to patients. The Society of Chest Pain Center’s accreditation process ensures centers meet or exceed quality-of-care measures in acute cardiac medicine. In 2003, Spartanburg Regional was the first Chest Pain Center to be accredited in South Carolina.

In 2009, Spartanburg Regional was re-accredited and given the most advanced designation possible – Cycle III with PCI (percutaneous intervention).

What is an accredited Chest Pain Center?

A Chest Pain Center is a partnership between emergency physicians, cardiologists, critical care nurses and paramedics to provide the most timely, highest quality care available for patients having a heart attack. By establishing and following an organized process to assess, diagnose and treat patients experiencing chest pain, medical staff can respond quickly and accurately.

Why do we need an accredited Chest Pain Center at Spartanburg Regional?

Heart attacks are the leading cause of death in the United States, with 600,000 dying annually of heart disease. More than five million Americans visit hospitals each year with chest pain. The goal of Chest Pain Centers is to significantly reduce these numbers by:

• teaching the public to recognize and react to the early symptoms of a heart attack
• reducing the time it takes to receive treatment
• increasing the accuracy and effectiveness of the treatment

Why should I go to an accredited Chest Pain Center if I suspect I am having a heart attack?

Protocols used by an accredited Chest Pain Center allow physicians to treat patients more quickly during the critical early stages of a heart attack, when treatments are most effective. These protocols also allow physicians to better monitor patients when it is not clear whether they are having a coronary event. Such observation helps ensure that a patient is neither sent home too early nor needlessly admitted.

How do protocols at the Spartanburg Regional Chest Pain Center speed treatment?

It is very important to call 911 at the first sign of a heart attack. Emergency medical technicians initiate life-saving cardiac treatment immediately upon arrival at the scene. By calling 911, you will reduce the amount of time it takes to get proper treatment.

Code STEMI is a protocol that allows emergency responders to alert physicians about a possible heart attack victim before the patient even reaches the hospital. Treatment begins immediately. Using radio telemetry equipment, paramedics transmit the patient’s 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) directly to the on-call cardiologist’s hand-held computer. Using the transmitted information, the physician can immediately diagnose a heart attack. At the physician’s order, the catheterization lab is prepared and appropriate medical staff members are called.