Benefis receives grant from American Heart Association

Benefis Health System received a $109,700 grant from the American Heart Association as a part of Mission: Lifeline, an initiative to improve heart attack care throughout rural Montana.

Every year, nearly 250,000 Americans have a ST-elevated myocardial infarction heart attack – the most serious form of heart attack caused by a blockage of blood supply in the heart. In 2012, 1,799 individuals were hospitalized in Montana for an acute heart attack, of these, 777 were STEMIs according to the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services and the Montana Hospital Association.

Through participation in Mission: Lifeline, Benefis continues to help improve STEMI care and ensure patients in our service region receive the best treatment available. The Mission: Lifeline project helps enhance many elements of the STEMI care system, including a data tool for quality measurement and improvement, ongoing medical provider training and STEMI education, coordination of protocols for rural EMS and hospital personnel, regional transport, and a public education campaign on heart attack symptoms and calling 9-1-1.

“This gift from the American Heart Association and participation in Mission: Lifeline is very exciting for us,” said Dr. Douglas Waldo, Cardiologist at the Benefis Heart & Vascular Institute and Physician Chair of the Mission: Lifeline project. “When it comes to heart attacks, time is tissue. Every second counts in the treatment of a heart attack and our partnership with Mission: Lifeline helps our community provide the most efficient and effective heart attack care available.”

“As the regional referral center, Benefis is proud to be part of the American Heart Association’s Mission: Lifeline initiative,” said Joe Lo Duca, director of Cancer and Heart & Vascular at Benefis Health System. “We work closely with the EMS teams throughout the region, and their success of using 12-lead electrocardiograms in their ambulances and transmitting that data to Benefis is critical. The Mission: Lifeline dollars helped purchase this equipment which is instrumental to improving the quality of care and outcomes for STEMI patients.”