By KELLY WILSON

Herald-Whig Staff Writer

Blessing Hospital's Heart and Vascular Center has implemented a program to ensure patients with heart-related symptoms who are being transferred from surrounding rural hospitals get immediate, effective care.

A "Heart First" telephone hotline provides area hospitals with a toll free phone number to call -- 24 hours a day, seven days a week -- when they are transferring a heart patient to Blessing, which is a nationally accredited Chest Pain Center.

The line rings directly into Blessing's Emergency Center to immediately alert the cardiology staff needed to care for the incoming heart patient.

"We're telling the smaller hospitals, we're here for you," said Dr. Steven Krause, interventional cardiologist with Blessing Physician Services and medical director of the cardiac catheterization lab at the Heart and Vascular Center.

The main hospitals that refer heart patients to Blessing are Illini Community Hospital in Pittsfield, Memorial Hospital in Carthage, Keokuk (Iowa) Area Hospital and Hannibal (Mo.) Regional Hospital.

"During a heart attack, the clock is ticking," Krause said. "Every minute is precious. The Heart First line streamlines the process for referring hospitals. When the Blessing Hospital Emergency Center physician answers the Heart First line, they known a critical heart patient will soon be arriving by ambulance or helicopter. The Emergency Center physician then immediately activates the catheterization lab staff and interventional cardiologist before the patient arrives. For every minute of saved time, patient outcomes are improved because time is heart tissue."

Krause said the standard of care for heart attack patients is to perform a balloon angioplasty in a catheterization lab in under 90 minutes of the patient entering a hospital with symptoms.

"It's been well established that the best thing to do is go to the lab and have an artery opened," Krause said. "If you can do it under 90 minutes, there's a better long-term prognosis than using clot-busting drugs."

Krause added that the hospital wants to reduce "door-to-balloon time as much we can."

The Heart First program helps meet that goal. Previously, when a call came in from a surrounding hospital regarding the transfer of a heart patient, ER staff would have to call a cardiologist to see what should be done with the patient.

"We've standardized the orders," Krause said, and time is saved by not making extra phone calls. "Everybody's getting standardized, cutting-edge care when they have a heart attack."

Krause said that if it is determined that a patient cannot safely be transferred to Blessing within 90 minutes, clot-busting drugs would be given at the initial hospital.

"It's better than nothing," Krause said.

Joining Krause in providing angioplasty and other interventional procedures at the Heart and Vascular Center are Dr. Raed Bargout of Quincy Medical Group and Dr. Madhu Dukkipati of Prairie Cardiovascular Consultants, interventional cardiologists.

Open heart surgery also is available at Blessing 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Dr. James Kase, cardiothoracic surgeon, performs open heart procedures and serves as medical director of the Blessing Cardiovascular Unit. He has been on the medical staff since the Heart and Vascular Center opened in January 2004.

The team of invasive and non-invasive cardiologists treating Heart and Vascular Center patients includes Dr. Irving Schwartz of Blessing Physician Services, who serves as medical director of the Blessing Non-Invasive Cardiology Department; Dr. Syed Samee and Dr. Raef Heng, both of Blessing Physician Services; and Dr. Wissam Derian of Quincy Medical Group.

The vascular surgery team includes Dr. Tim Smith and Dr. Christian Zwick, both of Quincy Medical Group.

Blessing Heart and Vascular Center staff members are making personal visits to surrounding hospitals throughout the region introducing the program, which was launched in August.

-- kwilson@whig.com/221-3391