Physician and nursing representatives from Solano County Emergency Medical Services Agency arrived at NorthBay Medical Center on Wednesday this week (Oct. 12), to survey our STEMI (ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction, or heart attack) program.
The team wanted to examine our readiness for accepting STEMI patients from the field, making our Fairfield hospital the first in Solano County to do so. If successful, our hospital will designated a STEMI Receiving Center - one more "first" for NorthBay!
More importantly, this will mean another "score" for the citizens of Solano County. No longer will STEMI patients who call 911 be diverted to hospitals outside of our county. They will be rushed here to NorthBay Medical Center, where they will receive the most advanced STEMI treatments available.
About the survey...
It was definitely challenging, but in typical NorthBay fashion, we were ready for it. While here, surveyors toured our facility and traced the path that a STEMI patient coming to our Emergency Department would follow. Direct care staff members from some of the key departments (ED, Cardiac Cath Lab and ICU) were interviewed (on the spot) about their role in caring for a STEMI patient. Each member interviewed did an excellent job of demonstrating their knowledge regarding the care of STEMI patients.
Additionally, all of our policies, protocols and supporting documents were reviewed in detail by the surveyors. In their final summation, the surveyors were very complimentary of our program, and provided some excellent recommendations for making it even better.
Hopefully, we will hear very soon that NorthBay is the first STEMI Receiving Center in Solano County.
