Cardiology Team Receives Best Poster Award at STEMI Conference

Cardiologist Aravind Rao, M.D., and Deborah Meiklejohn, MNSc, RN, were recognized for Best Poster Presentation at a recent conference in Dallas. Between the two is  William Bledsoe, RN, Director, CHI St. Vincent Infirmary Cath Lab, who also attended the conference.

The poster, Do Symptom Onset to Arterial Reperfusion (SOAR) Times Differ in Patients Experiencing a ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI) Who Present to the ER via EMS vs. Walk-In?, was presented at the eighth Annual STEMI Conference, FUSION STEMI USA 2015, October 29-30.

What is STEMI?  STEMI is an acronym meaning “ST segment elevation myocardial infarction,” which is a type of heart attack. Heart attacks are divided into two types, according to their severity. A STEMI is the more severe type. In a STEMI, the coronary artery is completely blocked off by the blood clot, and as a result virtually all the heart muscle being supplied by the affected artery starts to die. This more severe type of heart attack is usually recognized by characteristic changes it produces on the ECG.