LLUMC-Murrieta Becomes Area's First Certified for Critical Heart Attack Care

It was a day to celebrate in southwest Riverside County when Loma Linda University Medical Center-Murrieta announced it has become the first hospital among Murrieta and its neighboring cities certified to treat the deadliest form of heart attacks.

The Aug. 20 accreditation from Riverside County Emergency Medical Services Agency was billed as another milestone for the hospital that opened in April 2011 on Baxter Road, just east of Interstate 215 in Murrieta.

Officials from the county, city, paramedic and medical levels gathered Wednesday for a press conference held to announce the news that LLUMC-Murrieta has the team and qualifications in place to handle patients suffering from a STEMI heart attack.

“Receiving accreditation as a STEMI receiving center is a vital step for our growth as a cardiac provider,” said LLUMC-Murrieta CEO Rick Rawson. “It is absolutely life-saving for those who need this care. When a person experiences a STEMI, it is essential for the patient to receive immediate interventions.

"Individuals in the area have had to endure long transports to appropriate facilities for their care, but now they have what they need closer to home.”

STEMI is an acronym for ST Elevated Myocardio Infarction, hospital officials explained, which is the partial interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart muscle, resulting in damaged to heart cells. The ensuing oxygen shortage can cause the heart muscle to die.

Patients experiencing a STEMI are at risk for developing sudden cardiac arrest and need to be transported immediately to a facility that can provide interventional care, stents, angioplasty or even an open-heart surgery.

For Murrieta and surrounding areas, this development means the patient suffering from a heart attack described as “massive” can receive treatment more quickly.

According to Matt Corelli, a Murrieta paramedic/engineer and spokesman for the Murrieta Fire Department, who was on hand for Wednesday’s press conference, patients previously had to be transported to hospitals such as Palomar in Escondido or Riverside Community Hospital—both at least a 30-45 minute drive from southwest Riverside County depending on traffic.

Data show that roughly 20 to 30 patients each month requiring the special treatment have been transported out of the area, LLUMC-Murrieta officials pointed out.

A countywide EMS policy, Corelli said, dictates that the first responding medic stay with the patient until they are under a doctor’s care.

LLUMC-Murrieta’s new accreditation allows firefighter/paramedics such as those from the Murrieta Fire Department to accompany their STEMI patients to a much closer facility, Corelli said.

Whether a patient needs to be medically treated for a STEMI is determined almost instantaneously when paramedics transmit their EKG readings via cellphone to the nearest certified hospital, Corelli explained.

Each minute wasted during transport contributes to more heart tissue lost, Corelli said, which unlike other body tissue does not regrow.

In April 2012, LLUMC-Murrieta become a licensed provider of interventional cardiology, and to date, more than 120 open heart procedures have been performed at LLUMC-M and more than 70 patients suffering from heart attacks have been cared for at the hospital, according to a news release.

Wednesday brought more exciting news.

According to Kathryn Stiles, spokeswoman for LLUMC-Murrieta, the hospital since January has been treating STEMI patients brought in through its Emergency Room by private transportation or by ambulance in the “most critical of situations."

“However, without becoming a designated STEMI receiving center, ambulances responding to 911 calls were routed to one of the nearest STEMI receiving centers, which are in Escondido and Riverside,” Stiles stated.

On hand Wednesday, as well, was Murrieta fire Chief Matt Shobert, who added these remarks: “Simply stated, this means more lives saved in the Murrieta Valley. We congratulate Loma Linda University Medical Center-Murrieta for this important milestone and are delighted to have been working with them. We look forward to an ongoing partnership with the hospital to continue saving lives in our community.”

LLUMC-Murrieta medical staff also gave their comments.

“This accreditation is an important step in our ability to care for the members of our community...and to work closely with our first responders in the critical emergency of STEMI,” said Dr. Sanjay Bhojraj, medical director for LLU International Heart Institute.