Analysis of prehospital care of patients with acute myocardial infarction in Bulgaria

Abstract

Introduction: Acute myocardial infarction is one of the most devastating cardiovascular diseases and about 50% of all deaths due to it occur prior to hospitalization. Our study aimed to evaluate the prehospital delay in patients with acute myocardial infarction. Methods: We enrolled 682 consecutive patients with acute myocardial infarction from May 2008 to December 2014, with a mean age of 66.6 ± 12.9 years. Detailed information was collected about the symptoms, first medical contact, concomitant clinical conditions, and the socioeconomic data. We analyzed the following prehospital times: (1) onset of symptoms to emergency call, (2) onset of symptoms to first medical contact, (3) first medical contact to hospital admission, and (4) onset of symptoms to hospital admission. Results: The first medical contact was with the National Emergency Medical Service in 266 (39.0%) patients, another emergency unit 106 (15.6%), cardiologist 41 (6%), general practitioner 36 (5.3%), and others 233 (34.1%). The median time from the onset of symptoms till emergency call was 190 min, from the first contact with a team of the National Emergency Medical Service till hospital admission 60 min, and from the onset of symptoms till hospital admission 4.8 h. Conclusion: The total prehospital delay in our study was unacceptably prolonged, with patient’s decision time as the major contributor. The delay could be substantially shortened by (1) increased awareness of the general population, particularly of individuals at high cardiovascular risk and (2) continuous medical education and regular practical training of the primary care providers about coping with medical emergencies.