Angel Medical Systems ALERTS Study - Overview

More than one million heart attacks occur in the United States each year; approximately 460,000 of these are fatal.  Thus, heart attack remains one of the leading causes of death in the United States.  Of those who die, almost half do so before they get to a hospital.

One of the most important factors that determine how well a patient does following a heart attack is prompt treatment.  The National Institute of Health recently published a brochure, “Act in Time to Heart Attack Signs”.  The brochure says that people don't get to the hospital in time because they do not recognize the symptoms of a heart attack - instead, they take a “wait and see” approach.  The Rapid Early Action for Coronary Treatment (REACT) study found that patients were often unaware of the characteristics of heart attack symptoms, delayed requesting medical assistance, and rarely called 9-1-1.

Currently, in the United States, the average time for the arrival of a person with a heart attack at an emergency room is 2.5 - 3.0 hours.  Research has shown that every 30 minutes of treatment delay is associated with a 7.5% relative increase in 1-year mortality.

Taking the "wait and see" approach makes it less likely that the patient will survive the attack.  And if the patient does survive the attack, complications such as heart failure are more likely to occur - which results in more hospitalizations later, and a lower patient survival rate.