Mason City, IA-The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say heart disease is the leading cause of death for men and women in the United States. A new piece of equipment could help save the lives of people in our area suffering from heart attacks.
Dewey Koch of Nora Springs, IA never thought heart problems would land him in the hospital. But three years ago he came home feeling nauseated and before long, his wife could tell there was something seriously wrong.
"She knew right away what was going on so we called 911 and there I went," Koch said.
He had a blocked artery. Ambulance crews arrived to find him fading fast.
"I was in a lot of trouble when the ambulance got here, I was lying on the floor, I was in trouble, I had a lot of pain," he said.
A new piece of equipment could help folks suffering from heart attacks. It's called an Electrocardiogram Monitoring System. Once EMT's arrive on scene and hook a patient up, it will send information to the emergency room through a wireless signal before the ambulance arrives at the hospital.
"It'll be a half hour head start for the emergency room to prepare for that patient," said Mason City Fire Fighter Carl Ginapp.
What looks like your average computer will tell heart doctors where the problem is.
"So it allows the cardiologist to get to this artery and open it up sooner, so it decreases death to the tissue of the heart," said Mercy Emergency Services Director Patti Peterson.
The technology will also give doctors a complete history of the heart problems from the time EMT's arrive on scene.
"And if we can get this before we give any of those medications, that way the cardiologists can see exactly what the heart was doing while they were having the pain," Ginapp said.
It will give people like Koch a better chance of survival.
"And getting that vital information to the doctors quicker would be a big plus," he said.
Dewey Koch hasn't had any heart trouble since his heart attack three years ago. The new heart equipment is currently in three of the Mason City Fire Department's ambulances. All of them will be equipped in the next week.
| 
