Search

"SHL" Telemedicine (established 1987 in Israel) provides professional care to subscribers who use cardiobeepers and contact its medical call center via telecommunication networks. The extended 6-month Acute Coronary Syndrome Israel Survey (ACSIS) 2004 involved all 26 intensive cardiac care units in Israeli hospitals. We compared the 1-year survival rates of the "SHL" Telemedicine subscribers and ACSIS participants who survived hospitalization after sustaining an acute myocardial infarction. The myocardial infarction data for the ACSIS cohort (3,899 patients) and the SHL Telemedicine cohort (699 subscribers) were provided for this study by the ACSIS executive and SHL's files, respectively. One-year mortality was ascertained by telephone contacts with patients or their relatives. Mortality at 1 year was 4.4% for the "SHL" patients and 9.7% for the ACSIS patients (p < 0.0001). The "SHL" cohort was significantly older (p < 0.0001) than the ACSIS cohort (mean age [+/-SD] 69 +/- 11 versus 63 +/- 13 years), had significantly more past myocardial infarctions (p < 0.001), more past strokes (p < 0.0032), more heart failure (p < 0.0001), more hypertension (p = 0.002), and more hyperlipidemia (p < 0.0001). Gender distribution and diabetes status were similar for both groups. In spite of having more risk factors than the ACSIS subjects, the "SHL" Telemedicine subscribers had significantly higher survival rates at 1 year compared to the ACSIS patients, whose outcome is consistent with that of the Western world. Availability of medical call centers in the out-of-hospital setting for patients with suspected cardiac symptoms improves their motivation to seek timely and appropriate medical assistance.

Objectives: The only large-scale report (1988) by the Israeli national ambulance service Magen David Adom (MDA) on the outcome of cardiac arrest victims who underwent cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) by paramedics called for more frequent and more promptly initiated CPR and shorter time to arrival of paramedic care to improve survival. We report the 1987-2007 experience of resuscitation of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest victims who were 'SHL'-Telemedicine subscribers and who underwent CPR by SHL-Telemedicine mobile intensive care units (MICUs) personnel or under their instructions., Methods: 'SHL's records of MICU reports and specifics of CPR maneuvers and outcome of resuscitated patients, as recorded by its MICU physicians, were analyzed to determine whether the system enhanced survival., Results: A total of 1810 'SHL'-Telemedicine subscribers (mean age 76+/-12 years [16-104], 67% males) were resuscitated after cardiac arrest, 597 (33%) were hospitalized and 279 (15.4%) were discharged alive. Factors associated with successful resuscitation included witnessed collapse and documented ventricular fibrillation upon MICU arrival. A history of diabetes, hyperlipidemia, stroke or advanced age adversely affected the outcome. Time from collapse to CPR initiation and duration of CPR correlated significantly with survival. Laymen instructed telephonically by the 'SHL'-Telemedicine center performed CPR on 121 patients: 13 (10%) survived to hospital discharge., Conclusions: 'SHL'-Telemedicine's policy of bi-monthly contact with its subscribers led to heightened awareness of warning signs and need for rapid summoning of medical assistance in the setting of out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrest.