Previous 90 Days Emails

John C. Lincoln Deer Valley Hospital in Phoenix, AZ, achieved marked success through these 3 quick simple steps!

Have you tried any of these simple steps? Could any of these ideas work for your hospital?

Consider choosing an ER Nurse Champion to head the D2B Initiative - this should be someone that can coordinate with all necessary departments, one who can build rapport with all facets of patient care and who will provide prompt data feedback to the team .
Create a STEMI Box - include meds, tubing, saline, IV start and blood draw equipment and extra paperwork. Keep this box centrally located and clearly labeled "STEMI BOX". By having all of this accessible and in one place, John C. Lincoln was able to save up to 11 minutes and it allowed a nurse to stay with a patient as everything needed to care for the patient is in the "STEMI BOX".
Dedicate a 12 lead ECG machine in triage for those arriving POV - if budget does not allow for the purchase of a new machine, try to locate a loaner from a different department. If a triage ECG is done, present it to the ER physician along with the complaint/history within 10 minutes of arrival. Having a 12 lead in triage helped to reduce John C. Lincoln's door to ECG times from 20 minutes to 7 minutes!

Over the last year, John C. Lincoln Deer Valley Hospital has seen great improvement in their door-to-balloon times. Just one year ago, the average door-to-balloon time was 138 minutes - today the average door-to-balloon time is down to 64 minutes!

While these steps are not evidence-based recommendations of the D2B Alliance, they are additional ideas that have helped at least one hospital reduce their D2B times, and may help your hospital too!

Are you one of the 49% of D2B participating hospitals that still does not empower the ED physician to activate the cath lab? Are you one of the 70% of hospitals that still needs to implement a single-call activation system to activate your cath lab? Are you still struggling to implement other D2B strategies?

We recently asked participating hospitals to identify the single most challenging problem they face in reducing door-to-balloon times. Of the 522 participating hospitals that responded, ED activation of the the cath lab was identified by the greatest number of you. If you are struggling to empower your ED physicians to activate the cath lab, have you considered the following?

Ensuring that ED physicians are included in and valued on your D2B team
Presenting to your administration and/or cardiologists the evidence supporting ED activation and the relationship to reduced D2B times
Reviewing the D2B Webinar on ED Activation of the Cath Lab
Contacting a D2B mentor hospital that can provide additional ideas on ED activation implementation
Conducting refresher training on ECG reads so ED physicians maintain their skills and demonstrate their effectiveness

If you have successfully instituted ED activation of the cath lab in your hospital but struggle with a different D2B strategy, remember to review the D2B webinar and mentor network for your strategy. The next great idea may be waiting for you and your hospital.

Is your hospital still struggling to implement a D2B strategy?

If so, the D2B Alliance is here to help with 90 Days to 90 Minutes, an effort designed to achieve implementation of all six D2B evidence-based strategies by all participating hospitals by December 31, 2007, in order to further reduce door-to-balloon times and keep them low. As part of this effort, the D2B Alliance plans to distribute biweekly emails and hold webinars to share new ideas. We will also unveil the new Mentor Network, which is a collection of hospitals and contacts who have identified themselves as successful in a particular D2B strategy and willing to share information with others on an individual basis.

Finally, we will hold a D2B Participants Workshop intended to give your hospital simple ideas that can be quickly implemented and demonstrate improvement. The details for the workshop are as follows:

D2B Participants Workshop

November 5, 2007, 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM (EST)

Rosen Shingle Creek Resort & Golf Club

9939 University Blvd., Rm Suwannee 16/17

Orlando, FL

We look forward to all hospitals implementing the strategies and achieving optimal D2B times!