Santa Barbara County heart attack victims to get treatment within 90 minutes

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The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors has designated Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital and Marian Medical Center in Santa Maria as Comprehensive Cardiac Care Centers.

What this means is 911 cardiac patients will now go directly to one of these hospitals.

Before, all patients were taken to the nearest hospital, only to sometimes be transferred to others facilities with proper cardiac care capabilities.

The goal is for all cardiac patients to receive treatment within 90 minutes from the initial call.

"Every minute that we can decrease the time from recognition to treatment saves valuable heart muscle and significantly improves the long term outcomes for our patients," said Dr. Angelo Salvucci, Medical Director for the Santa Barbara County EMS Agency.

The time goal of 90 minutes meets the new national standards recommended by the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology.

The county said Cottage and Marian have worked hard to meet specific standards that include required equipment and personnel to provide rapid intervention and care, as well as internal policies, procedures and quality improvement processes that support the county-wide system.