Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS) Care (v2)

Course overview

During an EMS career, providers will respond to many cardiac emergencies. The patients will present their symptoms many ways and the outcomes are varied. What is most important is for EMS providers to evaluate the complaint and gather the objective data to analyze the situation and act promptly and appropriately. The objective data includes the vital signs, the events of the current complaint and the ECG assessment. If it is within the analysis of the 12-lead, the provider can begin to minimize the damage to the cardiac muscle. The faster and more accurate the analysis is, the quicker the entire medical team can reduce the affects of an acute coronary event. The EMS provider must continue to learn how to use the objective information and formulate a patient care plan to effectively reduce patient morbidity and mortality. By learning to recognize a STEMI, the provider gives the patient the best chance of a meaningful outcome.