Chest Pain Center
Chesapeake Regional Medical Center is proud of the huge impact we're having on heart patients across Southeast Virginia and Northeast North Carolina.
When every second counts, we're ready in a heartbeat.
Heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women, and chest pain is one of the most common reasons people visit the Emergency Room.
Every 34 seconds
That's how often someone in the United States suffers a heart attack. Know the signs, know the symptoms, and know that Chesapeake Regional's fully accredited Chest Pain Center is ready to help in a heartbeat.
If you notice any of these symptoms, don't wait. Call 911 immediately.
That’s why Chesapeake Regional Medical Center established a chest pain center within its Emergency Department two years ago, to be sure that patients receive fast, accurate and state-of-the-art diagnosis and treatment as soon as they arrive at its doors.
The need for speed
The cardiac cath team (from left) Denise Rowe, Dr. Ronald McKechnie, Karen Fransee and Sherwood Moore, ready for a patient in the lab.As part of the Emergency Department’s protocol, patients with chest pain or other heart attack symptoms receive immediate medical evaluation by cardiologists and emergency physicians – sometimes even before they arrive at the ED doors. Through a new partnership with Chesapeake ambulance services, for instance, EMS teams are able to perform EKGs in the field and send the information within seconds to the emergency department. This allows the cardiac team to be in place as soon as the patient arrives at the ER.
Once there, a highly skilled team with advanced knowledge in managing heart attacks provides rapid therapy to decide whether immediate medical treatment is warranted, further tests are needed or observation is necessary.
Superior equipment
Available to help physicians make their diagnosis is the most advanced generation of cardiac CT scan available. This high tech tool provides 64-slice scans within seconds, giving physicians the ability to quickly diagnose patients.
For those who need immediate intervention, Chesapeake Regional’s cardiovascular lab is equipped with two sophisticated digital X-ray systems that provide physicians with a distortion-free, high-resolution, 3-D image of the heat’s coronary arteries. This technology allows them to perform a range of minimally invasive procedures to unblock arteries and solve other problems.
With its protocol’s in place, Chesapeake Regional has registered scores well below the national average in “door-to-balloon” times for those patients facing heart conditions.
Fully accredited
Chesapeake Regional Chest Pain Center is fully accredited with PCI from the Society of Chest Pain Centers.
To earn the designation, nationally recognized experts visited Chesapeake Regional in June to verify that heart attack patients are receiving the most advanced and best possible care. The society has strict criteria and only accredits those facilities that closely follow the American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association's recommendations to improve and save lives.
In heart attacks, getting treatment fast can mean the difference between life and death.
