MELBOURNE, Fla. — Orlando Health Melbourne Hospital is partnering with the Melbourne Fire Department to give first responders hands-on training inside its newly expanded cardiac catheterization lab.
The hospital says it is the first partnership of its kind in Brevard County to include an entire fire department.
More than 120 personnel from Melbourne’s eight fire stations will train alongside hospital staff. The program is intended to improve communication, streamline patient handoffs and help hospital teams begin preparing before a patient arrives.
“Time is muscle,” said Wendy Noble, manager of the hospital’s cardiac catheterization lab. “Every second counts when a patient is having a heart attack.”
The training will focus on recognizing cardiac emergencies in the field, activating hospital teams sooner and coordinating care after patients arrive.
First responders will also learn more about what happens inside the catheterization lab after they transfer a patient to hospital staff.
“When our firefighter paramedics know exactly what the hospital team needs and expects, we communicate more effectively and ultimately give patients a better chance at survival,” Melbourne Fire Department EMS Division Chief Phil Leitz said.
Hospital leaders said better coordination could reduce door-to-balloon time, which measures how long it takes for a heart attack patient to receive treatment that restores blood flow through a blocked artery after arriving at the hospital.
About 805,000 people in the United States experience a heart attack each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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