In a study conducted in selected US hospitals, bypassing the emergency department with direct transport to the cardiac catheterization laboratory resulted in a reduced time to reperfusion for patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction. However, this strategy was used infrequently—mostly during working hours—and varied significantly between hospitals.
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The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position or policy of the Department of Veterans Affairs or the US government. This article is the result of work supported by resources from the VA Puget Sound Health Care System, Seattle, WA, USA.
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Maynard, C., Bradley, S. Bypassing the emergency department to treat STEMI. Nat Rev Cardiol 10, 491–492 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrcardio.2013.113
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrcardio.2013.113
