Ambulances get new life-saving equipment
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CENTRAL NEW YORK -- People suffering from a heart attack in Central New York could now have a lower risk of death or serious damage to their heart muscle thanks to some high-tech equipment.
Excellus BlueCross BlueShield is donating $30,000 to Upstate University Hospital to buy life-saving cardiac care equipment for ambulance companies across five counties. This equipment will allow first responders to transmit information about the heart attack patient directly from the ambulance to the hospital. That way, the emergency staff at four Central New York hospitals can get ready to treat the patient before they even arrive.
"They can get it on their iPads, they can get it on their computers, they can get it on their cell phones. What that means to us, is it saves us a lot of time. Lots of times, we walk into an ER after we transmit this information, they bypass the emergency room, they go directly to the cathe lab. What time means for these patients is it means muscle, it means saving their heart," said Al Kalfass, Waves Inc. Executive Director.
Up to 23 ambulance services in Cayuga, Cortland, Madison, Onondaga and Oswego counties will be getting this new life-saving equipment thanks to the grant.