A Great Partnership: AAMC, Prince George’s Firefighters, and Emergency Medical Technicians
In mid-August, James Loor, a recently retired Prince George’s County firefighter, was brought to the AAMC Emergency Department suffering a heart attack. Our AAMC team, working with the Prince George’s County EMTs, saved Mr. Loor’s life, and in a remarkably quick fashion.
Our teams’ quick actions likely prevented permanent heart damage. Our hospital is measured on “door-to-balloon time” – from the time a patient is brought into the Emergency Room until the cardiac catheterization is performed to unblock arteries.
The national standard time is 90 minutes. This door-to-balloon for Mr. Loor at AAMC was a mere 30 minutes. You will be reading more about Mr. Loor in an upcoming issue of AAMC magazine and on our Web site.
Congratulations to our remarkable ED and cath lab staff for great work, not only in this particular circumstance, but every day!
Below are excerpts about Mr. Loor featured on the Prince George’s County Fire Fighter’s Web site, and written by the fire department’s Public Information Officer Mark Brady.
TEAMWORK and SAVING JIMMY LOOR
L to R; Fire Fighter/Medic Technician James R. Porter, Fire Fighter/Medic Michael S. Williams, Fire Captain Ricardo L. Summers, Fire Fighter/Medic Christine J. Wrzesinski, Jimmy Loor and the Staff from AAMC, Nurse Kaaren Simmons, Dr. Scott Katzen, Dr. Sam Long, Nurse Patty Sherman, and ED technician Leslie Nogule.
On Thursday, August 19, 2010, a recently retired civilian employee of the Prince George’s County Fire/Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Department suffered a medical emergency similar to those that he dealt with countless times during his 34-year career. Jim Loor, 56, had officially retired from the Fire/EMS Department on July 1, 2010. …
Jim Loor is also a long-time volunteer firefighter and during his tenure with the Fire/EMS Department worked in the Logistics and Supply Office as well as Apparatus Maintenance and knew just about all the firefighters and medics employed by the Department, including the ones that helped save his life.
Firefighter/Medics … were quick to respond to Loor’s Bowie home. Upon arrival, medics performed a patient assessment and documented vital signs. … Fire Fighter/Medic Michael Williams provided a thorough consult and accurate interpretation and conveyance of the EKG to the ER staff at AAMC. Because of the accuracy of the medical consult and despite not having an EKG in hand – emergency room physicians alerted the Cardiac Cath Team while the patient was en route, saving valuable time. …
Upon arrival at the AAMC Emergency Department the patient made a brief stop before being swiftly taken to the cath lab. Valuable time was saved by paramedics initiating a second IV and early recognition and notification to the hospital thorough consult and accurate interpretation and conveyance of the EKG. The patient went on to the cardiac cath lab where he had a stent placed for a completely block coronary artery. Due to the excellent teamwork of medics and staff at the AAMC the “door to balloon” time in this case was 30 minutes, compared to a national standard time of 90 minutes. Time is critical in these cases as heart muscles will sustain additional damage the longer the time it takes to receive treatment in a Cath Lab. Loor was released from the hospital on Sunday, August 22, 2010.
-Annamarie DeCarlo
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