6-month-old cardiac program saves Norwalk man (USA)

"John Morton had no idea a petition he signed for Norwalk Hospital, CT, in 2005 would help establish the very service that saved his life four years later. But when Morton, a 57-year-old Norwalk, man, felt the telltale chest pangs at 3 a.m. Sunday, the staff and the equipment of Norwalk Hospital's emergency angioplasty program were waiting for him. Six months ago, Morton would have been stabilized and transferred by ambulance to St. Vincent's Medical Center in Bridgeport for the emergency procedure, in which a balloon-tipped catheter is inserted into a narrow or clogged artery, then inflated to restore blood flow. And six months ago, Morton probably wouldn't have survived the transfer, said his cardiologist, Dr. Robert Jumper. The state approved Norwalk's emergency angioplasty program in January, almost a decade after its initial request in 2000. Doctors say it is the most effective intervention in saving lives and minimizing heart damage during an acute heart attack. In July, Norwalk Hospital began performing the procedures after months of training rotating through a supervising hospital, St. Vincent's, and performing mock drills in Norwalk, said Ed Staunton, director of operations. As of Wednesday, the hospital had treated 33 patients in its state-of-the-art cardiac and vascular catheterization laboratory, Staunton said"