Central Baptist Hospital participates in an American College of Cardiology Foundation exercise.

Central Baptist Hospital was one of only 10 hospitals in the country selected to participate in a SIM-FIT MI simulation June 22 along with the Lexington Division of Fire and Emergency Services, Georgetown Community Hospital and Georgetown-Scott County Emergency Medical Services.

Conducted by the American College of Cardiology Foundation (ACCF), the simulation was designed to help the hospitals and emergency medical services personnel improve care of heart attack patients.

The simulation, which involved actors portraying patients, was filmed by ACCF.  The video was then reviewed and discussed in an educational debriefing led by James G. Jollis, MD, FACC, a practicing cardiologist at Duke University Medical Center. Dr. Jollis serves as chair of the American Heart Association Mission Lifeline Scientific Advisory Committee and the American College of Cardiology Door 2 Balloon: Sustain the Gain initiative.

According to ACCF, participation by healthcare providers in the SIM-FIT MI simulation results in reduced “door-to-balloon” time, the crucial period from when a patient with heart attack symptoms arrives at an emergency department until the time the patient is in the cardiac catheterization lab receiving treatment to open blocked arteries.