South Carolina Hospital Becomes First in State to Use 15-Minute Bedside Heart Attack Test
MUSC Florence is the first hospital in South Carolina to use a test that detects heart attacks in 15 minutes.
MUSC Florence becomes the first hospital in the state to use heart attack detection device .
Getty ImagesMUSC Health Florence Medical Center is the first hospital in South Carolina to deploy a test that spots heart attacks in 15 minutes right at a patient's bedside. The test runs on Abbott's portable i-STAT 1 instrument. It delivers lab-quality results without shipping samples to a lab.
The Abbott i-STAT High-sensitivity Troponin I Cartridge measures tiny amounts of cardiac troponin I in the blood — a protein found only in the heart. High amounts can signal damage to the heart muscle.
"With our new protocol, we use the high-sensitivity troponin test, which is extremely accurate at detecting a potential heart attack," said Bradley Russell, M.D., an emergency medicine physician who has worked at Florence Medical Center for 20 years, according to The Post and Courier. "Now, we can see results immediately."
The facility has reduced the time to detect a heart injury from one hour to 15 minutes. Russell said this translates to faster care for patients with possible heart attacks or acute coronary syndrome, conditions that demand swift intervention to prevent lasting damage or death.
The test aims to shrink emergency department wait times. It also streamlines testing for heart-related symptoms. Patient care and outcomes are expected to improve with the new system.
MUSC Health Florence Medical Center is located in Florence County. The hospital serves as a leading medical facility for the region.
