KCH - An Accredited Chest Pain Center

An Accreditation Review Committee from the Society of Cardiovascular Patient Care reviewed a report from an onsite review team and has determined that Knox Community Hospital is deserving of full accreditation as a Chest Pain Center as of July 4, 2015.

What is an accredited Chest Pain Center?

Hospitals awarded this designation have Primary PCI (Percutaneous Coronary Intervention) available 24/7, every day of the year.

This means they have a call team made up of the cardiac cath lab staff and an interventional cardiologist who arrive to the facility within 30 minutes of STEMI activation.

These facilities have formal agreements with the facilities that regularly refer STEMI patients for primary PCI. They will also have mapped their STEMI processes to maximize efficiencies which lead to quicker treatment and improved outcomes. This includes:

• The ED physician having the authority to activate the cath lab
• A One-Call Activation System
• No STEMI Diversion Policy
• Formalized back-up protocol for simultaneous STEMI Activations or when the lab is "down"
• Defined roles and responsibilities for all STEMI team members

Learn more: http://www.scpc.org/Services/CPC.aspx