WARSAW, IN (December 7, 2010) – The Society of Chest Pain Centers has granted Kosciusko Community Hospital the designation of Accredited Chest Pain Center. The Society of Chest Pain Centers (SCPC) promotes protocol-based medicine to address the diagnoses and treatment of acute coronary syndromes, heart failure and to promote the adoption of process improvement science by healthcare providers. The SCPC accreditation process establishes standards designed to improve the consistency and quality of care provided to patients. Facilities must meet or exceed quality of care measures in acute cardiac medicine.

"Implementing a fully accredited chest pain center at KCH is critical to increasing cardiac arrest saves in our county. KCH partners with area emergency response teams so that our residents can have immediate access to life-saving protocols when faced with debilitating heart-related illness," said Stephen Miller, Chief Executive Officer at Kosciusko Community Hospital. "I believe that the EMS, police, firemen, KCH physicians and staff who are trained to stabilize patients experiencing a heart attack are successfully working together to achieve the highest save rates in the state, " Miller said.

The Society of Chest Pain Centers only accredits a hospital demonstrating a high level of performance using the following criteria

• Reducing the time from onset of symptoms to diagnosis and treatment
• Treating patients more quickly during the critical window of time when the integrity of the heart muscle can be preserved
• Monitoring patients when it is not certain that they are having a heart attack to ensure that they are not sent home too quickly or needlessly admitted to the hospital

Heart attack symptoms include chest pain or discomfort; pain or discomfort in one or both arms, back, jaw, neck or stomach; shortness of breath with or without chest discomfort; breaking out in a cold sweat; light-headedness; and nausea. If you experience these symptoms, call 911 immediately as every second counts in a medical emergency.

 "People tend to wait when they think they might be experiencing heart attack symptoms," states Dr. David Hartman, KCH Chest Pain Center Medical Director. "If a patient having a heart attack is treated within 30 minutes, damage to the heart is minimized and mortality is decreased. At the KCH Chest Pain Center, we want to significantly reduce the time from initial symptoms to treatment and to provide continuous monitoring of patients to determine if they are experiencing a coronary event."

"Working with our local EMS teams, we can provide prompt and professional care in a dedicated location with trained staff and readily available diagnostic capabilities. This great achievement is a reflection of the work that our physicians and staff have devoted to meet the highest standard for safe, effective patient care," said Julie Bowers, Division Director of the KCH Emergency Care Center.