Health and Family Welfare Minister James Sangma today inaugurated the ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI) project that will allow advanced diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases and care coordination for heart attacks to be done in a matter of minutes using a cloud connected ECG machine.
The second phase of STEMI project is by the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) that was brought to the state by NEIGRIHMS.
NEIGRIHMS director Dr Nalin Mehta informed that the project focuses on timely intervention in cases of heart attacks and saving precious lives by initiating treatment of blocked arteries of the heart within the golden hour (first 90 minutes) by administering clot buster (thrombolytics) medicine.
The project is the biggest service to mankind under which the clot buster medicine, which costs between Rs 20,000 and 25,000, will be provided free of cost, he added.
The projects principal investigator, Dr Amit Malviya, said, “Any patients who visit with complaints of chest pain or symptoms suggesting heart attack to any of the spoke centres will be screened with ECG and it will be uploaded along with necessary details on a dedicated mobile application which will be received by the command centre (NEIGRIHMS). The command centre will analyze and confirm the eligibility for clot buster medicine and if the patient is eligible then the medicine will be administered immediately at the spoke centres free of cost.”
He also informed that the training session of the doctors and the paramedics has been completed at NEIGRIHMS and Directorate of Health Services.
The health minister described it as a boon to the care of heart attack patients in Meghalaya, especially for those in the lower income bracket because clot-busting medicine will be provided free of cost during the project to eligible patients.
He added that it is a matter of pride that ICMR has chosen NEIGRIHMS as its nodal centre for implementing the project in Meghalaya.
The project will work in a hub and spoke model, NEIGRIHMS being the hub (command centre) and eight hospitals in Shillong – Civil Hospital, Ganesh Das, Reid Chest Hospital, Dr H Gordon Roberts, Nazareth, Woodland, Supercare and Bethany – will be the spokes.
