Travel Options
Ambulance is appropriate for transporting a patient from current location to a Rural General Hospital and then further to a larger hospital or specialist centre.
It is important to try and avoid taking any MI patients to a non PCI capable hospital if possible since the time the artery is occluded directly correlated to the patients life expectancy - for every 30 mins the artery is occluded a patient loses 1 year off their life expectancy.
However, depending on the location, this could take a long time. For example, in Kilcreggan in Argyll, the nearest blue light ambulance is 45 minutes away in central Glasgow. In Bettyhill in Sutherland on the other hand, the ambulance is based only 15 mins away. However, there is only one ambulance, and if this has been called away elsewhere, then it could be a very long wait!
On top of this, journey times in rural Scotland can also be very long, without taking into account single track roads and tourist traffic!
If an ambulance isn't available or the patient is in a more critical condition and needs transported quickly, we can use either the air ambulance or the EMRS (Emergency Medical Retrieval Service).
The advantages of this are that the patient will usually get to hospital more quickly by air than road, and an EMRS helicopter will have a consultant anaesthetist and cardiologist on board if required. EMRS helicopters are also usually provided by the Coastguard, so are able to fly in the dark and in more extreme weather conditions which the air ambulance is unable to fly in.
An EMRS helicopter from the patients presenting location straight to a PCI ready centre is the best care for a remote and rural STEMI patient.
