Bengaluru: Following a spike in sudden heart attacks leading to a large number of deaths, the state Health Department has launched a new initiative to help patients get medical attention during the golden hour.
Though the programme was announced in the budget, the details on its implementation were not made public. “We have witnessed that recently young people are increasingly suffering heart attacks. According to a study, 35 per cent of heart attack victims are in their 40s. The Health Department has taken a significant step forward in this regard with an objective to save as many lives as possible in case of heart attack and also to ensure treatment is provided within the golden hour,” said Health and Family Welfare Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao during a press meet in the city on Tuesday.
The programme is named ‘Karnataka Ratna Dr Puneeth Rajkumar Hrudaya Jyothi Yojana’.
Under the scheme, the department plans to set up hub and spoke centres across the state, to ensure patients get immediate care. Spoke centres will be set up at 85 district and taluk hospitals. Sixteen super specialty hospitals in the state, including the Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research, will act as hub centres.
Those experiencing any chest pain can immediately visit the spoke centres where doctors will perform an ECG and administer Tenecteplase injections to prevent a heart attack. “Also, within four to five minutes, using a specially designed Artificial Intelligence (AI) tool, doctors will be able to detect if the condition of the patient is critical. For critical patients, Tenecteplase injection will be provided free of cost. This injection is very effective in preventing sudden heart attacks,” Rao explained.
Further, depending on the need for advanced treatment, patients will be referred to the hub centres to get an angioplasty or an angiogram. “BPL card holders will get free treatment in hubs of super specialty hospitals. APL cardholders can get free treatment under our Arogya Karnataka Ayushman Bharat Health Card,” Rao added.
Additionally, as a part of the programme, 50 automated external defibrillators will be installed in public places including bus stands, railway stations, airports, Vidhana Soudha and courts. These machines will help analyse the heart rhythm in people experiencing heart attack-like symptoms and in a few cases initiate an electric shock to the heart to restore normal rhythm.
(Published 01 November 2023, 00:24 IST)