Good Shepherd Balloon Times Beat Newly Set National Average

LONGVIEW — Good Shepherd Medical Center is showcasing an accomplishment in its cardiovascular care. A recent study by the American Heart Association has significantly lowered the national average on “door-to-balloon” times for angioplasty patients. The national study, recently published in the August 2011 release of “Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association,” stated that between 2005 and 2010 average times adjusted down from 96 to 64 minutes. Good Shepherd officials say their facility’s average “door-to balloon” time was under 57 minutes during the last year (July 2010 to June 2011).

According to a Good Shepherd news release, for heart attack patients, angioplasty should always be performed as fast as possible. Angioplasty is often referred to as “ballooning” due to the use of a catheter, a thin balloon-tipped tube, which is inserted into the heart vessel to restore blood flow. The “door-to-balloon” time measures the critical time spent from hospital arrival until treatment of the blockage.

Good Shepherd has found that between July 2010 and June 2011 it had a door-to-balloon time average of 56.58 minutes. This set of data ranged from a low of 44 minutes in May 2011, with only one month reaching above 67 minutes — 76 minutes in January 2011. “Good Shepherd is extremely proud to continue to raise the standard for cardiac excellence both in East Texas and beyond,” said Good Shepherd CEO Ed Banos.