What is the standard of care for patients with ST-segment myocardial infarction?

It is 1:30 am; the chirping device on your nightstand awakens you from a sound sleep. You struggle to recognize the annoying sound and quickly realize it is your pager: 5 minutes to call the hospital operator. You jump out of bed in the middle of the night knowing that a patient in the emergency department (ED) who is experiencing an ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is depending on your expertise. The on-call interventional cardiologist wants to emergently take this patient to the cardiac catheterization laboratory. You call the operator to confirm your page, get dressed, drive yourself to the hospital, and prepare to receive your patient, all within 30 minutes. Minutes matter.

Mr C, your patient, a 54-year-old firefighter, transported by emergency medical services (EMS), arrives in the ED cold and clammy with chest pain rated...

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