Smarth Health
DASH Alert

January 31, 2008

The statistics on heart attacks are striking…A heart attack occurs about every 20 seconds in this country…and a death about every minute. Of those deaths, about half of them occur within the first hour after the heart attack. Timing is everything.

Doctors at Sarasota Memorial Hospital have come up with a special program designed to save more lives – by getting heart attack patients where they need to be – fast. The program is called “Direct Angioplasty Saves Hearts,” or “Dash Alert.” By getting patients interventional services more quickly, they can restore normal blood flow and minimize heart damage. Ironically, one of the doctors who helped design the program had a heart attack himself, and experienced the life-saving benefits of Dash Alert firsthand.