New LIFE STAR Stretchers Ensure Timely Care For Windham Hospital Heart Attack Patients

December 25, 2013

Willimantic—Thanks to a collaboration with the Chest Pain Center at Hartford Hospital, the Windham Hospital Emergency Department (ED) has two new stretchers designed to make the transfer of patients from the ED to LIFE STAR even faster and ensure that heart attack patients receive the advanced life-saving treatment they need.

Since routine ED stretchers didn’t fit into LIFE STAR, staff was required to move patients from one stretcher to another. During the lag time, the helicopter’s engine and rotors had to be turned off. Now, patients can be prepared for flight on one stretcher, saving four to eight minutes. With the new stretchers ready in the ED, LIFE STAR can make a “hot landing”—engine and rooters still on— and save crucial minutes before making a seven to ten minute flight to Hartford Hospital.

“At a small community hospital like Windham, many times we have to transport the sickest of patients to Hartford Hospital for advanced treatment,” says Greg Shangold, MD, Medical Director of the Windham Hospital This is one more method to enhance coordinated care between the two hospitals.”