Heart care in golden hour: New initiative aims to reduce STEMI deaths
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Lucknow: To improve emergency heart care in semi-urban and rural areas, the state govt has launched the UP STEMI Care Program in SGPGIMS. This initiative uses tele-ECG technology to detect heart attacks in remote regions within minutes and aims to reduce deaths from ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI) — one of the deadliest and most time-sensitive forms of heart attack.
The initiative follows a spoke-and-hub model. District hospitals and CHCs in Rae Bareli, Sultanpur and Amethi (spokes) will begin clot-busting treatment within the golden hour, the critical first hour after a heart attack. Patients will then be referred to advanced centres like SGPGIMS (hubs) for angioplasty (PCI) within 3–24 hours. This ensures timely, evidence-based heart attack care, even in low-resource settings.
The initiative also enables real-time ECG transmission from local health facilities to expert centres like SGPGIMS, allowing trained cardiologists to interpret ECGs remotely and guide treatment decisions.
Prof Aditya Kapoor, head of the cardiology department at SGPGIMS, said, "It's a leap forward in reducing preventable cardiac deaths in UP... Heart diseases are the leading cause of death, accounting for over 28% of all fatalities.
Indians develop heart blockages almost 10 years earlier than people in western countries. Nearly 50% of first heart attacks occur before the age of 55, and 25% even before 40. In UP alone, about five lakh people suffer from STEMI each year.
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"Among people aged 40–69 and those above 70, heart blockages cause nearly 25% of all deaths. Even among those below 40, it accounts for about 10% of fatalities. Disability related to heart blockages has increased 1.5 to 2 times over the past 30 years," he said.
Prof Kapoor said, "We also plan to incorporate AI-based applications to speed up ECG analysis. While a standard 12-lead ECG takes 5 to 10 minutes to generate and interpret, AI-enabled ECGs using just a single lead can accurately predict the possibility of a heart attack."
Dr Ankit Sahu, additional professor, cardiology, said that lack of awareness, poor transport and limited ECG facilities at peripheral health centres often delay the diagnosis.
Partha Sarthi Sen Sharma, principal secretary, medical health, said, "The programme represents a robust doctor-govt partnership that prioritises equitable access to life-saving care. With this rollout, UP aims to reduce STEMI-related mortality and serve as a blueprint for scalable cardiac care delivery across India."
SGPGIMS director Prof R K Dhiman assured full support from SGPGIMS in implementing and expanding the initiative across the state.
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