Goa Heart Attack Care: How STEMI Model Cuts Treatment Time
Goa’s STEMI care network uses rapid ECG diagnosis and thrombolysis to speed up emergency heart treatment and improve outcomes.
Goa’s STEMI care model is showing how faster diagnosis and treatment can improve outcomes during severe heart attacks. Data presented at the National Cardiovascular Summit indicated that critical heart attacks can be identified and patients given thrombolysis within about 19 minutes after reaching a public healthcare facility in the state.
Goa introduced the hub-and-spoke STEMI model in 2019, connecting primary health centres with higher-level hospitals. The system allows patients experiencing symptoms such as chest pain, heaviness or breathlessness to undergo ECG testing even at a primary health centre. AI-supported ECG technology helps specialists assess the reports remotely, allowing doctors to identify serious heart attacks quickly.
According to data presented at the summit, ECG confirmation in Goa takes around 12 minutes, while thrombolysis can be administered within 19 minutes when required. Patients are subsequently referred to tertiary hospitals for procedures such as percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), commonly known as angioplasty.
The programme initially connected Goa Medical College and Hospital with 12 primary health centres and later expanded to 20 centres.
The data showed that average in-hospital deaths from acute heart attacks in Goa declined from 7.2% in 2019 to around 1%. The average time for patients to reach a hospital was reported at about 2 hours and 11 minutes.
The STEMI model is also being implemented in states including Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana, Odisha, Bihar and Manipur, with the broader aim of improving access to time-sensitive cardiac care.
