Crisis in India: UA Researchers Mobilize to Save Lives

July 17, 2015

The Emergency Medicine Research Center at the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Tucson and Phoenix will help dramatically improve survival rates from cardiac arrest across the globe, in India.

M.S. Ramaiah Medical College, M.S. Ramaiah Memorial Hospital, MSR Advanced Learning Centre, University of Illinois at Chicago and Medtronic announced Wednesday the launch of HeartRescue India.  The program is a first-of-its-kind $4.4-million collaborative effort that supports community-based demonstration projects designed to expand access to life-saving interventions for cardiovascular events such as heart attack and sudden cardiac arrest. The Arizona Emergency Medicine Research Center (AEMRC) at the UA in Tucson and Phoenix is the technical advisor on the project.

The HeartRescue India partners convened on Thursday at M.S. Ramaiah Memorial Hospital in Bangalore, India, with representatives from state government, local and national medical experts to launch a bold and unique initiative aimed at dramatically improving survival from the leading cause of death in India--acute cardiovascular disease.

The AEMRC is the global technical advisor for the HeartRescue-Global Project, which is a $14 million international effort to improve survival from acute cardiovascular disease through implementation of integrated systems of care including community responders, emergency medical dispatch systems and hospitals.

The HeartRescue project is funded through the fundraising arm of Medtronic.

"Over the past five years, our partnership with Medtronic Philanthropy has resulted in many discoveries and most importantly thousands of lives saved from sudden cardiac arrest in the Arizona, said Bentley Bobrow, MD, a distinguished professor of emergency medicine and associate director of the Arizona Emergency Medicine Research Center in Phoenix. “We are confident that the models to improve emergency cardiovascular care and save lives will have an enormous global impact.”

“We know this effort will save many lives in India and beyond as the project expands, added Daniel Spaite, MD, associate director of the AEMRC in Phoenix.

Fast Facts – Crisis in India:

  • India has the largest cardiovascular disease burden of any country in the world. Heart attack claims between 4 and 5 million people annually.
  • 10.3 percent of all deaths (700,000 cases annually) were due to sudden cardiac arrest.
  • 25 percent of those deaths were people under the age of 50.

Goal:

To implement a model of care for patients with acute cardiac emergencies that minimizes critical delays to treatment and saves lives. Building on a successful five-year program in the United States, HeartRescue India partners will coordinate implementation in Bangalore, which will include community outreach efforts to improve knowledge of the signs and symptoms of heart attack and sudden cardiac arrest, teaching families how to call for emergency help and if necessary perform life-saving CPR.

For more information about the Arizona Emergency Medicine Research Center

http://emergencymed.arizona.edu/aemrc/

For more information about the M.S. Ramaiah Medical College, Bangalore

http://www.msrmc.ac.in/

For more information about the Center for Global Health at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine

http://globalhealth.uic.edu/

About Medtronic

Medtronic plc (www.medtronic.com), headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, is the global leader in medical technology -- alleviating pain, restoring health and extending life for millions of people around the world.

About Medtronic Philanthropy

Medtronic Philanthropy focuses on expanding access to quality chronic disease care among underserved populations worldwide, in addition to supporting health initiatives in communities where Medtronic employees live and give.