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Life-saving Service for Rural Patients

Lanarkshire now provides a pre hospital thrombolysis service to people living in rural Clydesdale.

This service means patients living more than 30 minutes from their nearest hospital who experience a heart attack, will receive life-saving drugs in their own home from a paramedic.

The treatment, called thrombolysis, dissolves the blood-clots or blockages that cause a heart attack and improve a patient’s chances of survival and the benefits are far greater the earlier the drug is given.

Most patients living in urban areas will arrive at hospital within half an hour of the initial emergency call and receive thrombolysis in hospital. However in Clydesdale it may take longer than this to reach the nearest hospital. By training paramedics to administer this drug we can ensure that all patients throughout Lanarkshire have equal access to treatment regardless of where they live.

Paramedics attending a 999 call in Clydesdale will assess a patient suspected of having a heart attack and carry out a reading of their heart beat (ECG). Once a patient is diagnosed as having suffered a heart attack, the drug can be administered and the patient will be taken straight to the cardiac unit at Wishaw General Hospital.