St. Joseph Mercy Ann Arbor conducting survey to gain community input on cardiac arrest study

For Immediate Release

Contact:

Laura Blodgett

734-712-4536

Laura.Blodgett@stjoeshealth.org

November 9, 2018

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – (Nov. 9, 2018) – St. Joseph Mercy Ann Arbor, a member of Saint Joseph Mercy Health System, is conducting a clinical study, called ACCESS, to determine the best way to treat patients who present to the hospital with cardiac arrest. Because these patients cannot give consent to be in a research study once they arrive in cardiac arrest, the hospital has created a survey in order to gain important community input. For more information or to take the study, please visit http://www.stjoeshealth.org/access

Sudden cardiac arrest is a life-threatening condition in which the heart suddenly stops beating and there is no blood flow to the body. About 500,000 people in the United States experience cardiac arrest each year. About 350,000 or 70 percent of these cardiac arrests occur outside of the hospital - one every 90 seconds. Even if treated, less than 1 out of 10 people survive.

Patients who are known to have a clot in their heart arteries are taken to the cardiac catheterization lab in order to have an invasive procedure (called catheterization) to remove the clot and restore blood flow to their heart. An electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG) will show certain signs to signal a blocked artery in the heart. However, previous research has shown that patients who have had a cardiac arrest from ventricular fibrillation may be likely to have a clot in their heart arteries but not have signs of a clot on their ECG. Ventricular fibrillation is the most serious cardiac rhythm disturbance causing the heart to quiver and lose its ability to pump, causing a sudden cardiac arrest.

ACCESS is a study designed to see which of two standard treatments has increased survival with good outcomes for patients with out-of-hospital ventricular fibrillation cardiac arrest: admission to the cardiac catheterization lab or admission to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

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About Saint Joseph Mercy Health System

Saint Joseph Mercy Health System (SJMHS) is a health care organization serving seven counties in southeast Michigan including Livingston, Washtenaw,

Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Jackson, and Lenawee. It includes 537-bed St. Joseph Mercy Ann Arbor, 443-bed St. Joseph Mercy Oakland in Pontiac, 304-bed St. Mary Mercy Livonia, 136-bed St. Joseph Mercy Livingston in Howell, and 133-bed St. Joseph Mercy Chelsea. Combined, the five hospitals are licensed for 1,553 beds, have five outpatient health centers, six urgent care facilities, more than 25 specialty centers; employ more than 15,300 individuals and have a medical staff of nearly 2,700 physicians. SJMHS has annual operating revenues of about $2 billion and returns about $115 million to its communities annually through charity care and community benefit programs.

SJMHS is a member of Trinity Health, a leading Catholic health care system based in Livonia, Mich. Trinity Health operates in 22 states, employs about 133,000 colleagues, has annual operating revenues of $17.6 billion and assets of about $24.7 billion. Additionally, the organization returns almost $1.1 billion to its communities annually in the form of charity care and other community benefit programs.

For more information on health services offered at Saint Joseph Mercy Health System, please visit www.stjoeshealth.org.