Minutes Matter
Rapid Care Is Key to Heart Attack, Stroke Survival
New, Heart-Saving
Services at NNMC
Imagine you feel a strange sensation in your chest, back, chin, shoulder or arm. You call 9-1-1 and set in motion a series of events that may save your life. If it turns out you're having a heart attack, your survival could depend on how quickly you receive treatment.
When emergency responders bring you to NNMC, know that our goal is to provide you with prompt, advanced and comprehensive care for heart attacks.
New Cardiology Program
By mid-summer, NNMC will offer full-service interventional cardiology to complement our well-established cardiovascular diagnostic and treatment programs."NNMC's qualified staff and commitment to delivering excellent medical care will help us to exceed nationally accepted standards of cardiovascular care and move us further ahead," says Director of Cardiology Richard Leff, MD, FACC. Dr. Leff recently was recruited to develop the interventional cardiology program.
Time Lost Is Muscle Lost
"The quicker we can re-establish blood flow to the heart, the greater the odds of survival," Dr. Leff says. "NNMC's size, location, motivated staff and established protocols boost our ability to optimize rapid door-to-balloon times [D2B]. This improves our chances of saving your heart muscle."D2B times measure the minutes from when a patient arrives at the hospital to the time a blocked artery is opened. With each passing moment, the risk of death increases. Shorter D2B times can greatly improve patient outcomes.
Great Care Close to Home
While most heart attacks are treated with stents and balloons, we plan to offer even newer, more modern techniques as they become available.And because NNMC is close to home -- the hospital is ideally situated here in Sparks -- you now can access lifesaving care even faster.
Medical Director of Cardiology
Richard Leff, MD, FACC
Dr. Leff, a board-certified cardiologist, has been performing cardiac interventions for more than 25 years.
Medical School: University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson, AZ
Residency: University of Nevada School of Medicine, Reno
Cardiology Fellowship: University of California, San Francisco, Affiliated Hospital Program
Past Memberships: Chairman, Arizona State American Heart Association (AHA) Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) Emergency Cardiac Care Committee; AHA ACLS National Faculty
For Appointments: Please call Northern Nevada Medical Group at 775-352-5300.
Innovative, Aggressive Stroke Care
When a stroke occurs, mere minutes can mean the difference between recovery and long-term speech, sight or movement complications. That's why quick care is crucial, says Aaron Heide, MD, a board-certified neurologist, vascular neurologist, and fellowship-trained stroke specialist.This fall, Dr. Heide will diagnose and treat stroke patients at NNMC through a new, modern technology -- the TeleStroke system. This innovative service allows the neurology team to diagnose strokes without even being at the hospital.
It's similar to a teleconference, but with much more advanced technology. "It brings us right to patients' bedsides," Dr. Heide says. "I'm a phone call away, and I can request tests or treatment faster than a doctor down the street who may need to drive in to review results."
Ischemic strokes -- the most common types of strokes -- are caused by blood clots that block vessels in the brain. In addition to CT scans, NNMC also offers CT angiography, a more highly refined test that can verify clots are present. Medication can dissolve clots, as long as it is administered within the first three hours of stroke warning signs.
Medical Director of Neurology
Aaron Heide, MD
Dr. Heide is a board-certified neurologist, vascular neurologist and fellowshiptrained stroke specialist.
Medical School: University of Washington School of Medicine
Internship: University of Nevada School of Medicine, Reno
Neurology Residency: Tufts University, Boston
Stroke Fellowship: Lahey Medical Center, Burlington, MA
For Appointments: Please call 1-888-432-CLOT (2568).
