Helios Hospital Schwerin awarded as Cardiac Arrest Center
Helios Hospital Schwerin has been awarded the title of "Cardiac Arrest Center". This confirms the hospital's high level of expertise in the treatment of cardiac arrest.
The person opposite is still talking when suddenly she collapses. There is no reaction to being spoken to or shaken. "Circulatory arrest always occurs suddenly, the warning signs only appear seconds beforehand," explains Prof. Alexander Staudt from the Clinic for Cardiology at the Helios Clinics in Schwerin. "This means it is too late to prevent it. But you can react appropriately. The most important thing is immediate first aid!" This also includes alerting the emergency services. Emergency doctors and paramedics attend to the patient on site and take them to the best-equipped hospital. At the end of 2023, Helios Kliniken Schwerin was certified by the German Council for Resuscitation and the German Society of Cardiology as having the best possible processes in the emergency department for resuscitation following cardiac arrest. The hospital is therefore certified as a "Cardiac Arrest Center".
In addition to cardiology, the center also includes anesthesiology, neurology and intensive care medicine. "There are various causes of circulatory arrest," explains Prof. Staudt. "It can be a heart attack, but also a pulmonary embolism, lack of oxygen, poisoning or severe shock." After resuscitation, patients are often unstable and have complications such as sepsis, kidney failure or ventilation problems in the early stages. This is why experts from the various specialist areas are involved during and after resuscitation.
For the best possible prognosis for patients, international guidelines recommend treatment in a Cardiac Arrest Center that is structurally, organizationally and logistically geared towards the care of these patients. Prerequisites for this include a cardiac catheterization laboratory with 24-hour on-call service, continuous availability of emergency X-ray and CT, a reserved space in the intensive care unit and a continuous specialist neurology service. Regular training courses are also held for the staff involved.
"All specialist departments not only have to have a great deal of experience in dealing with resuscitated patients themselves, they also have to work very closely together in a coordinated manner," says Prof. Staudt. "I am proud of the team because it really works very well for the benefit of the patients."
