ThatEMTGuy
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What's a STEMI? What's it mean? How do you check for it? How can you know? Sorry for a really dumb question.
I'm sorry for asking, but whats a stemi?
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STEMI: ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction
ST Elevation refers to the ECG, which is the way we determine if someone is having an MI.
ST Elevation refers to the ECG, which is the way we determine if someone is having an MI.
CALEMT
The Other Guy/ Paramaybe?
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First no question is a dumb question.
Second STEMI stands for ST segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction
Third and this is more for someone who is more qualified than me (i.e. a medic) you can read it off a 12 lead and its a pretty good indicator of a MI.
This is a normal PQRST complex
This is a STEMI
Second STEMI stands for ST segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction
Third and this is more for someone who is more qualified than me (i.e. a medic) you can read it off a 12 lead and its a pretty good indicator of a MI.
This is a normal PQRST complex
This is a STEMI
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Topper.
DesertMedic66
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Several tens of thousands of dollars in hospital charges.
What the others have said. ST (a special part of an EKG) Elevated Myocardial Infarction. In easy to terms it's a heart attack. There is a blockage in one or more of the arteries that supplies blood to the heart muscle cause the muscle to die.
What the others have said. ST (a special part of an EKG) Elevated Myocardial Infarction. In easy to terms it's a heart attack. There is a blockage in one or more of the arteries that supplies blood to the heart muscle cause the muscle to die.
DieselBolus
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"ST elevation in leads x, x, and x" is one of the loudest and most excited phrases you'll hear in radio reports.
I actually heard it said so calmly once that I had to ask for clarification on leads because it took me a while to comprehend "ST elevation" from such a low, "whatever" voice.
But yes, normally it involves a nurse sprinting down a hallway or a paramedic talking faster than usual.@ThatEMTGuy Try to get your hand ond Dubin's Interpretation of ECG, it's a great resource and easy to learn from it.
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Seriously?
Ewok Jerky
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An EKG has several waves that are correlated with different components of cardiac depolarization (heart beats). First is the P-wave. Then 3 waves one right after the other Q, R, and S. Then a T-wave. The spaces in between waves where the tracing returns to baseline and is flat are called segments.
If the segment between the S-wave and T-wave is elevated above baseline in a charecteristic way it is indicative of a heart attack and we call it a STEMI (ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction). If the patient is having a heart attack even though we don't see any elevation in the ST segment, its called an NSTEMI (Non ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction.
So you check for it on the EKG. When you have a slam dunk STEMI you go to the cath lab and they take pictures and hopefully find the blockage and then you know. If its an NSTEMI you do blood work to look for evidence of a dying heart muscle, then you know.
Sometimes people have ST elevation with out a heart attack, sometimes they have a heart attack without ST elevation. Sometimes they have a "heart attack" but don't have a blockage. Sometimes they have a blockage but don't have a heart attack. Basically, as EMS you don't always know, and neither does the ED, and neither does the cardiologist until they go in and look. But a STEMI on EKG is a pretty good bet that the heart is dying.
If the segment between the S-wave and T-wave is elevated above baseline in a charecteristic way it is indicative of a heart attack and we call it a STEMI (ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction). If the patient is having a heart attack even though we don't see any elevation in the ST segment, its called an NSTEMI (Non ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction.
So you check for it on the EKG. When you have a slam dunk STEMI you go to the cath lab and they take pictures and hopefully find the blockage and then you know. If its an NSTEMI you do blood work to look for evidence of a dying heart muscle, then you know.
Sometimes people have ST elevation with out a heart attack, sometimes they have a heart attack without ST elevation. Sometimes they have a "heart attack" but don't have a blockage. Sometimes they have a blockage but don't have a heart attack. Basically, as EMS you don't always know, and neither does the ED, and neither does the cardiologist until they go in and look. But a STEMI on EKG is a pretty good bet that the heart is dying.