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 Commentary by Dr. Douglas Bails

The author makes compelling points regarding the poor rates of expedited presentation to the hospital after acute myocardial infarction and stroke. It is not ambulance response times or hospital inefficiency but patient-related factors that contribute the most to the significant delays we are seeing. Most surprisingly, it appears that the poor rates may not be due to poor education or awareness but to excessive fear regarding stroke and MI. Given these patient-related factors, the author’s suggestions for improvement seem to be on the mark: education and behavior modification of high-risk patients.

References

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