Timing is Everything When It Comes to Your Heart.

If you have a heart attack or a sudden cardiac arrest, an accredited Chest Pain Center is ideally the place where you want to receive treatment. Both are cardiac emergencies and 911 should be called immediately. If you see someone who’s unconscious and not breathing, call 911 right away, start CPR and use an automated external defibrillator, called an AED, if one is available. And, if you haven’t taken a course in CPR, sign up today by visiting the American Heart Association website.

Why Chest Pain Center Accreditation Matters
This accreditation means that Stony Brook is optimally equipped, trained and staffed to care for those during or after a heart attack (when one of the coronary arteries is blocked and the heart muscle is robbed of its vital blood supply) or a sudden cardiac arrest (when the heart malfunctions and suddenly stops beating). Patients arriving at Stony Brook University Hospital’s Emergency Room with symptoms of a cardiac emergency are treated according to quality-of-care measures that are proven to achieve better patient outcomes. Accreditation reaffirms that Stony Brook provides the most advanced and timely evidence-based heart attack or cardiac arrest care to the patients in our community. Only through the exceptional skill of our cardiac and emergency services teams are we able to implement the guidelines established by the American College of Cardiology (ACC) to offer the best quality emergency cardiac care available anywhere. 
Stony Brook is the only hospital on Long Island to achieve full Chest Pain Center accreditation — Primary Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI) with Resuscitation from the ACC and the only facility on Long Island to have received the past two back-to-back accreditations.

What is Primary PCI with Resuscitation?
Primary PCI (percutaneous coronary intervention), also called angioplasty, is a non-surgical procedure used to open blocked coronary arteries before, during or after a heart attack or cardiac arrest. 
“Primary” PCI means that angioplasty is the key specialized treatment utilized for severe heart attacks. The term “resuscitation” refers to a state-of-the-art body-cooling therapy shown to improve a patient’s outcomes after cardiac arrest. Hospitals that have earned this designation have primary PCI with resuscitation available 24-hours-a-day, every day.

Making Every Minute Count
Using our “Code H” protocol for patients having a heart attack, Stony Brook University Hospital has achieved a “door-to-balloon” time — the amount of time between a patient coming through the door and the blocked arteries being cleared by a balloon-tipped catheter (angioplasty or PCI) — that is 28 minutes sooner than the 90 minutes or less specified in American Heart Association guidelines.
If you’re having a heart attack, every second counts. The key is to get treated as quickly as possible so there is less chance of heart muscle damage. Few hospitals can offer the diagnostic testing and the complete array of on-site interventional options that are available at Stony Brook. In addition, for patients suffering from a cardiac arrest, Stony Brook University Hospital provides a robust hypothermia program that lowers a patient’s body temperature allowing for the best possible chance of meaningful recovery.
By earning the distinguished Chest Pain Center accreditation at Stony Brook, we’re demonstrating to the Long Island community that we provide advanced cardiac care, even in the most complex cases. We offer everything our patients need to be taken care of efficiently and effectively, including procedures available only at select centers throughout the country. It is crucial to immediately seek care from the most skilled facility available. For our community, I’m very pleased and proud to say, that’s Stony Brook Heart Institute.