News Release June 4, 2007

St. Paul Emergency Medical Services crew receives Excellence in EMS Cardiac Activation award
St. Paul, Minn., - Four St. Paul Emergency Medical Services (EMS) crew were honored for their work and quick thinking that saved the life of a patient suffering a heart attack.

The medics used their training and conducted the 12-Lead EKG reading, which determined the patient was experiencing a heart attack. Using this information, the medics activated the Level I Cardiac system and within 50 minutes from the 911 call, the patient arrived at Regions Hospital via ambulance and was moved immediately to the cardiac catheterization lab to have the blocked artery opened.

The St. Paul crew honored at Regions 15th Annual Rig Wash and Barbeque event in May were Paul Wentler, captain; Dave Hafner, driver; Bill Lambert, medic; and Sam Breckenridge, medic.

"Having medics understand and use the 12-Lead EKG is essential to diagnose a heart attack," said Shailesh Shetty, M.D., director of interventional cardiology at Regions. "This is an invaluable service to anyone experiencing signs of a heart attack."

The rapid Level I Cardiac system activations have helped save lives from throughout the East Metro and western Wisconsin since the program began in October 2006.

Regions Hospital is a leading trauma center and teaching hospital serving Minnesota and western Wisconsin for more than 130 years. Regions is a private hospital providing outstanding care in women's health, heart, cancer, surgery, orthopaedics, burn, emergency care and more. Regions is part of the HealthPartners family of care. Additional information is available at regionshospital.com.

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