911 AND EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT USE FOR CHEST PAIN - RESULTS OF A MEDIA CAMPAIGN

Study objectives: We evaluated the effects of a community public educa tion campaign that encouraged patients to quickly call 911 after the o nset of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) symptoms. Setting and partic ipants: The media campaign focused on residents 50 years of age or old er in King County, Washington, which has a population of 1.5 million ( 1990 census). Design: We determined 911 responses for chest pain, emer gency department visits for AMI symptoms, the number of patients admit ted to a CCU with an admitting diagnosis of rule-out MI, and the numbe r of confirmed AMIs before and after the campaign. Results: The number of emergency medical services (EMS) responses (911 runs) for patients 50 years of age or older experiencing AMI symptoms increased signific antly during the media campaign. ED visits for chest pain also increas ed significantly during the campaign, as did the number of patients 50 years of age or older admitted to a King County CCU with an admitting diagnosis of rule-out MI. Each of the above increases tapered off wit h time after the media campaign but remained above baseline. Conclusio n: An intense public education campaign can significantly increase EMS use, ED visits, and CCU admissions for AMI symptoms. However, these e ffects taper off with time after the campaign.