Prehospital thrombolysis: an idea whose time has come.

Aggressive reperfusion therapy for myocardial infarction (MI) characterized by acute ST-segment elevation leads to improved patient outcome. Furthermore, use of thrombolytic therapy is highly time-dependent: reperfusion therapy is beneficial within 12 h, but the earlier it is administered, the more beneficial it is. Thus, the focus of both prehospital and emergency department management of patients with acute MI is on rapid identification and treatment. There are many components to the time delays between the onset of symptoms of acute MI and the achievement of reperfusion in the occluded infarct-related artery. Time delays occur with both the patient and the prehospital emergency medical system, although patient delays are more significant. This article focuses on the prehospital management of acute MI, including (1) the rationale for rapid reperfusion in patients with acute MI, (2) the factors related to time delays in patient presentation to the hospital, and (3) strategies for reducing time delays, both patient- and medical system-based.