While the cardiologist performs the cardiac catheterization (routine or interventional), if any damaged, narrowed or blocked blood vessels are found in the heart, the cardiologist will perform a Percutaneous Coronary Intervention, or PCI, to open the artery, allowing blood to flow unobstructed.

During a balloon catheter angioplasty, a cardiologist uses a cardiac catheter to insert a small balloon into the narrowed artery. The balloon is filled with liquid repeatedly to push the plaque build-up to the sides of the artery. This opens the artery and allows proper blood flow.

A stent, a hollow, mesh metal tube, is placed in a vessel to keep it open following a balloon angioplasty to prevent the blood vessel from closing or constricting during and after the procedure.

When a patient is having a heart attack, paramedics, emergency department staff, cardiologists and cardiac catheterization lab staff must work quickly and cohesively to reduce the chance of a heart-attack patient becoming a heart-attack victim.

The time period between the arrival of the patient at the hospital and the point when the balloon reaches the blockage during an intervention is known as door-to-balloon time. The shorter this critical time period is, the less damage done to the heart muscle due to a lack of oxygen-enriched blood flow.

Prehospital services are the first responders to the patient. Upon assessing and transporting the patient, pre-hospital services will perform an EKG to determine if the patient is having a heart attack and the cardiac catheterization (cath) lab must be activated. The Medical Center upgraded its field capabilities with a 12 lead EKG to more accurately diagnose and communicate with the emergency department (ED) prior to arrival time. The patient's information is then relayed to the ED and the patient will bypass the ED and go straight to the cath lab.

Activation of the cardiac cath lab, based on the EKG results while the patient is still on route to the hospital, significantly reduces door-to-balloon time. The heart alert team is centrally paged through the ED and prepares for the patient's arrival. Data monitoring and feedback from prehospital services prior to the patient's arrival are relayed to the ED. Previously, heart attack patients had to be transferred to another facility. Now, by bringing this service to Mount Nittany Medical Center, door-to-balloon time is shortened, saving lives and reducing lost heart muscle while limiting damage done to the brain and other organs during a heart attack.