A leading cardiac surgeon from India is applauding Trinidad and Tobago’s new push to improve emergency heart care.
Speaking to TTT News, world-renowned robotic cardiac surgeon Dr. Varun Bansal says the government’s goal of “90 minutes to intervention” for patients after experiencing cardiac issues could save countless lives.
“When the heart is under an attack, when it’s myocardial infarction, loss of time is loss of muscle. If you lose more time, you lose more heart muscle.”
On Wednesday, Minister in the Ministry of Health Dr. Rishad Seecheran revealed plans aimed at ensuring that anyone suffering from cardiac issues receives life-saving intervention within 90 minutes of arriving at a public hospital.
Dr. Bansal, a consultant in cardiothoracic and vascular surgery at the Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals in New Delhi, India, endorsed Trinidad and Tobago’s new emergency heart care strategy, saying it’s a goal worth having.
“So countries do have guidelines, but our hospital itself has a guideline that in case of acute myocardial infarction, the time from door to cath lab has to be minimised. It has to be the shortest possible time.”
He pointed out that this standard isn’t just good policy—it’s a global best practice.
“It’s a very positive action and very positive thought in that direction that we should limit the time that is wasted for any patient to get treatment, whether the patient is having a heart attack, whether getting a coronary angiography or angioplasty, or even medicine like thrombolysis. All this should be minimised because when it’s heart attack we are talking about, it’s somebody’s life is at risk, we shouldn’t waste time.”
While Minister Seecheran pointed to improving the ambulance services, especially in rural areas, Dr. Bansal said T&T needs to have trained specialists and equipment inside them.
“Rather than just an ambulance, if we have a trained medical professional, be it a paramedic, be it a nurse, be it a doctor, if they can act before the patient arrives to the hospital because there’s a considerable amount of time. It could range from anywhere between five to 15 to 30 minutes. So if there’s emergency care that can be done inside the ambulance, I think that would also make a difference.”
He said in India, ambulances are already equipped with ICU-level care.
“Our ambulances are empowered. There are trained medical professionals who go inside the ambulance, and there are specialised ambulances also. There’s ICU on wheels ambulance. There’s cardiac care ambulance. All these are available.”
Dr. Bansal also praised the government’s plan to expand cath labs in some of the major hospitals.
“It’s very positive action taken by the government that they would try and promote opening cath labs in various cities. So if the patient can reach out to the cath lab within five to 10 minutes having a heart attack, I’m sure the life would be much safer when compared to when the patient has to go to a cath lab which is 30 or 40 minutes away.”
With the right infrastructure, training, and awareness, Dr. Bansal said he believes Trinidad and Tobago can become a regional leader in cardiac care.