(DURANGO, Colo.) -- As of February 2025, CommonSpirit Mercy Hospital has been partnering with Emergency Medical Services (EMS) agencies across the Four Corners region to significantly enhance emergency cardiac care for residents. This collaboration leverages Pulsara, a cutting-edge EMS-to-hospital communication technology, to provide real-time cardiac status updates from the field, allowing Mercy Hospital's cardiac team to prepare for incoming patients and initiate life-saving interventions faster than ever before.
This innovative program equips EMS professionals with advanced communication tools that securely transmit real-time vital patient data, including EKGs, vital signs, and clinical observations, directly to Mercy Hospital's cardiac specialists and emergency room doctors while the ambulance is en route. This pre-arrival notification allows the hospital team to:
- Accurately assess the patient's condition: Cardiologists and emergency room physicians can review the data in real-time, enabling a more precise and time sensitive diagnosis and treatment plan.
- Prepare the cardiac catheterization lab: This proactive approach minimizes delays and ensures that the necessary resources and personnel are ready upon the patient's arrival.
- Improve patient outcomes: By streamlining the process and accelerating treatment, this partnership aims to reduce mortality rates and improve the outcomes and quality of life for individuals experiencing cardiac emergencies.
"Our partnership with local EMS agencies, combined with the implementation of Pulsara, is a critical step forward in our mission to deliver the highest level of care to the Four Corners region," said Josh Neff, President of Mercy Hospital. “As a former flight paramedic, I understand the importance of this type of collaborative work and technology. By enabling real-time transmission of vital cardiac data from the field to our care teams, we’re not only accelerating treatment times, we’re saving lives. This collaboration reflects our deep commitment to innovation, teamwork, and the health of the communities we serve.”
“EMS agencies throughout the region, such as Pagosa Springs Hospital and EMS, Upper Pine EMS, Durango Fire & Rescue EMS, and Los Pinos EMS, have been an enormous support to this initiative and have made it so that we are already seeing the impact on our patients,” said Shelley Langenhorst, Mercy Hospital’s Cardiovascular Program Manager. “Our goal is that it only takes 90 minutes from EMS’ first contact with the patient on scene to the time that a patient’s artery is unblocked, and so far we have met that goal with every patient we’ve seen since implementation of the technology. When it comes to a heart attack, every minute matters, and especially in a rural community like ours, where it can take some time to get to a hospital, we are excited to now be giving our medical teams and our patients the life-saving time they need.”
"This partnership and technology has been an incredible tool for us, allowing us to track patients longitudinally and significantly improve the performance of our paramedics and EMTs in the field," said Bruce Evans, Fire Chief for the Upper Pine River Fire Protection District. “At Upper Pine, everyone comes to work to make a difference, and these key performance indicators allow us to track quality and provide valuable feedback to our team. Historically, there's been a disconnect between radio calls from the field and the hospital, leading to a lot of variation. Pulsara helps standardize that transmission with a template that works from the moment our crews make first contact with the patient, all the way to reperfusion in the cardiac catheterization lab at Mercy Hospital in Durango.”
Scott Sholes, Durango Fire Protection District EMS Chief, added, “The prehospital agencies in La Plata County implemented the technology quickly and seamlessly transitioned to this method of emergency department communications. Our staff values this new system and partnership with Mercy. It’s easy to use and resolved some of the communications challenges of the past. We still make phone calls in some circumstances, but usually in conjunction with technology use. Several months into this change, we adopted the STEMI Alert module and it’s gone very smoothly as well.”
Mercy Hospital and its EMS partners are committed to ongoing training and education to ensure the successful implementation of this program. The goal is to expand this initiative to include other critical care areas in the future, further enhancing the quality of emergency medical services throughout the Four Corners region.
Inspired by faith. Driven by innovation. Powered by humankindness. CommonSpirit Health is building a healthier future for all through its integrated health services. As one of the nation’s largest nonprofit Catholic healthcare organizations, CommonSpirit Health delivers more than 20 million patient encounters annually through more than 2,300 clinics, care sites and 137 hospital-based locations, in addition to its home-based services and virtual care offerings. CommonSpirit has more than 155,000 employees, 45,000 nurses and 25,000 physicians and advanced practice providers across 24 states and contributes more than $4 billion annually in charity care, community benefits and unreimbursed government programs. Together with our patients, physicians, partners, and communities, we are creating a more just, equitable, and innovative healthcare delivery system. Learn more at commonspirit.org.
