Impact on routine care and patient safety
Trial patients benefited from the additional scrutiny
provided by the HEAT-PPCI team. Early in the study, it
was discovered that some clinical tests were either omitted
or performed at suboptimal times. Clinical teams were
contacted to remind them, while also taking time to
explain the rationale behind the test and its timing. The
trial also shone a spotlight on elements of care in the
hospital and changes were made to practices to enhance
patient care.
Just one example of this concerns the accurate dosing
of the trial medications. Both heparin and bivalirudin
are administered in weight-adjusted doses. The
measurement of activated clotting times (ACTs) in the
catheter laboratory can guide clinicians in determining
adequate anticoagulation. Before HEAT-PPCI, this
quick, point-of-care blood test was performed in the
catheter laboratory in a suboptimal manner. The study
protocol enshrined principles of best ACT practice.
Procedures were tightened and catheter lab nurses
became fastidious in their adherence to the study
protocol. Similarly, ward-based nurses were reminded
of the necessity to weigh PPCI patients.
As it was not practical to weigh STEMI patients at the
time of their emergency treatment, doses were based on
patient-reported weights or on catheter lab teamestimated
weights. Recording an actual post-procedure
weight allowed the team to demonstrate that the initial
dosing strategy had been based upon reasonably
accurate weights.
Neither the trial team nor the catheter lab nurses
could have foreseen how these seemingly minor
components of routine care would prove to be highly
significant. When the results of HEAT-PPCI were first