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Luton&Dunstable Hospital train pharmacist in electric shocks
More heart patients now getting faster treatment
More heart patients at Luton & Dunstable Hospital are getting faster treatment after a cardiac pharmacist was trained to steady fluttering hearts with a shock.
The hospital is the first in the UK to train a pharmacist to carry out electric shocks under anaesthetic using a defibrillator to treat the most common heart rhythm abnormality in the UK.
Sandra Allan, a pharmacist at the L&D for 10 years, undertook extra training in line with the National Service Framework for coronary heart disease so she could run arrhythmia clinics for patients who suffer heart flutter or irregular heart rhythm – most commonly known in the medical world as atrial fibrillation.
Since setting up day case cardioversion, the waiting list for treatment has dropped to just one week.
Before the pharmacist led clinic started, patients might wait up to nine months for cardioversion, which used to be performed on the coronary care unit with a cardiologist.
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Sunday 12 February 2012
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