North Carolina’s coordinated, regional systems for rapid care improved survival rates of patients suffering from the most severe heart attack, according to research in the American Heart Association’s journal, Circulation. Fewer ST -segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients died when paramedics diagnosed them en route to hospitals and hospitals followed well-defined guidelines to quickly treat or transfer patients to facilities that performed artery-opening procedures, if needed. Death rates were 2.2 percent for patients treated to guideline standards and 5.7 percent for those who weren’t, according to the study. For more information, click here.