For a person experiencing a heart attack, the common medical adage is, "Time is muscle."

The sooner a blockage is resolved, the less damage is sustained by the heart muscle and the better the long-term prognosis. For people living in the Roaring Fork and Colorado River Valleys, the safety net for heart attack patients was strengthened over the past two years. Valley View Hospital cardiac catheterization lab opened in January of 2007 and began providing an essential, lifesaving link in the continuum of care.

When a patient arrives in the emergency department with chest pain, the presence of the catheterization facility in the hospital provides a range of diagnostics and interventions that greatly increase the odds of a positive outcome. The only cath lab between Grand Junction and Denver, Valley View’s facility has saved dozens of lives in its first two years.

Catheterization technology involves threading a very fine filament through blood vessels and into the heart. The technique provide valuable immediate diagnostic imaging, and is also is an avenue for interventional procedures. A stent or balloon device can be inserted via the technology to open a vessel and resolve a cardiac event. Such timely treatment can minimize tissue damage and often can save a life.

The creation of a specialized and highly technical facility such as the cath lab required the import of a thoroughly experienced medical team. Dr. Frank Laws, a nationally respected cardiologist with an extensive background in the cardiac catheterization field, leads a team of seasoned professionals. Their presence has made a very real difference in their first years at Valley View.

Close to 300 catheterization procedures have been performed at Valley View since the facility’s opening. According to Dr. Laws, "People are alive here today because they were able to receive an intervention in the cath lab quickly." The lifesaving power of the technology is beyond that of clot-busting drugs, the cardiologist explains. "There are emergency cardiac patients who need a cath lab to survive an event - not in a matter of hours, but in a matter of minutes. There is nothing routine in the cath lab."

Dr. Laws welcomed the opportunity to bring new services to the area and to act as a pioneer in expanding locally available medical services. "It was a unique opportunity," he says, "to design a cath facility and assemble a good team to work together". He notes that he had worked with the technicians he chose for Valley View for many years, which provides a high level of confidence during an emergency procedure.

Cardiac patients are supported not only by the new cardiac facility, but by the adjacent Critical Care Unit at the hospital. "Sixty percent of a cardiac case depends on the emergency treatment provided," Dr. Laws notes, "But aftercare is critical and makes up the other forty percent in determining a successful outcome." In addition, the helistop at Valley View allows patients to be flown quickly to an urban center via helicopter for cardiac surgery, if necessary.

With Valley View’s lifesaving heart and vascular capabilities expanding, cardiologist Rebecca Laird, M.D. has recently joined Dr. Laws as part of the cath lab team.

The Heart and Vascular Institute at Valley View Hospital: 384-7290. Information on the internet: www.vvh.org.