Beat SCAD was recently invited to take part in a podcast for the PHC (Pre-Hospital Care) community which includes paramedics, air ambulance teams and other first responders. The podcast, published on 17 November, explores what SCAD is, why it can be missed in the pre-hospital setting, the lived experience of patients and what the PHC community can do to help patients of the future.
It was organised by Lisa Burrell, Centre for Excellence Education Lead at Essex and Herts Air Ambulance. Participants in the podcast alongside Lisa were SCAD patient Geri Moroney, who had her Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection in 2021, Dr Tom Keeble, the Consultant Cardiologist who diagnosed and treated her and Beat SCAD Trustee (as well as SCAD patient), Sarah Coombes.
Key messages from the podcast
Geri shared her SCAD story and journey back to physical health and mental wellbeing. She recognised that compassion and humanity from the paramedic who came to her house, and from Tom who diagnosed her and put her in touch with a SCAD specialist, were so very important. As was the support of the SCAD patient community and patient-led charity, Beat SCAD. Taken altogether, it meant she felt less alone with her diagnosis and the challenges she faced after it.
Tom focused on a very important message to pre-hospital care providers: that SCAD is an interruption of blood flow that causes a heart attack. The heart doesn’t know or care why it isn’t getting enough blood – so, regardless of the possible cause, he urges care providers to treat the cardiac symptoms they see. If there are cardiac symptoms, even if no obvious cardiac risk factors, the patient should always be taken to a place of safety for investigations.
Sarah explained that, while lots of progress had been made in the past 10-12 years, much is still needed. She added that Beat SCAD encourages patients to get informed and learn to self-advocate, so that if they fear a SCAD recurrence, they can ask for the help they need. She spoke about supporting both patients and families, as well as educating medical professionals about SCAD and raising funds to pay for vital research. The importance of partnership between patients, clinicians and researchers was emphasised. More research will mean more and better answers for all healthcare professionals and better outcomes for patients long term.
Lisa spoke of the power of patient stories – and of hearing how the pre-hospital care provider has a huge impact on their patients; those who make a real difference have curiosity and compassion in abundance. She stressed that the huge variety in presentation of SCAD patients means, while it is improving, there is still less familiarity with SCAD in the pre-hospital world than perhaps in hospital catheter labs.
Take Home Notes for PHC professionals:
- Be aware that patients may fail to recognise cardiac symptoms themselves.
- If you suspect a panic attack but the patient assures you they don’t have panic attacks, consider cardiac causes for their symptoms.
- Above all, treat the symptoms, not the patient profile.
- Curiosity, compassion and humanity in a time of distress makes a world of difference to the patient – a kind voice, a gentle touch on the arm, reassurance that ‘we’re taking good care of you’. It really matters.
- The way the hospital handover is done will influence the kind of care the patient receives and how the patient views themselves and the validity of their diagnosis. There is a big difference between a handover that states ‘suspected cardiac patient’ and one that states ‘panic attack’.
- Stay up to date with your CPD education to learn about less common conditions and to keep up to date with the latest developments in treating them.
The podcast can be downloaded from all the usual podcast channels including Spotify. The series is called: Pre-Hospital Care Podcast and the SCAD episode is called Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection (SCAD). The condition we often miss.
