Emergency Cardiac Center

When a heart attack strikes, every second counts. That’s why emergency physicians at Advocate Christ Medical Center evaluate every person with chest pain who comes to our emergency department.

The Emergency Cardiac Center (ECC) is a dedicated section of the emergency department with eight private rooms, hospital beds, state-of-the-art monitoring systems and diagnostic equipment. Emergency physicians and registered nurses streamline care and testing, expedite diagnosis and oversee our comprehensive approach to heart attack treatment 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

After evaluation, patients with heart attack warning signs are treated in one of three tracks:

1. Patients showing signs of heart damage. A heart attack cuts off the flow of blood carrying oxygen to the heart. Our emergency physicians administer medication and/or notify the cardiovascular team to initiate immediate intervention through angioplasty to open up the arteries, restore blood flow and minimize damage to the heart muscle. These drugs work at maximum efficiency within the first two hours of a heart attack to dramatically increase patients’ chances of surviving that episode and improve the quality of their life afterward.
2. Patients with congestive heart failure (CHF). Heart failure, or the weakness of the heart muscle, is the leading cause of hospital admission for patients older than age 65. Staff follow set protocols to aggressively treat CHF and possibly avoid hospitalization. Once symptoms are relieved, staff from the Congestive Heart Failure Institute meet with each patient for education and follow-up to help manage the condition and avoid hospital admissions.
3. Patients with some positive cardiac test results, but not showing signs of heart attack. Chest pain patients receive expedited care in our ECC, avoiding unnecessary admission to the medical center. However, some patients may require monitoring in an inpatient area where further treatment and evaluation will take place. Other patients can be discharged from the ECC within 12 to 24 hours with medication or referral to other preventive medical center programs for CHF, smoking cessation, weight management or hypertension.