Why Is This Important?
Heart attacks are associated with coronary heart disease, the number one killer of Utahns. There are several risk factors associated with heart attacks. Some of these include family history, high blood pressure, tobacco use, high cholesterol, physical inactivity, diabetes, obesity, and exposure to environmental contaminants.
Recent studies have shown significant relationships between air pollutants and increased risk of heart attack or other forms of coronary heart disease. Particulate matter (PM, 2.5) is associated with increased risk in sensitive sub-populations such as the elderly, patients with preexisting heart disease, and those who are survivors of a heart attack.Heart Attack Hospitalizations: Number by Year, Utah, 2000-2021 |
Data Source
Utah Inpatient Hospital Discharge Data, Healthcare Information & Analysis Programs, Office of Research & Evaluation, Utah Department of Health and Human Services
Data Notes
These data are provided to the Environmental Epidemiology Program (EEP) within the Utah Department of Health (UDOH). These data are converted from being hospital discharge data (which is present on the queried data sets) to data by admission date.
As of October 1, 2015, the U.S. is currently using the 10th revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) to code hospitalizations and emergency department visits. Prior to the change, heart attacks were defined with a primary diagnosis code of 410-410.92 (ICD-9 codes). Heart attacks are now defined as codes I21-I22 (ICD-10 codes).Risk Factors
There are steps that can be taken to prevent or reduce the risks of having a heart attack. These include controlling certain risk factors such as high blood pressure, tobacco use, high cholesterol, physical inactivity, and obesity.What Is Being Done?
Over the past several years, the Utah Bureau of Emergency Medical Services and Preparedness (BEMS) has enlisted the expertise of hospital cardiac care experts, cardiologists, emergency physicians, other emergency medical providers, the Utah Hospital Association, and the American Heart Association that would accelerate the recognition and treatment of heart attack patients. The focus of this system is to connect emergency medical services (EMS) and hospitals, in an effort to transport patients with a certain type of heart attack, called a ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), to the best hospital that is able to treat them in the shortest possible time.
The Utah STEMI System involves a multi-faceted approach to heart attack victims. By utilizing field electrocardiograms (ECG), EMS agencies are able to identify STEMI patients and alert hospital emergency departments of the patient's condition and expected time of arrival. The field ECG is transmitted to the receiving hospital directly from the patient's location, allowing immediate review by the hospital physicians. This transmission allows physicians to assist in the field care of the patient, as well as activate their hospital STEMI team to prepare a catheterization laboratory (or cath lab). As a result of this coordinated response, precious minutes are saved.
Date Indicator Content Last Updated: 04/07/2023
