PEOPLE who suffer heart attacks in Huddersfield are now being rushed directly to Leeds by emergency ambulance.

The new scheme means about 240 patients from the town will be given potentially life-saving specialist treatment at Leeds General Infirmary each year.

They are taken directly from their homes or wherever they are suffering the heart attack at all times of the day or night.

But it does sometimes mean that the ambulance crew that takes them gets caught up in Leeds answering emergency calls there.

The Yorkshire Ambulance Service now operates a system where the nearest crew deals with 999 emergencies, no matter where they are based.

If a Huddersfield crew ends up in Leeds crews from neighbouring districts have to cover this area.

When a patient suffers a particular type of heart attack, known as a Stemi – ST elevation myocardial infarction, caused by a blocked artery – they can be given a clot-busting drug.

But some can then need a surgical procedure to stop it happening again.

Now if the paramedics suspect a patient has had a Stemi they will be taken directly to a specialist centre at LGI, where they will be given the surgical procedure, a primary angioplasty which unblocks the artery and prevents it from becoming blocked again.

LGI is one of only a few heart centres in the country that offers this treatment.

The service has already been available to patients from the Leeds, Bradford and the Mid-Yorkshire areas, but has just been extended to patients from Huddersfield and Calderdale.

Yorkshire Ambulance Service medical director Dr Alison Walker said: “If a paramedic identifies a patient as having had a Stemi the sooner the primary angioplasty surgery is carried out the less damage there is likely to be to the heart and the quicker the patient is likely to recover.’’

Dr Simon Grant, consultant cardiologist at the Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust, will be part of the on-call rota at LGI.

He said: “Once this type of heart attack is recognised the patient will be taken directly to LGI. After 24 hours in Leeds patients will return to their local hospital for care from the Calderdale and Huddersfield cardiology teams.

“Not only does this new treatment offer the best opportunity for a speedy recovery and reduced chance of dying but, as many patients receiving clot-busting drugs would have gone on to have an angioplasty later, it means they have this at the time when they most need it.”

Chris Croden, a Yorkshire Ambulance Service paramedic on secondment to the West Yorkshire Cardiac Network, said: “Patients and relatives have an important part to play in this process by recognising when they or other relatives may be having a chest pain which may be as a result of a heart attack.

“They should act quickly and phone 999 for an ambulance. The signs are usually crushing chest pain which may radiate into the jaw, arms or neck.

“Often the patient may feel nauseous, begin sweating and have shortness of breath. If this happens it is vital to get help immediately.”

Dr Jim McLenachan, clinical director for cardiology at the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “This new treatment means the blockage in the heart artery is relieved immediately and a metal tube is inserted to prevent the artery re-blocking.

“The procedure is done under local anaesthetic and takes about 40 minutes.

“Results in Leeds over the last two years have been excellent, with most patients going home only two days after their heart attack.

“The co-operation of the ambulance service in diagnosing the heart attack and then transporting the patient quickly and safely for immediate treatment has been fantastic.”

The coronary angioplasty involves threading a fine balloon into an artery in the groin and passing it into blocked or narrowed coronary arteries in the heart where the balloon is inflated to unblock the artery.

Often a thin tube is left there to help prevent the artery from re-blocking.