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The purpose of the PSJH Chest Pain Evaluation
Center is to determine the cause of a patient’s
chest pain after the patient is discharged from the
Emergency Department. The patient will be readmitted
to the Chest Pain Evaluation Center because it is
important that the physicians and staff are
completely satisfied that the chest pain the patient
is experiencing in not cardiac (heart) in origin.
The patient will be placed on a telemetry
transmitter, which sends the patient’s heart rhythm
to a central monitoring station. If the patient
should have an irregular heart beat (dysrhythmia),
an alarm will sound at the nurse’s station. The
patient’s nurse will then check to see if the
patient is having any chest pain or difficulty
breathing.
After six hours, and electrocardiogram (ECG) and
blood tests will be repeated. If these are normal,
the patient may be given an Exercise Stress Test.
If the patient arrives in the morning or early
afternoon, the test will be done following the
patient’s second ECG and blood tests. If the patient
arrives mid-afternoon or evening, the Exercise
Stress Test will be done the next morning. The
stress test is done in the PSJH Cardiac Diagnostics
department.
To make the patient’s visit to the Chest Pain
Evaluation Center as comfortable as possible, a
television set is provided. In addition, a DVD and
CD player is available.
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