Week: 569.3 Guest: Dr. Raymond Bahr, cardiology, St. Agnes Hospital, Baltimore, MD Topic: Chest Pain Emergency Rooms Producer/Host: Steve Girard

NEMA: The place to go with chest pain....coming up...

SPOT: 15 years in the prevention of heart disease, stroke and trauma- the National Emergency Medicine Association. Call 800-332-6362.

NEMA: The Chest Pain Emergency room movement started in Baltimore, a vision of cardiologist Raymond Bahr at St. Agnes Hospital...as a sort of safe harbor for people experiencing chest pain to get checked out...

BAHR: ...one way is to prepare hospitals to be more user friendly, in contrast to a GOMER mentality... which is get out of my emergency room' - unless she has severe pain... to one of 'thanks for coming in', and having a comprehensive triage plan that takes on all patients with chest pains, and sorts out patients into those with acute MI's, minor probability and low probability.

NEMA: Dr. Bahr says a chest pain emergency room can save money in two ways: by treating people before they have a full blown heart attack...or to reassure them that they do not need hospitalization for their pains...

BAHR: 80% of these patients can be sent home without necessarily being admitted to the hospital...and running up the cost of hospital beds.

NEMA: Dr. Raymond Bahr says there are now over a thousand chest pain emergency rooms at hospitals around the world...making it more comfortable for people suffering chest pain to get help. I'm Steve Girard at The Heart of the Matter.