Early recognition and treatment of the patient suffering from acute myocardial infarction. A description of the Myocardial Infarction Triage and Intervention Project.

Involving emergency medical personnel in the evaluation and treatment of the AMI patients is feasible. A standard, organized approach saves time. Obtaining an ECG in the prehospital setting is also feasible and decreases the delay to diagnosis and subsequent treatment for patients after hospital arrival. Early findings from the MITI registry suggests that only 20% to 30% of patients with AMI are currently eligible to receive thrombolytic medications. This seems to indicate that either current treatment guidelines need to be broadened or that thrombolytic therapy is not appropriate for all AMI patients and, therefore, alternative acute treatment approaches need to be investigated further.