Earlier quoted context omitted.
Interesting... I would have assumed Germany would be a bit more advanced in prehospital care. Here in the US (in a rural/suburban area outside a smallish city in upstate New York), the flow would look more like: A paramedic recognizes a potential MI and takes a 12-lead EKG. If it is indeed a STEMI, then we'll call the ER and transmit the EKG and other vitals (via a cell modem embedded in the monitor). If the ER doc a…
Is there any opportunity (or practice) of other conditions bypassing the ER? If that's the bottleneck, I hope it doesn't have to be life-or-death for someone to thing "We should re-engineer this process". E.g. uncomplicated fractures getting brought to the fracture clinic?
The reason for bypassing the ER in this case is because every minute means more damage to the heart. A fracture is not especially time sensitive. Stabilize it in the ER, take some images, and refer them to an orthopedist in a day or two. There would be no significant change in patient outcome by shaving any time off that process.