Members of the Mount Sinai Heart team at the CPR Fair.
Matilda Mullen, RN, provided life-saving demonstrations at The Mount Sinai Hospital community health fair.
More than 250 attendees—including 66 public school students—recently received hands-on cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and automated external defibrillator (AED) instruction at community health fairs organized by the Mount Sinai Health System.
Held at four Health System campuses, the events aimed to increase awareness of sudden cardiac arrest, a condition that can only be treated by immediate, correct use of CPR or AED. According to the American Heart Association, each year more than 350,000 adults and children will experience the often fatal condition.
“If CPR and/or AED are used within minutes to resuscitate a person who experiences sudden cardiac arrest, it may help to save a life,” says Beth Oliver, DNP, RN, Senior Vice President, Cardiac Services, Mount Sinai Health System. “With proper knowledge and skills, anyone can save a life during an emergency.”
In October, Mount Sinai Heart opened its new Cardiac Intensive Care services unit at The Mount Sinai Hospital, complete with 10 critical care beds for acutely ill patients and 10 step-down beds. The unit was designed by a team of physicians, nurses, and administrative leaders from Mount Sinai Heart, whose goal was to deliver efficient, high-quality care while maximizing patient safety. “We think this is the optimal environment for patients and families,” says Beth Oliver, DNP, RN, Senior Vice President of Cardiac Services, Mount Sinai Health System. “A single cardiac team now cares for the patient from admission to the critical care unit through discharge, guaranteeing continuity of care in its truest sense.” The new cardiac unit allows patients to be discharged directly from step-down beds, which minimizes in-hospital transfers.
Attending the ribbon-cutting event were, from left: Shirish Huprikar, MD, Chief Medical Officer, The Mount Sinai Hospital; David L. Reich, MD, President and Chief Operating Officer, The Mount Sinai Hospital; Samin K. Sharma, MD, Director, Clinical and Interventional Cardiology; Matthew Tomey, MD, Assistant Professor, Medicine (Cardiology); Valentin Fuster, MD, PhD, Director, Mount Sinai Heart; Annapoorna Kini, MD, Director, Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory; Roopa Kohli-Seth, MD, Director, Institute for Critical Care Medicine; Umesh Gidwani, MD, Associate Professor, Medicine (Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine); Adel M. Bassily-Marcus, MD, Associate Professor, Surgery; and Kimberley Ennis, DNP, ANP-BC, Chief Nurse Manager, Critical Care Unit.
From left: Michelle Milano, RN; Rose Destina, RN; and Robin Knox, RN, of the Arrhythmia Institute at Mount Sinai St. Luke’s, provided health screenings at the Cholesterol Fair.
“Keeping your cholesterol levels healthy is a great way to lower your chances of getting heart disease or having a stroke. But first, you have to know your numbers,” says Joan E. Joseph, MHA, BSN, RN, Nurse Manager of the Arrhythmia Institute at Mount Sinai St. Luke’s, an organizer of the Mount Sinai Health System’s annual Cholesterol Fair. On Friday, September 15, more than 130 people attended the event at Mount Sinai St. Luke’s, which was one of five held that day at Health System hospitals. Participants received free cholesterol, blood pressure, and body mass index screenings along with counseling on how to manage overall heart health. Also, nutritionists provided cooking tips, and pharmacists advised on the use and storage of medications. Ms. Joseph says, “With these fairs, we work toward helping our corner of the world become healthier.”
Dr. Kini is a native of Mangaluru—also known as Mangalore— India, and has been a vital member of the Mount Sinai community for two decades. A renowned cardiologist, she performs more minimally invasive coronary procedures than any female interventionist in the United States, with a complication rate of less than .5 percent. “Through Dr. Kini’s joint-leadership, the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory of Mount Sinai Heart offers patients unparalleled excellence and safety in interventional cardiology care. We congratulate her on this honor,” says Dennis S. Charney, MD, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and President for Academic Affairs, Mount Sinai Health System.
“Not all chest pain is a heart attack or a sign of heart attack. Usually chest pain, if you use your finger and point at your chest, that’s not a heart attack. Usually chest pain — called a visceral pain — is a diffused pain, it’s internal. You feel an uncomfortable sensation, and something which you have never experienced. Or, if you’re known to have heart disease, something which is gradually worsening, despite taking medication under the tongue called nitroglycerin. But usually chest pain related to heart attack has other symptoms – difficulty breathing, profuse sweating without any physical activity, and then nausea and vomiting. And usually the symptoms progressively get worse. Initially, it could be waxing and waning. But it gets progressively worse and needs medical attention. The biggest problem is people recognize this as heartburn and tend to ignore it. If you’re concerned about a heart attack or severe symptoms, call 911, go to the nearest emergency room. That will be the biggest help to doctors and to patients and the families to make sure you get promp,t efficient care to save lives.”
Make an appointment with Ramesh Gowda, MD
Ramesh Gowda, MD, is a board-certified cardiologist at Mount Sinai Doctors, seeing patients in Brooklyn Heights. Trained inKarnataka, India and New York City, he is certified by the American Board of Vascular Medicine and a member of the American College of Cardiology American College of Chest Physicians, the Society for Vascular Medicine, and the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions. He was awarded his medical degree from Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute and completed two residencies in Internal Medicine at Long Island College Hospital and SUNY Stony Brook School of Medicine and his fellowship in Interventional Cardiology at Beth Israel Medical Center. In 2001, Dr. Gowda received the American Medical Association’s Physician Recognition Award and, in 2003, he received Long Island College Hospital’s Research Excellence Award and was nominated for the American Biographical Institute, Inc.’s American Medal of Honor.
Mount Sinai Doctors, 300 Cadman Plaza West, is a two-floor multispecialty practice with a walk-in urgent care center and more than 35 specialties, including Adolescent Medicine, Allergy, Cardiology, Dermatology, Diabetes Education, Endocrinology, Gastroenterology, General Surgery, Infectious Disease, Maternal & Fetal Medicine, Nephrology, OBGYN, Ophthalmology, Optometry & Optical Shop, Orthopedics, Pediatrics, Pulmonology, Radiology, Rheumatology, Travel Medicine, Urology, and Vascular Surgery. The practice is located at 300 Cadman Plaza West, on the 17th and 18th floors, in Brooklyn Heights. You can make appointments online at http://www.mountsinai.org/bh or via ZocDoc.
The prestigious two-star safety rating for the PCI procedure, also known as angioplasty, was awarded to, from left, George Dangas, MD, PhD; Annapoorna S. Kini, MD; and Samin K. Sharma, MD.
The Mount Sinai Hospital’s Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory has become the first to have three interventional cardiologists receive the highest two-star safety rating from the New York State Department of Health for percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI), also known as angioplasty. PCI—one of the most common procedures for patients with coronary artery disease—opens blocked arteries and restores normal blood flow to the heart. (more…)
