Action by physicians and other health-care professionals in hospital emergency departments.

Advances in the management of acute myocardial infarction can significantly improve outcome, primarily through highly time-dependent coronary reperfusion and successfully resolving early complications. Effectiveness of treatment is now more limited by delays in reperfusion and number of patients who receive coronary reperfusion than available therapy. Specific methods of decreasing the time to reperfusion and increasing the number of patients treated must be broadly applied to further reduce morbidity and mortality.