12-Lead Electrocardiograms Acquired and Transmitted by Emergency Medical Technicians are of Diagnostic Quality and Positively Impact Patient Care.

Introduction: Existing peer-reviewed literature describing emergency medical technician (EMT) acquisition and transmission of 12-lead electrocardiograms (12L-ECGs), in the absence of a paramedic, is largely limited to feasibility studies.

Study Objective: The objective of this retrospective observational study was to describe the impact of EMT-acquired 12L-ECGs in Suffolk County, New York (USA), both in terms of the diagnostic quality of the transmitted 12L-ECGs and the number of prehospital percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI)-center notifications made as a result of transmitted 12L-ECGs demonstrating a ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI).

Methods: A pre-existing database was queried for Emergency Medical Services (EMS) calls on which an EMT acquired a 12L-ECG from program initiation (January 2017) through December 31, 2019.