George Mason was at the primary care clinic of Terry Turke, MD for a regularly-scheduled blood draw. These visits had become something of a routine, part of an arrangement designed to save George—who lives in Watertown—the drive to his out-of-town specialist. The specialist had ordered regular lab tests to monitor a chronic illness.

On this particular morning, George had a faint sensation down the center of his chest. He describes it as an almost numb feeling. He thought, since he was at the clinic anyway, he ought to ask Dr. Turke about it. Perhaps his bronchitis was acting up. Perhaps it was nothing.

“He put me on the table for an EKG,” George recalls. “He said, ‘you’ve had a heart attack and you must go to the hospital right away.’”
Allowing George to drive was not safe, so Dr. Turke took the wheel, driving George the short distance to the Watertown Regional Medical Center (WRMC) emergency entrance. George recalls Dr. Kathleen Hargarten and three nurses waiting for him at the entrance, ready to assist him the moment he arrived.
“Immediately, they had me on the table,” George says, “clothes peeled off and sedated. Next time I woke up, I was in the Intensive Care Unit.”
“Time is muscle,” says Dr. Hargarten.  “The faster we can get you to the cath lab to open up your blocked artery in your heart, the more heart muscle can be saved. Knowing George was on his way gave us vital minutes to prepare.”

George underwent an operation to have two stents put in place. A stent is a small mesh tube that's used to treat narrow or weak arteries. Meanwhile, George’s wife, Inger, received a phone call from Dr. Turke.
Miranda Kletsch, RN, emergency department navigator, was waiting for the arrival of George’s family. After some time had passed and George was on his way into surgery, Miranda decided a phone call was in order. She contacted Inger again, only to learn that she was stranded at home, desperately searching for a ride to the hospital. When Miranda realized Inger lived only a few blocks from the hospital, she decided to go and get her.
“I met her at the end of her driveway,” says Miranda. Inger, who was grateful to be heading to the hospital at last, expressed concern that she was taking Miranda away from her work.
Miranda responded: “This is my work. If you had been at the hospital, I would have been with you, holding your hand and keeping you informed on George’s progress. I came to get you so that you could be there for him." 

Thanks to Miranda’s intervention, Inger arrived at WRMC while George was still in surgery. Jamie Boettcher, RN, manager of WRMC’s Heart & Vascular Clinic, was waiting at the hospital’s main entrance to provide Inger with an update on her husband.

“It was only 29 minutes from door-to-balloon [stent insertion] and it all ran smoothly,” says Jamie. “Everyone responded quickly and efficiently—from Dr. Turke, to our Emergency team, to Dr. Cullinane and the cath lab team.  Even the clinic staff responded quickly to reorganize the clinic schedule as Dr. Cullinane responded to George's bedside."
George spent two nights in the hospital, and while it was overwhelming, George also describes his experience as positive. “You go to some doctors and nurses and they push you around like you are a sheep. There was nothing of that. They were all very nice and kind to me.”

WRMC’s “cath lab” (catheterization laboratory), added in August of 2007, made it possible to perform the lifesaving procedure George needed right here in Watertown.  It was a major investment in new technology at the time, and has since saved lives.

“Without the cath lab, George would have needed to be flown to another hospital,” says Jamie. “In my mind there’s no doubt that our ability to provide the advanced care he needed, right here in Watertown, contributed to a positive outcome.”