Oak Forest Fire Department first in Illinois to use new heart monitoring technology

OAK FOREST, Ill. - Every second matters when it comes to treating heart attacks. 

Now, a southwest suburban fire department is the first in Illinois to adopt new cardiac monitoring technology aimed at helping paramedics improve speed and accuracy in the field.

The backstory:

For decades, first responders have relied on 12-lead EKG monitors to screen for heart attacks. However, even simple electrode misplacement can lead to misdiagnosis.

"Cardiac arrest is the most serious call we can go on," said Chief Gary Kasper with the Oak Forest Fire Department. 

The Oak Forest Fire Department has become the first in the state to adopt new technology — the EXG wearable 12-lead system from C-Booth Innovations — which combines electrodes into a single device with one cord instead of 10.

It is designed to reduce the margin of error while increasing efficiency and reliability in emergency responses. 

"All it takes is a difference in two centimeters and we can completely miss a heart attack, and time is tissue," explained Lt. Matt Tinberg of the Oak Forest Fire Department. "It's important for us to really be able to serve our citizens with the best technology."

The device features a single reference point to minimize the potential for human error. 

"It's a patch that tells you where to place the electrodes, and it's anatomically indexed, so it helps the user know exactly where each one of them goes every single time," said Dr. Christian McClung, emergency physician and co-founder of C-Booth Innovations.

Oak Forest fire officials launched the product two weeks ago and say they have already seen more reliable results. 

"Another important component of this, in terms of the outcome, is when we're doing manual CPR. Instead of having to pause for a longer period to put all of the lead placements, you can do it almost seamlessly with this new product, which will allow us to capture a better, clearer picture of the heart," Kasper said. 

"It's a night-and-day image and allows us to more clearly see if something is going on. So, it takes a lot of the guesswork out of it. It's still the same 12 lead picture — it's just like going from standard definition to high definition," Tinberg added. 

McClung says this could especially help with detection in women, who are 50 percent more likely to be misdiagnosed with a heart attack. 

"And this is something that happens to women systematically in which we see electrodes that are placed above the bra line and below a bra line, in an effort for the providers who are trying to be very respectful, but not appreciating that those small changes are enough to hide a heart attack," McClung said. 

The wearable device can also remain on a patient for up to 72 hours — even during X-rays and CT scans. 

"When we get our first picture of the heart and we bring it into the hospital, they don't have to remove anything," Tinberg said. "They can take the same monitor they already have, hook it to ours, and now we have identical pictures at two different times. All this helps the diagnostics."

What's next:

The medical device company launched the technology about a year and a half ago, after seven years of development.

It is now being used in nine states, including California, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Nevada, Oklahoma, Texas, and Utah. New York is expected to become the next state to adopt the technology, according to officials with C-Booth Innovations.