Doctors will soon be able to use a single blood test to diagnose heart attacks in a fraction of the time it usually takes.
The Kiwi innovation's being rolled out in our hospitals and it's designed to identify patients who need life-saving treatment within minutes, rather than hours.
A bedside blood test, with potentially life-saving results.
"This test has the same precision as the laboratory and it gives us the result in eight minutes," emergency specialist Dr Martin Than said.
The test is looking for telltale signs of cardiac arrest.
"The protein that's part of the muscle of your heart leaks into your bloodstream when it's damaged and we can measure that," Dr Than said.
It gets a result that decides there and then if a patient is at risk.
"If you're a woman, a result of over 17 would mean you're probably having a heart attack and a result over 22 if you're a man," Dr Than said.
Wednesday's patient suffered a heart attack last year and spent four hours waiting to find out he did have a heart attack.
"This technology worldwide is going to increase and save a lot of people's lives and they can get the treatment that they actually need straight away," patient Gavin Leigh said.
Chest pain is one of the most common reasons people visit the emergency department.
"For 10 to 15 percent of the people who turn up to ED with chest pain, they've had a heart attack," Health Minister Andrew Little said.
But all require monitoring, often for hours at a time, soaking up limited resources. However, the new test could change that.
"It also frees up staff time and bed space in EDs," Little said.
Christchurch is the first hospital in the world to use this technology and it'll be available in 10 more around the country early next year.
