Maharashtra’s STEMI Maharashtra project has completed more than 50 lakh ECG tests across 34 districts, identifying over 34,000 patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction and more than 1.45 lakh patients with other serious heart conditions, according to a report on the state public health department’s programme.
The project is designed to provide rapid diagnosis and treatment after a heart attack, when timely medical intervention can improve a patient’s chances of survival. Its network includes 99 hub hospitals and 2,415 spoke centres spread across the state.
The 99 hub hospitals have catheterisation laboratories for advanced cardiac treatment. They include private hospitals, medical colleges and charitable hospitals. The 2,415 spoke centres are government facilities, including district hospitals, sub-district hospitals, rural hospitals, general hospitals, women’s hospitals and primary health centres.
At the spoke centres, patients undergo an initial ECG examination. The report is uploaded to a cloud-based system, where it is analysed within minutes using artificial intelligence technology and the expertise of specialist doctors. This arrangement is intended to help identify STEMI cases closer to where patients first seek care, rather than requiring every patient to travel directly to a facility with a catheterisation laboratory.
STEMI, or ST-elevation myocardial infarction, is a serious form of heart attack caused by a sudden blockage in a coronary artery. The project’s network connects initial diagnosis at government health facilities with further treatment at designated hub hospitals. Where the required facility is available at a spoke centre, thrombolysis is administered immediately after STEMI is diagnosed, according to the report.
Patients are then referred to the relevant hub hospital for further treatment. The transfer is carried out with the assistance of the 108 ambulance service. This links the ECG and diagnosis system with emergency transport and specialised cardiac care.
The reported figures show the scale of the network’s screening and referral operations. More than 50 lakh ECG tests have been completed through the project, resulting in the identification of over 34,000 STEMI patients and more than 1.45 lakh patients with other serious heart conditions. The figures cover facilities operating across 34 districts of Maharashtra.
The programme’s structure places primary and district-level government facilities at the start of the emergency-care chain, while hub hospitals provide access to catheterisation laboratories and advanced treatment. The model also brings private, medical college and charitable hospitals into the hub network alongside public facilities.
The project’s next stage, as described in the report, involves continuing diagnosis at spoke centres, rapid ECG interpretation through the cloud-based system and specialist support, immediate thrombolysis where available, and referral by 108 ambulances to hub hospitals for further treatment.
