According to a new study from the University of Calgary, where you live makes a difference when it comes to quick treatment for heart attacks.
Timely access to angioplasty is critical because every minute heart attack sufferers wait, they are losing heart muscle.
In Alberta, 63 percent of patients who have a heart attack, and need angioplasty, make it to the hospital within an hour.
In New Brunswick, just 16 percent of patients make it to the hospital within an hour.
"I was surprised by the differences between the provinces," says researcher Alka Patel. "But when you start thinking about it, it makes sense because it's a function of where your population is and how your population is distributed."
In Alberta, there are three angioplasty treatment centres – one is in Calgary and two are in Edmonton – which means good access for most of the population.
And while improving access for rural areas of the country seems the logical solution to the problem, researchers say it doesn't make sense to offer angioplasty in every small town. "There would be tradeoffs: system efficiency, dollars involved, the performance, if new cardiologists would need to be recruited," says Dr. William Ghali from the Libin Cardiovascular Institue.
When it comes to access, Ontario ranks the best in Canada.
In Prince Edward Island, there isn't even a hospital that offers angioplasty.
