LIVING on an offshore island is difficult enough at the best of times. But when someone suffers a heart attack the time it takes to get to hospital can make the difference between life and death.
Even for someone suffering from a less serious heart condition, such as palpitations or unexplained chest discomfort, travelling to the mainland for treatment can be a frustrating experience. By the time the patient arrives in hospital the symptoms may have passed, leaving doctors with little to go on as they attempt a diagnosis.
A tiny but expensive piece of equipment donated to the Aran Islands last week will help overcome that problem, according to Neil Johnson from Croi, a cardiac charity in the west. It is called a "cardiac event monitor", and he describes it as a revolutionary piece of technology.
It is smaller than a credit card and as thick as a cassette box. The patient takes it home and it does its work as he goes about his normal life.
"Obviously, in a heart situation, you don't want to say come back again next week," says Mr Johnson. "So what happens is the patient takes this monitor and attaches two little electrodes to his chest. They are very small, discreet little pads, and he can wear the monitor around his neck, in a top pocket, on a belt or whatever."
The monitor runs on batteries so you can wear it for weeks if necessary. When you feel something going wrong with your heart you press a button and it records what is happening as a tiny electronic ECG.
The device has five minutes of memory, enough to record a sizeable amount of data. Once you are satisfied you have recorded enough symptoms, all you have to do is lift up a phone, place the mouthpiece over the monitor, and dial a number at the nearest hospital.
When the phone answers you press another button and the data are transferred down the telephone line to a computer in the hospital. A few minutes later, if all goes well, a heart specialist rings the local GP with an analysis of the data.
The monitor donated to the Aran Islands was delivered to the GP on Inis Mor, Dr Marion Broderick. Together with a heart defibrillator (used to resuscitate heart attack victims) and a pulse oximeter, it marks a significant improvement in health care facilities on the island.
The three items cost about £15,000 and were funded from a bequest from Mr William Boggs, a former national school teacher who retired to the island. The Croi foundation hopes to supply similar equipment to rural GPs throughout Cos Galway, Roscommon and Mayo, with the help of Hollywood heart throb Gabriel Byrne, who recently became a patron.
Fund raising activities will include a celebrity auction later this year, with the support of over 40 stars including Liam Neeson, Julia, Roberts, Sharon Stone and Tom Cruise.