Holter Monitor will save rural lives

For years, rural and remote residents have been forced to travel to a regional or metropolitan city for heart monitoring to detect possible problems that could lead to heart attack or stroke.

Thanks to a donation from Cardiac Rhythm Diagnostics, rural and remote residents will now have local access to a Holter Monitor.

A Holter monitor is a type of portable electrocardiogram (ECG). It records the electrical activity of the heart continuously over a 24 hour period or longer while you go about your daily business.

Certain type of arrhythmias (abnormal heart rhythms) may occur only now and then. Or, they may occur only under certain conditions, such as stress or activity. Arrhythmias of this type are hard to record on an ECG done at a clinic.

A Holter monitor is worn by a patient as they go about their daily life, giving doctors and nurse practitioners a better chance of capturing any abnormal heartbeats or rhythms that may be causing problems.

"We know that rural and remote residents sometimes delay getting a proper heart assessment because of the time and cost of travelling to a regional or metropolitan city" said Roie Caine, Practice Manager at the Galariinbaraay/Collarenebri Medical Centre.

"This can lead to heart attack or stroke, and cause avoidable admissions to hospitals for conditions that could have been prevented with appropriate early interventions.

"The donation of the Holter Monitor by Cardiac Rhythm Diagnostics will enable rural and remote people to get access to the latest technology in heart management right at home.

"The device is portal and we are exploring how we can incorporate its use into mobile clinics to improve the early diagnosis and treatment of heart disease, and reduce avoidable hospitalisations in rural and remote communities" said Ms Caine.