Aortic dissection is a rare but life-threatening condition where there is a tear in the inner wall of the aorta, the main artery in the body and carries blood from the heart to all organs. The campaign was devised by Aortic Dissection Awareness UK, in collaboration with the Society for Cardiothoracic Surgery (SCTS) and the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM)
The campaign includes the design, printing and distribution of a ‘THINK AORTA’ poster to all 229 emergency departments in the UK and Ireland to help educate patients and medical professionals.
Also, a podcast and educational film has been produced for the RCEM online learning. In the podcast, patients and health professionals share their experiences of aortic dissection. The educational film follows the golden patient pathway of a patient suffering from an acute aortic dissection – from the 999 call, to paramedics, to emergency department triage, to differential diagnosis, to radiology CT scanning, to confirmed diagnosis, to transfer for surgery.
Our ‘THINK AORTA’ poster has already been sent to emergency departments in the UK and Ireland, and the THINK AORTA US team has now distributed posters to all 6,300 emergency departments in the USA. The Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch has published their investigation report into delayed recognition of aortic dissection.