“The emergence of the American is a classic.” The phrase is often repeated and not without reason. The centenary Clínica Anglo Americana is a traditional part of the landscape of San Isidro -also that of La Molina with its subsidiary- and has both history and present. It was the first private clinic to open the doors of an Emergency Department in Peru and since then it has never closed them again.
Currently, it presents important innovations that aim to optimize times, processes, flows and spaces in order to offer more agile care and the highest quality to its patients. The new head of Emergencies, Dr. Alfredo Vásquez, explains that “in our service we attend to three important areas: adult emergencies, traumatology and pediatrics, which are attended by 25 experienced adult doctors, 12 traumatologists and 12 pediatricians 24 hours a day. 7 days a week”. The differentiation of the areas is focused on having greater order and more agility. The admission and discharge of patients, which were previously processed by the same service counter, are now handled separately, with a pharmacy specially implemented to expedite discharges.
The emergency care of the Anglo American Clinic sets a distance for its comprehensive approach to patient health that is based on the quality and safety of medical care, carried out with a humane and close treatment, which is another brand of the house, supported for its renowned staff doctors, highly trained nurses and state-of-the-art technology present in the Imaging Unit in the Operating Rooms, Intensive Care Units (ICU) and Intermediate Care Unit (NICU).
The innovative Cerebro Vascular Attack Unit was incorporated into the adult area, a pioneer of its kind in the country, directed by the neurologist Martín Gavidia, an authority on the subject. “Neurological events are becoming more frequent among those over 40 years of age”, mentions Dr. Vásquez, but as he tells us, cardiovascular events are also frequent, for this reason the Anglo American Emergency Service also has an experienced team of clinical cardiologists and interventional doctors to deal with cases of heart attacks. If the patient recognizes the symptoms and goes to the Emergency Department as soon as possible, the chances of reversing the potential consequences increase exponentially.
“We can solve an attack or stroke in 90 minutes through cerebral angioplasty and restore blood flow to the brain,” explains Dr. Vásquez. The key is in the correct and timely diagnosis. The processes ensure that the patient can receive an electrocardiogram within 5 minutes of admission and a CT scan within the first 10 minutes. Emergency physicians, cardiologists, neurosurgeons, neurologists, and cardiovascular surgeons make up a chain that links the care process to proper management.
To this efficiency in crucial matters is added that, as Dr. Vásquez recalls, “our clinic is historically surgical and traumatological.” Incorporating sports and exercise into daily life is essential, but it also carries the risk of suffering injuries, which can be measured among the 150 average visits that the San Isidro Emergency Service attends daily.
“We have experienced trauma doctors present at the service 24 hours a day,” adds Dr. Vásquez, “also with permanent access to state-of-the-art equipment in X-rays, ultrasounds, and tomographies, which are important to determine if treatment with placement of a cast or the fracture is surgically reduced. In this case, the programming of the surgery is immediate”.
Another common pathology is abdominal pain. “They are very frequent and also require a quick and accurate diagnosis,” observes the specialist. “On many occasions, what seems like a mild condition can end up being a more complicated pathology.”
Appreciation that leads to underlining the advantages offered by the facility of giving rapid continuity in care to the patient who requires it, beyond the Emergency Service, with the immediate scheduling of appointments in the doctor’s offices. To finish, Doctor Vásquez mentions: “We are the Anglo American Clinic and today we have a new goal: to be the first thing you think about when you have an emergency.” After this sentence and everything expressed, it is clear that the Emergency Service of the Anglo American Clinic continues to be a classic that is more current than ever.