All of these top hospitals share eight common characteristics that drive their ability to deliver fast, effective treatment to patients with ST-elevation acute myocardial infarction (STEMI). This study has direct and important information for hospitals around the country.

Over eight years there was only a 2 percent difference between heart disease among siblings with and without heart disease. That means that for every 50 people who have a sibling with heart disease compared with 50 people without, over an eight-year period, there is one extra event.

Most of the innovations are about working smarter, not necessarily harder or with more staff. It is about proper organization and flow, planning and preparing and then communicating to everyone what is expected and when. We would like to see best practice become typical practice.

Some of the wounded are serious ones and we need choppers to transfer them to hospitals for immediate treatment. That is the biggest problem but shelter is required too.

There is growing evidence across the nation that shows early diagnosis and treatment of patients dramatically improves their ability to survive a stroke and fully recover.

This study gives us the ability to benchmark with other hospitals in the area. This is a team effort, from the ER to the caregivers on the floor.