Adrenal corticosteroids--physiological considerations.

1 hour 50 minutes highlights one of the major obstacles preventing coronary care reaching those patients who die soon after the onset of their attack and are referred to the coroner. Appreciation of the fact that delay can be due to referral through the general practitioner has led to an attempt to bypass primary medical care in acute myocardial infarction in the Belfast coronary care scheme.2 This delay operates in most parts of the British Isles, however, and further separates the patient from coronary care by a median time of 33 minutes in Doncaster. It seems clear from our results, summarzed in Fig. 3, that the provision of a mobile coronary care unit to be alerted by general practitioners cannot be expected to contribute very much to the saving of life after acute myocardial infarction, especially in an area such as Doncaster, where ambulance delays are minimal.