Orlando Health Emergency Room - Osceola patient reunited with care team after heart attack recovery
Orlando, FL (February 23, 2026) An Orlando Health Emergency Room – Osceola patient reunited with the care team that saved his life when he experienced a severe heart attack.
César A. Díaz Lira, 58, went to Orlando Health Emergency Room – Osceola with symptoms of chest pain and fatigue. An electrocardiogram (EKG) was immediately performed and showed a ST-elevated myocardial infarction (STEMI) – a complete blockage of a coronary artery. The team at Orlando Health Emergency Room – Osceola stabilized Mr. Díaz Lira as he was prepared for transfer by Air Care to Orlando Health Dr. P. Phillips Hospital.
“We have all the tools that any ER would have. We coordinate with our transfer center for transport to get to other sites within the Orlando Healthy system,” said Brian Head, MD, medical director of Orlando Health Emergency Room – Osceola. “Within 30 minutes of Cesar arriving, the helicopter was on the way.”
The quick response and collaboration in Mr. Díaz Lira’s case enabled him to undergo an angioplasty that opened the blocked artery and restored blood flow in less than 90 minutes – the industry standard – from when he arrived at the emergency room.
“Orlando Health treated me like I was family,” Díaz Lira said during his return to Orlando Health Emergency Room – Osceola, where he hugged team members and offered prayers of gratitude.
“César’s happy ending is what we all hope for – you come in, it’s recognized early and we are able to intervene in the amount of time where no permanent damage or no life-changing damage is done to your heart,” said Jazmine Wisecup, director of cardiovascular services at Orlando Health Dr. P. Phillips Hospital.
About Orlando Health
Orlando Health is a private not-for-profit, integrated academic healthcare system with $14 billion of assets under management, that serves the southeastern United States – including Florida and Alabama – and Puerto Rico. With corporate offices in Orlando, Florida the system provides a complete continuum of care across a network of medical centers and institutes, community and specialty hospitals, physician practices, urgent care facilities, skilled nursing facilities, home healthcare, and long-term and behavioral health care services.
Founded more than 100 years ago, Orlando Health’s mission is to improve the health and the quality of life of the individuals and communities we serve. The system provided nearly $2 billion in community impact in the form of community benefit programs and services, Medicare shortfalls, bad debt, community-building activities and capital investments in FY 24, the most recent period for which the information is available.
For more information, visit orlandohealth.com, or follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and X.
