Prehospital Notification Shortens Delays in Stroke Evaluation

Imaging and treatment were initiated significantly faster when patients with suspected stroke were brought by emergency medical services rather than by private transport, and prehospital notification enhanced that advantage.

Rapid, efficient in-hospital evaluations are vital to delivering effective acute stroke therapies, including intravenous tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA). Despite national education campaigns, only 2% to 3% of stroke patients in the U.S. receive this treatment, in part because of delays in hospital arrival. When patients do arrive within the narrow treatment window, the emergency department and stroke team must rapidly complete the history and exam, laboratory work-up, and neuroimaging studies, with a target door-to-needle time of ≤60 minutes. Benchmarks have therefore been established for key interim steps, including a target door-to-imaging time of ≤25 minutes and a door-to-imaging interpretation time of ≤45 minutes.

Researchers have no…

Reviewing Author

Chelsea S. Kidwell, MD

Prehospital Notification Shortens Delays in Stroke Evaluation

Topics

Reviewing Author