S2:E1 - EMS and stroke – A discussion about the past, present and future of prehospital stroke care - October 9, 2020

EMS on AIR Podcast

The EMS on AIR is back with Season 2! In this season opener, Dr. McGraw kicks us off with a very brief COVID-19 update for EMS. Then, the doc gives us a clear picture of what is at stake for stroke patients. Stroke is a big deal. It’s the third leading cause of death, and according to the CDC, in 2018, 1 in every 6 deaths from cardiovascular disease was due to stroke. Someone in the United States has a stroke every 40 seconds AND every 4 minutes, someone dies of stroke. It’s a big deal, but EMS can do something to help. Dr. McGraw provides an overview of the evolution of treatments available to stroke patients over the last 40-ish years. Over this time, the odds for these patients have improved with the advancement of technologies available at stroke centers. However, to truly realize the benefit, the entire healthcare system needs to evolve its awareness and ability to not only detect stroke, but to identify how severe a stroke is when it’s happening. Dr. McGraw and I discuss the evolution of stroke identification by EMS in the field over the last 40-ish years and how it has advanced to the point where many EMS systems across the nation are using stroke severity scales to efficiently and effectively measure stroke severity, obtain targeted pieces of information about the patient and the event ALL in an effort to get the patient to the best possible treatment in the quickest and safest manner.

We’ll also touch on the OCMCA Stroke Systems of Care Special Study, which is assessing EMS’s ability to identify and measure stroke in the field using the FAST-ED stroke severity scale. If you’d like to know more information about the OCMCA’s stroke study, or if your agency or hospital would like to participate, visit OCMCA.org/stroke. You’ll find all the information you need about the study and how your EMS agency or hospital can participate. You’ll even find some of study data, as well as a few presentations that you can download.

Visit EMSonAIR.com for the latest information, podcast episodes and other details. Please keep emailing your questions, comments, feedback and episode ideas to the EMS on AIR Podcast team by email at [e-mail].

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