World Stroke Day 2021 Focuses on Triage, Transport, and Treatment
Today on World Stroke Day, physicians from the Get Ahead of Stroke campaign are urging lawmakers update triage and transport protocols. Hospital patients would experience less disability and more would survival rate after stroke if the stroke system of care were structured more like trauma triage systems.
"We now have scientifically proven techniques and devices to treat stroke patients by restoring blood flow," said The Society of NeuroInterventional Surgery (SNIS) president Michael Chen, MD. "Where we have to catch up is in state-level policies that stymie first responders from taking patients to Level 1 stroke centers right away. If we could better organize and centralize state-level stroke triage, more patients could be treated sooner, which directly benefits outcomes.
"The fact is that patients often go to a hospital without thrombectomy capability, and then must be transferred to one that has that capability. This wastes precious time," added Dr. Chen. "The trauma system paved the way for patients to get the care they need immediately. This World Stroke Day, we need to better organize and centralize care for stroke patients too."
The World Stroke Organization is also focusing on provision of tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), essential to stroke treatment and dependent on the establishment of specialist stroke units. These units exist in 91% of higher income countries but in only 18% of low-income countrieswhere the rates of stroke-related death and disability are 4 times higher. The WSO has launched "Roadmap to Quality Stroke Care", a platform that can be used in all settings to identify areas for improvement, to improve stroke services.
Sheila Martins, president-elect at WSO says "People treated with tPA have a 31% higher recovery rate and can go on to lead independent lives. It is shocking that 65% of hospitals still do not provide it. Hospitals must urgently prioritize the development of stroke units in order to administer tPA. Donors, industry, pharmaceutical companies and governments need to come together to prioritize stroke care units. We also need training for nonspecialist doctors and nurses, particularly in low-income settings, to widen access to stroke ready hospitals."
Marc Fisher, WSO president added "We want everyone to learn the symptoms of stroke and recognize stroke as a medical emergency. It is then vital that when that call comes in, health providers can give everyone an equal chance of recovery."
The WSO is also raising awareness of stroke symptoms by sharing the campaign #Precioustime, with toolkits and more information available at www.world-stroke.org.