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Health & Medicine for Senior Citizens
Too Many Stroke Victims Fail to Use EMS for Fastest Trip to Treatment
Ethnic minorities, rural residents least likely to call 911 at onset of a stroke as recommended by American Heart Association
April 30, 2013 Time is critical to stroke victims but more than a third dont get to the hospital by ambulance, even though thats the fastest way to get help, according to new research in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, an American Heart Association journal.
Researchers studied records on more than 204,000 stroke patients arriving at emergency rooms at 1,563 hospitals participating in the American Heart Association/American Stroke Get With The Guidelines-Stroke quality improvement program in 2003-10.
Emergency medical services (EMS) transported 63.7 percent of the patients, with the rest arriving in various other ways, researchers said.
During a stoke emergency, quick treatment is critical. EMS transported 79 percent of those who got to the hospital within two hours of the start of their symptoms.
That resulted in earlier arrival, quicker evaluation and faster treatment, said the researchers who found:
Almost 61 percent of people transported by EMS got to the hospital within three hours of the first symptoms, compared to 40 percent who didnt use EMS;
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Too Many Stroke Victims Fail to Use EMS for Fastest Trip to Treatment