CCFES Chief Landry Merkison
RIVERDALE Clayton County Fire and Emergency Services is one of a handful of providers participating in a pilot program to provide faster treatment of stroke victims.
The department will partner with Southern Regional Medical Center in the Coverdell Stroke Initiative to educate the community and ensure faster, more effective treatment to those experiencing a stroke. The program is named for the late U.S. Sen. Paul Coverdell, a Republican from Georgia who died in 2000 following a massive stroke.
Fire Chief Landry Merkison said the selection is an achievement for Clayton County.
This is a great honor for Clayton County Fire and Emergency Services and one that our elected officials and citizens can be proud of, he said. Clayton County employs the best firefighters, EMTs and paramedics in the state and this is indicative of their hard work and dedication to the citizens of this county.
The department and hospital will play a vital role collecting data in the early treatment of stroke victims, said Merkison.
The initiative hopes to improve the care of acute stroke patients in the hospital setting. Southern Regional is one of the first hospitals in the Southern Crescent to be named as an advanced primary stroke center, due in part to its unique ability to manage stroke care, said Kim Anda, manager of Stroke Care at SRMC.
The hospitals stroke program staffs one neurosurgeon and three neurologists, and two community neurosurgeons and three community neurologists. Together with a highly-trained nursing staff and well-integrated emergency medical providers, the facilitys stroke care capabilities thrive, Anda said.
This is why Southern Regional has consecutively been awarded the American Heart/American Stroke Associations Gold Plus Award for the past four years, she said.
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Pilot program a stroke of luck for patients