Do You Have Access to the Best Treatment for Stroke?

A Checklist for Communities

• Does the hospital have a Stroke Team led by a healthcare professional with training and expertise in stroke? A Stroke Team is a professional staff available around the clock, seven days a week to evaluate the patient within 15 minutes of arrival.

• Does the hospital have written guidelines for emergency treatment for stroke patients?

• Does the city's emergency medical system transport patients with suspected strokes as rapidly as possible to the hospital?

• Is the hospital's emergency department physicians trained to rapidly diagnose and treat acute stroke?

• Does the hospital provide coordinated stroke care beyond the emergency department physician's evaluation? If not, is the hospital prepared to transfer the patient to a hospital that does?

• Does the hospital have a neurosurgeon available around the clock, seven days a week? If not, is the hospital prepared to transfer the patient to a hospital that does?

• Is the hospital administration committed to the Stroke Center?

• Does the hospital have capability around the clock, seven days a week to perform and interpret either a head CT scan or a brain MRI scan within 45 minutes of the stroke patient being admitted?

• Is the hospital lab open around the clock, seven days a week?

• Does the hospital track patient outcomes, perform ongoing program evaluation, and strive for improvements?

• Does the hospital staff of the Stroke Center receive at least eight hours per year of continuing medical education?

• Does the hospital have at least two annual programs to educate the public about stroke prevention, diagnosis, and the availability of acute therapies?

Source: Brain Attack Coalition