A Transfer Strategy Utilizing a Helicopter and a Ground Ambulance Together Does Not Prolong Door-In-Door-Out Times in Thrombectomy Patients: A Retrospective Analysis.

Background: An interfacility transfer should commence immediately to a hospital with endovascular capability to perform mechanical thrombectomy when a patient is diagnosed with a large vessel occlusion (LVO) stroke. The turnaround time in the primary stroke center (PSC) is called door-in-door-out time (DIDO). We investigated DIDOs from two PSCs and how the implementation of a helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) unit for patient transportation together with a ground ambulance affected the DIDO.

Cortical symptoms described in emergency calls for patients with suspected large vessel occlusion: a descriptive analysis of 157 emergency calls.

Background: Emergency medical dispatchers typically use the dispatch code for suspected stroke when the caller brings up one or more symptoms from the face-arm-speech triad. Paramedics and emergency department physicians are trained to suspect large vessel occlusion stroke when the stroke patient presents with hemiparesis and cortical symptoms: neglect, aphasia, and conjugate eye deviation (CED). We hypothesized that these symptoms could be evident in the emergency call.