title: What percentages of patients are suitable for prehospital thrombolysis?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To apply the Joint Royal College Ambulance Liaison Committee (JRCALC) checklist to patients who were deemed eligible for thrombolytic therapy on arrival in an Accident & Emergency Department (A&E) to determine the proportion suitable for prehospital thrombolysis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective descriptive analysis.
  
  
  METHODS
  The clinical notes of all patients thrombolysed in an A&E department in a year were reviewed against the JRCALC guidelines for prehospital thrombolysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  14.2% of patients eligible for thrombolysis in a district general hospital were deemed suitable for prehospital thrombolysis according to the JRCALC criteria. The most common exclusion criteria were hyper/hypotension (50%), onset of symptoms (pain) >6 h previously (41.7%), or age >75 years (37%). Two or more contraindications to prehospital thrombolysis were present in 63.9% of patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The JRCALC guidelines are an effective tool for identifying patients with potential contraindications to thrombolysis.
authors.affiliation: Emergency Medical Care and Rescue, Durban Institute of Technology, Durban, South Africa. nicholas.castle@fph-tr.nhs.uk
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Castle
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Owen
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vincent
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ineson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002637:Chest Pain / Q000188:drug therapy*; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000188:drug therapy*; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015912:Thrombolytic Therapy