Introduction of the standard prehospital stroke life support (PSLS) training of EMS paramedics for the prehospital management of cerebrovascular disease in Japan.
Although the introduction of t-PA (tissue plasminogen activator) was considered radical treatment for acute cerebral ischemic disease, the actual number of cases for such administration was limited in Japan for many reasons; one such reason was related to the ability of EMT (emergency medical technician) paramedics to transport patients to the proper hospital for treatment within 2 hours of onset. From this point of view, the Committee of the Prehospital Stroke Life Support (PSLS) of the Japanese Society for Emergency Medicine (JSEM) developed an original standard for prehospital treatment of stroke. In this paper, the author provides an overview of PSLS and the half-day practical course, which has been widely disseminated over a short period of time.
Emergency & Critical Care Center, Toyohashi Municipal Hospital, 50 Aotake, Toyohashi, Japan. duke@poem.ocn.ne.jp
Nobuyuki
N
Suzuki
D000465:Algorithms; D004634:Emergency Medical Technicians / Q000193:education*; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008020:Life Support Care; D020521:Stroke / Q000628:therapy*