title: Are suspected stroke patients identified by paramedics transported to appropriate stroke centres in Victoria, Australia?
abstract: Emergency medical services (EMS) are vital to ensuring acute stroke patients are transported to thrombolysis and/or stroke unit centres. This 6-month audit of Victorian EMS cases found the majority of suspected acute strokes are transported to appropriate stroke centres. However, there is still room for improvement, in particular, strategies to improve access to stroke services in some rural regions and to ensure patients/relatives are fully informed when requesting transport to a non-stroke service hospital.
authors.affiliation: Research and Evaluation Department, Ambulance Victoria, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Bray
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Coughlan
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Mosley
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Barger
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bladin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D042241:Early Diagnosis; D057286:Electronic Health Records; D004634:Emergency Medical Technicians / Q000193:education; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006757:Hospital Units; D006780:Hospitals, Rural; D006782:Hospitals, Special / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000600:supply & distribution; D006786:Hospitals, Urban; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D020521:Stroke / Q000175:diagnosis*; D015912:Thrombolytic Therapy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013997:Time Factors; D014187:Transportation of Patients / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014218:Triage; D014739:Victoria
keywords: acute stroke; emergency medical service; stroke; stroke unit; thrombolysis