Monday, June 27, 2011
Winston-Salem, NC- Forsyth Medical Center's Stroke and Neurosciences Institute is the only medical center in North Carolina and South Carolina recognized by the American Heart Association (AHA) and American Stroke Association for improving stroke care by consistently administering the clot dissolving drug rt-PA to victims of ischemic stroke within 60 minutes of arriving for care. The recognition is part of the associations' national quality improvement campaign: Target: Stroke and Target: Stroke Honor Roll to improve outcomes for ischemic stroke patients by recognizing those medical centers that consistently deliver the fastest care for stroke victims.
"The drug most effective in treating ischemic stroke, rt-PA, must be administered within three and a half to four hours after onset of a stroke in order for it to be most effective," says Chere Chase, medical director for stroke and neurosciences. "The Target Stroke Honor Roll award recognizes our efforts as a center for advanced stroke care to provide fast, effective treatments to save lives and reduce the debillitating effects from stroke."
According to the AGA, hospitals participating in Target: Stroke work toward eliminating delays in treating stroke patients. To help hospitals achieve times of 60 minutes or less from ischemic stroke patient arrival to the start of IV treatment, Target: Stroke identified key time targets for steps in the treatment process. The steps include:
- Performing the initial patient evaluation within10 minutes of arrival in the emergency department
- Notifying the medical center's stroke team within 15 minutes of arrival
- Initiating a CT or MR scan within 25 minutes of arrival
- Interpreting the CT or MR scan within 45 minutes of arrival
- Starting IV rt-PA immediately after scan interpretation
More than 800 medical centers across the nation are enrolled in Target: Stroke with only 30 being recognized for Target: Stroke Honor roll award as of April 30, 2011.
