Enhancing Prehospital Stroke Diagnosis

Summary

Current American Heart Association Guidelines recommend that stroke patients be promptly rescued and identified so that the accepting hospital can be alerted and prepared to receive and treat them promptly. It is also recommend that stroke identification be performed using validated and standardized assessment scales. This study aims to analyze the possibility to increase the correct identification of stroke patients after implementation of several new operative procedures by the emergency medical service (EMS) of the metropolitan area of Milan (SOREU). The interventions adopted include:

1. the evaluation of patients with suspected stroke via video call between the lay rescue personnel and the dispatch healthcare personnel
2. the training of lay rescue personnel, operating in the metropolitan area, aimed at implementing the application of the Cincinnati Prehospital Stroke Scale (CPSS) scale and to expand the neurological examination with the addiction of the Large ARtery Intracranial Occlusion Stroke Scale (LARIO) in the clinical evaluation.

Conditions

• Stroke

Interventions

PROCEDURE

Standard

Basic ambulance personnel are trained in the application of the CPSS scale in suspected stroke. The CPSS scale is a tool used to quickly assess stroke severity in pre-hospital settings. It is a three-point scale that takes into account the patient's level of consciousness, facial droop, and arm weakness. If a patient with suspected stroke meets certain criteria, they will be coded as having a suspected stroke by the SOREU. These criteria include having one item in three of the CPSS scale, being of adult age, and being independent at home.

PROCEDURE

Video call

Among the tools already available to improve evaluation of patients rescued in the field, SOREU has video calls between the dispatch room physician and the rescuer in the field. Thus, the rescuer in the field will perform the CPSS during ongoing video call with the dispatch room, allowing the remote evaluation of the patient by the healthcare worker present in the control room, potentially increasing the ability to identify a stroke.

PROCEDURE

Video call + LARIO

LARIO scale's effectiveness in identifying patients with ischemic stroke caused by a large vessel occlusion in the anterior cerebral circulation. The anterior cerebral circulation supplies blood to the front and upper parts of the brain. Occlusion of a large vessel in this area can lead to a severe stroke. Rescuer in the field will perform the CPSS and the LARIO during ongoing video call with the dispatch room, allowing the remote evaluation of the patient by the healthcare worker present in the control room.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Agenzia Regionale emergenza Urgenza

  lead OTHER_GOV

Principal Investigators

• Anna Coppo, MD · AREU

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2022-11-01

Primary Completion

2024-06-30

Completion

2024-08-31

Countries

• Italy

Study Locations