STPH is improving Northshore residents’ access to highly specialized vascular neurologists in case of stroke.
STPH is a hospital in the ASSERT initiative (an acronym for Acute Stroke System for Emergency Regional Telestroke), improving quick diagnosis and treatment of stroke by linking STPH and Northshore patients to vascular neurologists at Ochsner Medical Center in New Orleans via telemedicine equipment.
“It will be like having a vascular neurologist at the patient’s bedside,” Dr. Stanford K. White, STPH emergency physician said.
The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals’ Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Program received grant funding from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to develop and implement a telestroke network in southeastern Louisiana. Ochsner, STPH and eight other hospitals comprise the network.
STPH emergency department physicians will have readily available remote access to consult with Ochsner vascular neurologists who will assist in determining which treatment options are best for each stroke patient.
Hospitals in the network follow the American Heart Association’s “Get with the Guidelines” optimal stroke care program and participate in community education about stroke.
ASSERT uses Remote Evaluation of Acute isCHemic stroke (REACH Call) technology to provide streamlined communication, synched in real-time, with all changes in patient condition recorded and time-stamped. All medical staff entries made at either end of the two-way connection will be visible at both hospitals immediately.
If you think someone may be having a stroke, act F.A.S.T. and look for these signs and symptoms of stroke:
Face: Sudden numbness or weakness in the face or one side of the
body.
Arm: Sudden numbness or weakness in arm or on one side of the
body.
Speech: Difficulty speaking or seeing.
Time: Time is important to protecting brain damage. Call 911 if
these symptoms occur suddenly or are accompanied by:
the loss of vision, the loss of balance with dizziness or the
worst headache of your life, with no known cause, both
sudden and severe.