Advance Hospital Notification by EMS in Acute Stroke Is Associated with Shorter Door-to-Computed Tomography Time andIncreased Likelihood of Administration of Tissue-Plasminogen Activator

Abstract

Advance notification of patient arrival by EMS shortened time to CT and was associated with a modest increase in the use of thrombolysis at our hospital. This occurred even with protocols in place to shorten the time to CT for all acute stroke patients. Further research is needed to understand how to increase rates of advance notification by EMS in potential tPA candidates.