Neurology & Stroke

‘We actually have effective treatments, but we’ve got problems with timely access’. Professor Mark Parsons

A stroke can happen to any one of us. 40% of strokes occur in people under the age of 50, including children as young as 13. If treatment is administered within the first hour after the stroke – the Golden Hour – the outcome for the patient is substantially improved and they may fully recover.

The Smart Stroke Ambulance Project is designed to identify patients with the worst kind of stroke, called a large vessel occlusion, to enable treatment to commence within 60 to 90 minutes of onset.

Paramedics in Smart Stroke Ambulances have access to technology which helps them diagnose the type of stroke. If identified as a potential large vessel occlusion stroke, they communicate directly with the closest available stroke team. Once the patient has arrived, the stroke team will confirm the diagnosis and commence treatment. The shortest time to treatment is critical in achieving the best outcome for the patient.

One of the aims of Stroke Research at Ingham Institute is to improve stroke identification before hospital admission to reduce the time to treatment.

Brian had a catastrophic stroke while driving. Within hours he was awake and making jokes. Brian experienced a catastrophic stroke whilst driving on his way home to regional NSW. Fortunately for him, his wife was there to call the ambulance. Even more fortunately, the ambulance that attended was part of the Smart Stroke Ambulance Project. The paramedic used an app to diagnose a potential large vessel occlusion stroke and make the time critical call ahead for further intervention. Thanks to the Smart Stroke Ambulance project Brian was treated with intravenous clot-dissolving drugs within the Golden Hour. “The speed of treatment was definitely the key. To see him not getting his words out and slurring. He couldn’t lift an arm or his leg, couldn’t put pressure on his foot, all that sort of stuff, to just come around in half an hour to completely different, was just amazing to see,” said Bev* Brian’s wife