Table 1. Characteristics of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Stroke-Care Capacity Among 98 EMS Systems, North Carolina, 2012.
| Domains and Measures | Survey Resultsa |
|---|---|
| Education and Training | |
| Stroke training provided in past 2 years | 93 (95) |
| Median (IQR) hours of stroke training provided in past 2 yearsb | 7.0 (4.0–10.0) |
| Frequency of stroke trainingb | |
| More than once per year | 21 (23) |
| Once per year | 47 (51) |
| Every 2 or more years | 21 (23) |
| Only when initially certified | 3 (3) |
| Stroke educational topics covered in trainingb , c | |
| Risk factors | 74 (80) |
| Signs and symptoms | 92 (100) |
| Pathophysiology | 72 (78) |
| Scale or screening tool | 87 (95) |
| Thrombolytic therapy | 61 (66) |
| All 5 stroke educational topics coveredb | 50 (54) |
| Format of stroke training sessionsb , c | |
| Classroom | 91 (99) |
| Online | 41 (45) |
| DVD or video | 21 (23) |
| Practices and Policies | |
| Lights and sirens are used while transporting suspected stroke patients | |
| Yes | 30 (31) |
| No | 10 (10) |
| Choice made by crew | 58 (59) |
| Validated stroke scale or screening tool is usedd | 94 (96) |
| Stroke scale or screening tool identified as being usedc , e | |
| Los Angeles Prehospital Stroke Screen | 62 (66) |
| Cincinnati Prehospital Stroke Scale | 49 (52) |
| Miami Emergency Neurologic Deficit examination | 17 (18) |
| Frequency of communicating stroke scale or screen results to destination hospitale | |
| Always | 43 (46) |
| Very often | 44 (47) |
| Sometimes | 5 (5) |
| Rarely | 2 (2) |
| Never | 0 |
| Frequency of using a written plan to determine destination hospitalf | |
| Always | 47 (49) |
| Very often | 37 (39) |
| Sometimes | 6 (6) |
| Rarely | 5 (5) |
| Never | 1 (1) |
| Policy exists to notify hospital in advance if stroke suspected | 96 (98) |
a
All values are numbers (percentages) unless otherwise indicated.
b
Of the 93 EMS systems that provided stroke training in past 2 years; 1 system did not answer this question.
c
Categories are not exclusive.
d
Validated stroke scales and screens identified in the survey were the Los Angeles Prehospital Stroke Screen (3), the Cincinnati Prehospital Stroke Scale (2), and the Miami Emergency Neurologic Deficit examination (14).
e
Among the 94 EMS systems that used a validated stroke scale or screen.
f
Two systems did not answer this question.