Figure 1.

Flow of acute stroke triage protocol. The emergency medical service (EMS) communicators receive the call, recognise the signs and symptoms of stroke, as well as prioritise the nearest ambulance dispatch. After the ambulance arrival on the scene, EMS staff perform and document the results of prehospital stroke identification screen. If stroke is suspected, the time last known well (LKW) is identified and documented. If the LKW is less than 4.5 hours, the patient is transported directly to the nearest qualified hospital and the receiving hospital prenotified. If not, the patient will be transported to the nearest hospital.