Paramedics in Ontario play an integral role in identifying patients that may be having an acute stroke and transporting directly to a Designated Stroke Centre. By doing so they ensure patients have timely access to hospitals where definitive hyperacute stroke treatment can be administered. A regional acute stroke protocol was first implemented in 1999 in Southeastern Ontario and in 2004, a provinical Paramedic Prompt Card for Acute Stroke Protocol was implemented across Ontario. This tool authorized paramedics to bypass local hospitals and transport patients directly to Designated Stroke Centers for patients who meet the criteria outlined on the Paramedic Prompt Card. In 2011, the screening tool was revised based on the Canadian Best Practice Recommendations for Stroke Care.
The Southeastern and Champlain Regional Stroke Networks, nine Eastern Ontario EMS/paramedic services, Emergency Departments in Kingston and Ottawa, Belleville, Pembroke, Cornwall, and Hawkesbury and the Regional Paramedic Program for Eastern Ontario, collaborated with Dr. Ian Stiell, the principal investigator, Senior Scientist, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. The study demonstrated that the revised Paramedic Prompt Card was effective as a screening tool in predicting acute stroke.
For more information please contact the Study Coordinator: Kristy Smaggus, Regional Paramedic Program of Eastern Ontario (RPPEO), Tel: (613)737-7593; email: ksmaggus@rppeo.ca.
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