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Transient Ischemic Attack

Comparison of Emergency Medical Dispatcher Stroke Identification and Paramedic On-Scene Stroke Assessment

Isabel Gardett, PhD, Christopher Olola, PhD, Greg Scott, MBA, EMD-QI, Meghan Broadbent, MS, Jeff J. Clawson, MD

Mar 22, 2017|AEDR 2017 Vol. 5 Issue 1|Original Research

Some have argued that there is no need for a dispatcher stroke evaluation because emergency medical services (EMS) responders can perform a more detailed, in-person stroke evaluation in the field. In fact, little or no research exists to determine whether dispatch stroke evaluations are actually redundant when compared with EMS field responder assessments. The purpose of this study is to determine whether some strokes identified by emergency medical dispatchers (EMDs) are not identified by field paramedics. The descriptive study utilized data from...

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Characterization of Hospital-Confirmed Stroke Evidence for Callers Who Were Unable to Complete Stroke Test Requests from the Emergency Medical Dispatcher

Christopher Olola, PhD, Greg Scott, MBA, EMD-QI, Isabel Gardett, PhD, Jeff J. Clawson, MD

Aug 28, 2016|AEDR 2016 Vol. 4 Issue 2|Original Research

The findings of a recent study suggest that a patient's inability to complete all three tasks in a stroke identification tool used by Emergency Medical Dispatchers (EMDs) is a uniquely strong predictor of stroke. To examine the characteristics of the 17 cases in which the patient was unable to complete all three tasks in the Stroke Diagnostic Tool (SDxT). The retrospective descriptive study utilized stroke data from three sources in Salt Lake County, Utah, USA—Emergency Medical Dispatch, emergency medical services (EMS), and receiving hospitals—for...

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