Prehospital emergency response times for stroke patients in Iran: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: Stroke is considered as one of the most important causes of emergency medical services (EMS) dispatch worldwide. Stroke is a time-sensitive condition and rapid transport of the patients improves the prognosis. In this study, we described prehospital emergency response times for stroke patients in Isfahan, Iran. Methods: In the current cross-sectional descriptive study, suspected stroke patients who were transported by EMS in Isfahan, Iran, from June 2022 to June 2023 were included. The data was extracted from patients’ files. The time interval between the receipt of a call and the EMS arrival at the scene (arrival time), the time interval between on-scene EMS arrival and the ambulance departure to the medical center (stroke scene time), and the time it takes to reach the medical center (transport time) were collected. Results: Overall, 79 patients with a mean age of 71.56 ± 12.03 were included. EMS diagnosed 63 (79.75%) of the patients with a definite diagnosis and 14 (17.72%) with probable stroke. Two false negative results were found. The average arrival time, was 11.56 ± 6.60 minutes, on-scene stroke time was 13.85 ± 7.23 minutes and the average transport time was 11.90 ± 6.08 minutes. The mean total EMS response time was 37.90 ±11.29 minutes. Conclusion: Overall, our study showed that while the EMS transport time is longer than ideal, the total time to transport to the hospital is short enough not to affect the outcome. EMS was also found to be adept at spotting the signs of stroke and rapidly starting the process of treatment.

Keywords

• prehospital emergency care
• Emergency Medical Services
• acute cerebrovascular accident
• Stroke
• Ischemia/reperfusion injury
• ischemic stroke