Mr Grant Hocking ASM1
1Australian Stroke Alliance, Melbourne, Australia, 2Ambulance Victoria, , Australia
Biography:
Grant has implemented guidelines and procedures to improve pre-hospital stroke care was a member of the Victorian Stroke Clinical Network and received the Stroke Foundation President’s Award in 2018. He supported the recent update of the ACSQHC National Stroke Clinical Care Standards and currently seconded to the Australian Stroke Alliance.
Abstract:
This presentation will explain how the Australian Stroke Alliance (ASA) is collaborating with prehospital carers and ambulance services across Australia to transform the delivery of urgent, life-saving prehospital stroke care.
It will explore what is being achieved through the introduction of new models of care, the use of improved communication methods and preparation for the introduction of world-first portable brain imaging devices.
Stroke is a time-critical emergency with 46,000 Australians of all ages experiencing a stroke every year. Treatment relies on knowing if a patient has had a bleed in their brain (20%) or a clot (80%). International best practice is to deliver clot-busting treatment within 60 minutes (the Golden Hour) of hospital arrival.
The ASA is determined to improve the speed of care for regional Australians who are 17 per cent more likely to experience a stroke than their metropolitan counterparts, and who have less access to urgent care.
New Stroke-smart ambulances will incorporate new models of care and video consultation allowing paramedics to share patient details with a Tele-neurologist and collaborate on time-critical treatment and decisions including potential bypass of smaller hospitals to a major stroke treatment centre.
The technology will also allow Emergency departments and other hospital staff to monitor the patient’s clinical condition and prepare for their arrival. Imaging equipment and theatre teams are primed, to fast-track CT scans, diagnosis and life-saving treatment.
The future introduction of portable brain imaging devices will further enhance the capacity to diagnose and treat patients much earlier.