Saskatchewan Acute Stroke Pathway hastens care for stroke patients

Somehow I missed the time limit for tPA going to 12 hours. Still just talking about care, not results.
http://leaderpost.com/news/local-news/saskatchewan-acute-stroke-pathway-hastens-care-for-stroke-patients
Stroke patients should receive better and quicker care with the launch of the Saskatchewan Acute Stroke Pathway.
Formally launched Monday at the Regina General Hospital, although it has been up and running since summer in most places, the pathway streamlines care for stroke patients.
“This gets people provincewide to the right stroke centre,” said Dr. Michael Kelly, a neurosurgeon from Saskatoon who helped lead the charge on improving stroke care.
“Stroke’s a major disease that sometimes take a backseat to other diseases, but it’s the No. 3 killer of Canadians and it’s the No. 1 cause of long-term disability in Canada, so it’s a major problem.”
With early rehabilitation by a stroke team, there’s “significant reduction” in the length of hospital stay and, so far, about 30 fewer patients requiring permanent institutionalization.
Allison Kesler, CEO of the Saskatchewan Heart & Stroke Foundation, emphasizes the importance of knowing the signs of a stroke: face drooping, inability to raise arms, and slurred or jumbled speech.
If someone is having a stroke, it’s important to call 9-1-1 immediately and say that the patient may be having a stroke. That way, they’ll be transported directly to a stroke care centre in Regina or Saskatoon, or in one of seven smaller cities, including Moose Jaw, Estevan, Yorkton and Swift Current.
Bypassing a smaller rural hospital or care centre, the patient will more quickly obtain proper stroke treatment, which will hasten their recovery. About 1.9 million brain cells die each minute after a stroke.
“It’s time-dependent certainly. That’s one of the problems in a province with such large geography,” said Kelly.
Prior to the pathway, patients who’d shown stroke symptoms for more than 3 ½ hours were considered beyond emergency care, because it was thought a clot-busting drug wouldn’t work on them.
That “always bothered me,” said Kelly.
Now the time limit is 12 hours, which is “one of the big accomplishments” of the pathway.
Stroke patients “need to be cared for by people that have expertise in this, including rehab and therapies and speech language pathology,” said Kelly. “That’s what, by expanding the window, we’ve also been able to implement, is those systems for people that have made a big difference.”
Kelly says about 2,500 people have strokes every year in Saskatchewan.
He said there was minimal cost in creating the pathway; it was more about “implementing best practice to do it better.”
amartin@postmedia.com