Abstract

The Field Assessment Stroke Triage for Emergency Destination (FAST-ED) is a pre-hospital screening tool used to detect large vessel occlusion (LVO) strokes. FAST-ED was implemented by Miami-Dade Fire Rescue (MDFR) in March 2017 with a goal to bring potential LVO patients directly to a Comprehensive Stroke Center (CSC). We assessed whether use of the FAST-ED increased distance patients traveled, assuming some patients would bypass other centers to come to a CSC. This is a retrospective study examining distance traveled by MDFR for acute stroke alerts. Data from three periods were compared: (A) Mar-May 2017 after implementation of FAST-ED, (B) Mar-May 2016, the year before implementation, and (C) Dec 2016-Feb 2017, just before implementation. Distance traveled in miles from scene to our CSC was obtained from MDFR incident reports. Data also were analyzed by age (≥80 years).

In total, 429 acute stroke alerts brought by MDFR to our CSC were reviewed. There were 138 cases in Period A, 136 in Period B, and 155 in Period C. Out of those cases, 156 were aged ≥80 years; 49/138 (36%) in Period A, 45/136 (33%) in Period B, and 62/155 (40%) in Period C. A two-factor ANOVA was used to examine the effect of FAST-ED implementation and age on distance traveled. Patients ≥80 years traveled statistically significantly shorter distances (7.0 mi) than those <80 >(9.0 mi), regardless of period [F(1,5)=13.70, p

Publication Date

6-15-2018

Presented At:

13th Annual BHSF Research Conference

Content Type

Presentation

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