First Coast News
by Juliette Dryer

Every minute matters when someone has a stroke, new technology in Northeast Florida is cutting down response time by connecting doctors with patients before the ambulance ever arrives at the hospital. “Stroke is extremely common,” Dr. David Freeman, professor of neurology and neurosurgery at Mayo Clinic said. Freeman said an estimated 800,000 people in the United States have a stroke each year. Mayo Clinic and Century Ambulance have partnered to launch the mobile "telestroke" program servicing the Jacksonville Area. The program is through the Mayo Clinic Center for Connected Care, which brings care to patients where they need it. “This technology basically allows the doctor to beam into the ambulance and see the patient before they ever arrive at the hospital,” Freeman said.

Reach: First Coast News refers to three television stations in Jacksonville, Florida. WJXX, the ABC affiliate; WTLV, the NBC affiliate; and WCWJ, the CW affiliate.

Additional coverage:
South Florida Reporter, What Women Should Know About Stroke — Stroke is a medical emergency. The faster you get treatment, the better your chances are of recovering. World Stroke Day is observed on Oct. 29 to raise awareness about stroke prevention and treatment. Mayo Clinic experts say women who have stroke symptoms should not delay seeking treatment. They say some women don’t realize the symptoms could be life-threatening, and don’t get the care they need in time. In this Mayo Clinic Minute, reporter Vivien Williams discusses what women need to know about stroke with Dr. Maisha Robinson, a Mayo Clinic neurologist.

News4Jax, Stroke Awareness with Mayo Clinic — Dr. Jason Siegel is interviewed.

Related coverage:
Advisory Board, How Mayo Clinic cut stroke care costs by 10%—without sacrificing quality — The traditional stroke patient is monitored in the ICU before moving to a lower-cost setting, but Mayo Clinic determined some of those patients could safely skip the ICU under a front end risk-stratified approach to stroke care, W. David Freeman, Mayo Clinic's medical director of the neurosciences intensive care unit, and his colleagues write for the Harvard Business Review.

Context: Every year, more than 795,000 people in the U.S. have a stroke, which remains the leading cause of serious long-term disability and costs the nation $34 billion annually, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  “For every minute someone is suffering a stroke, 1.9 million neurons die. The faster we can restore blood flow the better the outcome for the individual,” says Dr. David Freeman, a neurologist at Mayo Clinic’s Florida campus.

Typically, stroke patients are assessed upon arrival at a hospital using the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Stroke Scale, which allows health care providers to gauge the severity of stroke and identify best treatment options.

Now, a new telemedicine initiative through Mayo Clinic’s Center for Connected Care gives physicians at Mayo’s Comprehensive Stroke Center the ability to conduct real-time assessments of stroke patients prior to their arrival at the hospital. Mayo experts say the assessment means faster access to crucial stroke treatment. You can read more about the program and view an interview with Dr. Freeman on Mayo Clinic News Network.

Contact: Kevin Punsky

Tags: Dr. David Freeman, Dr. David Siegel, First Coast News, stroke, telestroke, Uncategorized