JRMC part of program to help stroke patients

Jamestown Regional Medical Center is participating in the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines-Stroke program. The goal of the program is to improve the overall quality of care for stroke patients by improving acute stroke treatment and preventing future strokes and cardiovascular events.

Get With The Guidelines-Stroke was developed to help hospitals employ proven science-based treatment guidelines, including those developed by the American Stroke Association, American Heart Association and Brain Attack Coalition. These guidelines address acute stroke management, primary prevention of cardiovascular diseases, secondary prevention of strokes and the establishment of primary stroke centers.

As a participating hospital, JRMC is encouraged to develop a comprehensive system for providing rapid diagnosis and treatment of stroke when patients are admitted to the emergency department. This includes always being equipped to provide brain-imaging scans, making neurologist consults available to conduct patient evaluations and using clot-busting medications when appropriate.

JRMC is also increasing its efforts to prevent secondary strokes through the aggressive use of medications such as statins and anti-platelets as indicated in the secondary stroke prevention guidelines. Other methods include the treatment of atrial fibrillation and atherosclerosis and management of smoking cessation, weight, exercise, diabetes and cholesterol.

Through the program, AHA and ASA provides JRMC training and staffing recommendations, care maps, discharge protocols, standing orders, data-collection and measurement tools. The program also facilitates creating and sharing best practices among participating hospitals.

“The time is right for JRMC to be focused on improving the quality of stroke care by implementing Get With The Guidelines-Stroke,” said Sheila Krapp, RN, emergency department manager. “The number of acute ischemic stroke patients eligible for treatment is expected to grow over the next decade due to increasing stroke incidence and a large aging population.”

According to the AHA and ASA, stroke is one of the leading causes of death and serious, long-term disability in the U.S. In this country, 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.

Tags: life, health