Neurovascular Stroke Receiving Centers (NSRC)

About the Program

Category: Health (Best in Category)

Year: 2013

Strokes are a serious medical condition with someone experiencing a stroke, on the average, every 40 seconds. Of the 795,000 Americans who experience a stroke each year, over 130,000 will die as a result. Unfortunately, many of those who survive will experience long-term severe disabilities. To enhance the medical care provided to these patients, Inland Counties Emergency Medical Agency (ICEMA) initiated a process that was designed to identify stroke patients and rapidly transport them to designated Neurovascular Stroke Receiving Centers (NSRC). The primary components of the program include rapid identification by paramedics, expedient delivery to specialty receiving centers, regional quality improvement and education related to stroke management. The EMS component of this process is provided by paramedics who are able to categorize patients using specialized criteria designed to identify stroke symptoms. This information is provided to the NSRC Base Station who is able to provide additional treatment options and direction to a Stroke Center for definite treatment. ICEMA designation assures that the hospital has met certain criteria in providing the highest quality of care, participates in a regionalized quality improvement program, and promotes stroke education for EMS providers and receiving hospitals within ICEMA region.