Effective stroke care requires coordination among many partners, and Emergency Medical Services play a key role in these efforts.
Shawano Ambulance Service has been recognized by the Wisconsin Department of Health Service’s Coverdell Stroke Program for becoming a Coverdell EMS Partner. EMS provides assessments and treatments that allow quicker care upon arrival at the hospital. EMS Services and hospitals that have coordinated their practices with community-based efforts have shown an improvement in their care of the acute stroke patient.
As a Coverdell EMS Partner, Shawano Ambulance Service will focus on efforts such as working to deliver stroke community education, reviewing internal protocols and practices and working with local hospitals to provide evidence-based best practices care.
In 2001, Congress directed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to implement state-based registries that measure, track and improve the delivery and quality of stroke care. The registry was named the Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Registry (PCNASR) after the late U.S. senator who suffered a fatal stroke in 2000 while serving in Congress.
In 2012, Wisconsin became one of 11 states funded to participate in the Coverdell Stroke Program. The Wisconsin Department of Health Services oversees the program. The objective of the program is to assist hospitals and EMS providers in their mission to provide the highest standard of stroke care for all residents in their communities and across the state.
In 2015, Wisconsin received continued funding for an additional 5-year period. The focus of this funding is to demonstrate improvement across all stroke systems of care – from EMS response to in-patient care, prevention and rehabilitation post-stroke care. DHS directs the grant with quality improvement and educational expertise from its partners, MetaStar and the American Heart/Stroke Association.
For more information, visit https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/coverdell.