Stroke Ambulance for Monash
The $6 million investment is earmarked for Monash Medical Centre and builds on the learnings from Australia’s first stroke ambulance based at The Royal Melbourne Hospital.
Stroke Foundation Chief Executive Officer Sharon McGowan said the project had the potential to save lives and reduce disability.
“A stroke strikes the brain in an instant and it is always a medical emergency,” Ms McGowan said.
“Up to 1.9 million brain cells die each minute, but with the right treatment at the right time the damage can be stopped.
“A stroke ambulance is like an emergency department on wheels. It is equipped with the latest diagnostic technology, including a brain scanner and telemedicine equipment, enabling the specialist staff on board to start diagnosis and treatment immediately.
“It saves time and precious brain,” she said.
There is one stroke every nine minutes somewhere in Australia, and there will be more than 14,000 strokes in Victoria in 2018 alone.
Stroke Foundation is proud to be a co-founding partner of Australia’s stroke ambulance currently operating from the Royal Melbourne Hospital. The research trial is being delivered by Stroke Foundation, the Victorian Government, Ambulance Victoria, Melbourne Health, the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health and The University of Melbourne and the Royal Melbourne Hospital Neuroscience Foundation.
Launched in November 2017, the stroke ambulance has attended and assessed 460 patients.
Early results show ambulance arrival to treatment time with blood clot dissolving drugs (thrombolysis) on board has been reduced to 40 minutes, in comparison the average door to clot busting treatment time nationally of 72 minutes. The first hour after stroke onset is a major factor in stroke outcome and the stroke ambulance treats four times as many patients in this critical time window compared to standard hospital treatment. Access to clot removal treatment, for those clots too big to be dissolved, has been greatly improved because the stroke ambulance delivers appropriate patients straight to specialist centres delivering this treatment, cutting inter-hospital transfer times by two hours per patient.
Ms McGowan said the results are impressive and the pilot project has changed the stroke landscape in Victoria.
“Advancements in stroke treatment in the last two decades have made huge inroads to combatting the disease. The stroke ambulance is the latest innovation in emergency stroke treatment,” Ms McGowan said.
“Stroke is no longer a death sentence, but you must act quickly.
“Victorians need to know how to recognise a stroke in the first instance. Remember the word F.A.S.T. and ask yourself these questions if you suspect a stroke:
F – has the person’s face drooped?
A – Can they move their arms?
S – Is their speech slurred?
T - Time is Critical – Call 000 immediately”
“Do not delay. Your first call is always triple zero (000) when stroke strikes,” she said.
Stroke Foundation is calling for increased F.A.S.T. community education in the lead up to the Victorian state election as part of Ready to live: A plan to deliver all Victorian stroke survivors and their families a better future. The $5.1 million plan includes F.A.S.T. community education, a secondary stroke prevention and service linkage program and world-first targeted project to help Victorian stroke survivors back into the workforce.