Published online before print July 17, 2008, doi: 10.1161/STROKEAHA.108.519496
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(Stroke. 2008;39:2695.)
© 2008 American Heart Association, Inc.
Editorials |
Strengthening the Link
The Critical Role of Children in the Stroke Chain of Recovery
From the Department of Emergency Medicine, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV.
Correspondence to Stephen M. Davis, MPA, MSW, Department of Emergency Medicine, West Virginia University, PO Box 9149, Morgantown, WV 26506. E-mail sdavis@hsc.wvu.edu
Key Words: educational campaigns
An extract of the first 250 words of the full text is provided, because this article has no abstract. |
See related article, pages 2809–2816.
Stroke remains a devastating disease killing someone every 3 to 4 minutes and leaving up to 30% permanently disabled according to the most recently available statistics.1 The estimated cost of this disease from 2005 to 2050 will exceed $2 trillion with most of this cost related to disabled survivors’ loss of earnings.1 Sadly, studies have revealed that most strokes cannot be treated due to delayed presentation to an emergency department well outside of thrombolytic treatment windows.2,3 Currently, only 2% to 6% of eligible patients receive lifesaving thrombolytic therapy.4
In the quest to find a solution to this problem, researchers have studied factors that are associated with earlier emergency department arrival. This research has revealed that the majority of delayed presentation occurs during the first 2 steps in the stroke chain of recovery: identification and dispatch.5 Specifically, recognition of stroke signs and symptoms (identification) and activation of the emergency medical services system by calling 911 (dispatch) are both associated with less delay and concomitant earlier emergency department arrival for treatment.6–9 Most importantly, the presence of a bystander or other witness is also associated with earlier arrival7,10 perhaps, in part, because it is usually someone other than the stroke victim who initially calls 911 for help.11
Recent demographic trends suggest that young children may increasingly be the family member or bystander present during the onset of stroke. There has been a steady increase in the number of children living with their grandparents (30% since 1990) with
Related Article:
Stroke 2008 39: 2809-2816.