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Piedmont Rockdale Hospital is happy to start offering low-risk stroke patients the ability to stay at Piedmont Rockdale.  This program will not only keep the patient close to home, but it will also keep them healthy for longer.

Jessica Giangrande, Piedmont Rockdale Stroke Manager, says the impact that even minutes have on a patient can be life-saving.

“During a stroke, every minute that passes, a patient is losing 1 million brain cells,” Giangrande said. “Every minute counts and this program saves us several minutes, leading to saving a patient’s life.”

When a patient arrives at the emergency department with stroke-like symptoms, all departments know there’s a small window of time to be able to administer the clot-busting drug Alteplase. A multi-disciplinary team, including the emergency department, registration, nursing and various others, is involved in the process of treating patients with stroke.

To treat an acute ischemic stroke, emergency physicians can administer Alteplase (tPA) or tissue plasminogen activator. However, to be effective, Alteplase must be given within three to four-and-a-half hours of the onset of symptoms. The drug liquifies the blood clot, restoring blood flow to the brain.

At times, patients requiring a higher level of care than that offered at Piedmont Rockdale and other smaller community hospitals need to be transferred to larger facilities. However, this program will allow low-risk stroke patients to remain at Piedmont Rockdale, where they can receive care close to home. Piedmont Rockdale wants to remind the community of the B. E. F.A.S.T. rule when trying to understand if a stroke is indeed happening:

Balance – Watch for sudden loss of balance; Eyes – Check for vision loss; Face drooping – One side of the face droops or is numb; Arm weakness – Is one arm weak or numb? Ask the person to raise both arms. Does one arm drift downward; Speech difficulty – Slurred speech; and Time to call 9-1-1 – If someone shows any of these symptoms, even if the symptoms go away, call 9-1-1 and get the person to the hospital immediately. Check the time so you'll know when the first symptoms appear.

Read more information on Piedmont's Heart Institute.

Original source can be found here.