ADVANCED STROKE LIFE SUPPORT

COURSE FEEDBACK

What a wonderful, wonderful class! I do believe that the people who attended will move things forward in a critical way. Outcomes of the course included planning for neurology support for two rural hospitals, planning for a CME update session for MDs, and planning for all participating hospitals to advance toward Primary Stroke Center Certification.

Mary Russell, EdD, MSN
Boca Raton Community Hospital

During my first shift after attending the ADVANCED STROKE LIFE SUPPORT class, I had a 31-year-old male patient dispatched as having slurred speech and left-sided numbness. When we arrived I found him in bed with the garbled and slurred speech. I actually had the card [pocket guide] handed out to EMS providers, and that was very helpful. I was able to do my job better with the knowledge I gained from this course. The ER physician was very appreciative of my work with this patient and was able to give this patient the proper treatment. I wanted to say thank you very much for this training and hope to touch more lives in a positive way.

Sean Irick, NREMT-P
Mason Volunteer Fire Department, West Virginia

The Mississippi State Department of Health, Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Program collaborated with North Mississippi Medical Center to sponsor an ASLS training in Tupelo, Mississippi. I want to start by saying what a wonderful job all of the instructors did on the class!! It was one of the best classes I have ever taken. They were superb!

Leigh Anne Puckett, RN, MSN
Stroke Outcomes Manager
North Mississippi Medical Center

I have received countless stories from paramedics about how they never would have found a stroke in a patient without the training they received. They have also seen a huge difference in how the local hospitals receive the patients they bring in and the fast treatment the patient gets when properly assessed and diagnosed in the field.

Duane Bowen, EMT-P
Seminole Fire Rescue

Cabarrus County EMS has been using the ASLS program for many years. The program does something that many programs lack—it provides a sense of importance, ownership, and knowledge to paramedics in terms of identifying stroke syndromes. We have trained more than 1,500 from EMS services, fire departments, communication centers, hospitals, and public health settings across North Carolina. It is required training in our paramedic educational program through the local community college and as part of our paramedic continuing education. Additionally, all new emergency department nurses at Northeast Medical Center are required to undergo the training. We utilize the MEND Exam to identify possible stroke syndromes in the field and call a Code Stroke after ensuring no exclusion factors exist. The end result is a progressive stroke system that boasts a door to CT result time of 17 minutes.

Alan Thompson, NREMT-P
Cabarrus County EMS , North Carolina

Just wanted to let you know how pleased we were with the job your training team did for our ASLS training. I've had a number of emails from EMS folks who attended saying how valuable they thought it was and how they are planning to start working in their counties to train other EMS staff. Your guys did a wonderful job.

Barbara Pryor, MS, RD, LD
Director
Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Program
Ohio Department of Health