Wall Street Journal Cites Inadequate Stroke Response A National Problem One City is Alone in Solving



May 12, 2005 -- Monday's Wall Street Journal front page headline reads "Stroke Victims Face Hospital Dilemma: Outdated Ambulance Rules, Inadequate ERs Make Dangerous Ailment Worse."

Interestingly, many of the nation-wide problems cited in this story are already addressed in a unique, multi-hospital stroke system that has been in operation in central Alabama since 1999.

The May 9 issue of the Journal cites a number of problems across the country in care, organization and response for stroke patients. The story concludes that "Many stroke victims get inadequate care thanks to deficient medical training by hospital staff and outdated ambulance rules that don't send patients to the best stroke hospitals."

The Birmingham system is not mentioned in the WSJ's story. However, this is not a surprise as many have called the Birmingham Stroke System one of the country's best kept heatlh care secrets.

In addition to the use of a coordinated system for routing stroke patients, the Birmingham region also has special protocols regarding stroke center designation, pre-hospital patient evaluation, treatment of patients, and follow-up quality assurance procedures.

Since the system was implemented, it is not uncommon for paramedics with a critical patient to bypass long delays at an overflowing emergency department so a patient can receive immediate care at another hospital. Intelligent patient routing allows a few minutes of extra travel with the confidence that more minutes will be available for patient care.

"Number one, its better patient care," says Joe Acker, director of the Birmingham Regional Emergency Medical Service System. "It provides a manner in which to match the most readily available hospital with the patient's needs."

The heart of the system is a multi-hospital computer system, LifeTrac. LifeTrac connects 14 area hospital emergency departments to help save lives in six metro-Birmingham counties. Information collected through LifeTrac is used to assist paramedics in transporting patients to appropriate hospital care that is known to be immediately available.

In addition to assisting stroke patients, LifeTrac also assists severe trauma patients. And in 2002, the system was enhanced to use much of the same data to monitor the region for early warning signs of biological and chemical "events," including terrorism.

LifeTrac was developed by Alabama-based Forte' Incorporated. Forte' President Glenn S. Phillips notes, "LifeTrac has features that are ahead of even the latest planning of some areas of the country. And yet we are not finished. We have more new features in the design phase and we are also working to expand into other regions. It is exciting to have a project with such a dramatic positive impact for the well-being of others."

The days of transporting critical patients to the closest ER without regard to availability of care are over in Metro-Birmingham. One day the rest of the country will catch up.

For more information:
Wall Street Journal Article (WSJ Account Required): http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB111559698348927772,00.html
BREMSS: www.bremss.org
LifeTrac Technology: www.LifeTracTech.com
Forte' Incorporated: www.ForteOnline.com





Wall Street Journal Cites Inadequate Stroke Response A National Problem One City is Alone in Solving