Stroke outcomes in the Windsor area are a lot better than they were just three years ago.
Windsor Regional Hospital (WRH) said local patients who have suffered a stroke are being diagnosed and treated 53 per cent faster than they were in 2016.
The hospital credits a coordinated partnership with Essex-Windsor paramedics for the door-to-needle time dropping from 95 minutes to 49 minutes in just two years.
WRH measures the time it takes for patients to arrive in the emergency department to receive a clot-busting drug that can prevent brain damage after they have a stroke. The drug can significantly increase a patient’s chance of a full recovery, but only if given within 4.5 hours after symptoms begin.
Dr. Michael Winger, the medical director of the Enhanced District Stroke Centre for Windsor-Essex, said when treating stroke patients, every second counts.
“We say, ‘time is brain,’ because every minute it takes to get the blood circulating back to a patient’s brain, two million brain cells die,” Dr. Winger said.
Windsor Regional Hospital said improved stroke treatment came with the realignment of hospital services in 2013.
“With both acute care campuses under the same leadership, we could standardize stroke care and ensure patients are directed to the right place for quick, specialized services,” said Denise St. Louis, manager of the District Stroke Centre at WRH.
All patients experiencing stroke symptoms within the treatment time window are directed to the District Stroke Centre at the Ouellette Campus.
“By creating one Centre of Excellence where all stroke patients are treated, we ensure we have the right team and equipment in place to obtain the best outcomes for our patients,” St. Louis said.
A phone call from paramedics in the field is also made to the neurologist on call when a potential stroke patient is identified to expedite testing so treatment decisions can be made quickly.
“We now have a system where we can treat stroke patients quickly in order to improve their outcomes, prevent disability and limit and sometimes reverse devastating effects,” added St. Louis.
The hospital added that twice as many patients are now able to receive the drug within the very short window of time after symptoms begin because of the quicker response times. That is now above the provincial average.
Last year, WRH saw 1,435 potential stroke cases with 64 per cent of those cases coming from Windsor and 36 per cent from Essex County.
Dr. Winger said a new single-site acute care hospital will further enhance treatment for stroke patients because efficiencies can be designed to speed up the flow of patients from the emergency department to diagnostic imaging and then to the stroke unit.
The District Stroke Centre is also working with Hotel Dieu Grace Healthcare and the Local Health Integration Network to improve the journey for stroke patients after they are discharged.
