Diurnal Variations in the First 24/7 Mobile Stroke Unit

Diurnal Variations in the First 24/7 Mobile Stroke Unit

Zaidat O O; Changal K H; Sultan-Qurraie A; de Havenon A; Calderon V J; Goins-Whitmore J; Patterson M S; Lin E

Stroke

2019

2019-07

Background and Purpose- Mobile Stroke Units (MSUs) provide innovative prehospital stroke care but their 24/7 operation has not been studied. Our study investigates 24/7 MSU diurnal variations related to transport frequency, patient characteristics, and stroke treatments. Methods- We compared transportation frequency, demographics, thrombolytic and mechanical thrombectomy administration, and treatment metrics across 8-hour shifts (morning, evening, and nocturnal) from our 24/7 MSU in Northwest Ohio prospective database. Results- One hundred ninety-five patients were transported by the MSU. Most transports occurred during the morning shift (52.3%) followed by evening shift (35.8%) and nocturnal shift (11.9%; P-trend<0.001). Twenty-three patients (11.9%) received intravenous thrombolytic in the MSU, most frequently in the morning shift (56.5%). No cases of mechanical thrombectomy were performed on MSU patients in the nocturnal shift. Conclusions- Morning and evening shifts account for the majority of our MSU transports (88.1%) and therapeutic interventions. Understanding temporal variations in a resource-intensive MSU is critical to its worldwide implementation.

Cardiovascular System & Cardiology; diurnal variation; experience; mobile stroke unit; Neurosciences & Neurology; prehospital stroke; stroke; system of care; telemedicine; thrombolysis; time

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1911-1914

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