Research Article: Reducing Door-In to Door-Out Time for Patients Receiving a Mechanical Thrombectomy Using AutoLaunch Protocol
Abstract:
Transferring a patient between hospitals is a logistically complex and timely process. Prabhakaran et al evaluated patients, demonstrating that transfer center contact time to ambulance request time and ambulance request to arrival time led to a combined average of . minutes in delayed transfer time. Another study demonstrated that transfer delays in up to % of Acute Ischemic Stroke (AIS) patients made them ineligible for intra-arterial treatment. In order to reduce interfacility transfer delays, Northwell Health’s Center for Emergency Medical Services (CEMS) implemented an AutoLaunch protocol on March , . If a Large Vessel Occlusion (LVO) is identified via brain Computed Tomography Angiogram (CTA) at the Primary Stroke Center (PSC) and last known well time is < hours, the sending Emergency Department (ED) physician can initiate a tier (immediate threat to life or limb) transfer to a Comprehensive Stroke Center (CSC). This process allows for an ambulance to be dispatched to the sending facility prior to acceptance of the patient by the receiving facility. The physician is simultaneously connected to an accepting physician at the CSC to discuss the patient and receive formal acceptance. A retrospective pre-post analysis of this process after its implementation found that the AutoLaunch protocol resulted in a .% reduction in response time, or . minutes saved, among all interfacility transfers. Although this process is applied to all critical transfers requiring life-saving intervention or higher level of care, whether the protocol reduced Door-In to Door-Out (DIDO) time for stroke patients requiring thrombectomy was unknown.
Introduction:
Transferring a patient between hospitals is a logistically complex and timely process. Prabhakaran et al evaluated patients, demonstrating that transfer center contact time to ambulance request time and ambulance request to arrival time led to a combined average of . minutes in delayed transfer time. Another study demonstrated that transfer delays in up to % of Acute Ischemic Stroke (AIS) patients made them ineligible for intra-arterial treatment. In order to reduce interfacility transfer delays, Northwell…
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