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There are three common stroke-screening tools utilized in the prehospital setting. It is estimated that the average EMS responder deals with about 10 stroke patients per year. The use of prehospital screening tools increases stroke identification to over 90%.
Common tools include
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the Cincinnati Prehospital Stroke Scale,
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Los Angeles Prehospital Stroke Screen, and
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the Miami Emergency Neurologic Deficit.
Establishing and documenting the exact time of symptom onset, or when the patient was last seen normal is a critical action that must be performed for all suspected stroke cases.
Please see the appendix for samples of these scoring tools. Become familiar with the particular tool in use by the local EMS system and develop proficiency in assessing patients and documenting the clinical findings. | |
