Abstract WP229: The Impact of EMS Directly Transporting Patients With Suspected Acute Ischemic Stroke to Comprehensive Stroke Centers in South Florida

Background: After endovascular therapy (EVT) became standard of care for acute ischemic stroke (AIS) in 2015, emergency medical services (EMS) in 3 urban southeast Florida counties modified their transport protocols for suspected AIS. In 2015, Broward (BC) and Palm Beach counties (PBC) phased in EMS transport of all stroke alerts to state-attested comprehensive stroke centers (CSC). Miami-Dade (MDC) adopted a severity-based protocol. Methods: The impact of EMS policy changes was assessed using the AHA Get with the Guidelines-Stroke data prospectively collected for the Florida-Puerto Rico Stroke Registry involving 35,794 AIS cases in the 3 counties with 27 CSC between 2010 and 2016. Results: The percent of patients transported directly by EMS from scene to CSCs in BC and PBC rose from 34% and 13% during 2010, to 97% and 86%, respectively, in 2016 (p=0.002). In MDC, it increased from 62% to 77%. In 2016, the percentage of AIS patients that presented to CSC as transfers from primary stroke centers (PSC) was ...