UAB's Acker a principal writer

The American Stroke Association (ASA), a division of the American Heart Association, recently formed a national task force to establish guidelines for treatment of stroke patients throughout the United States. The task force was composed of nationally recognized experts in stroke prevention, emergency medical services, acute stroke treatment, stroke rehabilitation, and health policy development.

"Task force goals were to describe the current system, define components of an ideal system to prevent, diagnose, and care for stroke patients, and recommend methods to implement such a system," says Birmingham Regional Emergency Medical Services System (BREMSS) Executive Director Joe Acker, who served as task force member and 1 of 3 principal writers of the guidelines.

"Although much progress has been made in developing new stroke therapies, obstacles often hinder translation of scientific advances into clinical practice," he continues. "Stroke-related care is often fragmented because of lack of integration of facilities, agencies, and professionals."

Individual components of a stroke system may be well developed; however, these components often operate in isolation. Moreover, access to coordinated stroke care is lacking in many rural regions, as well as in areas with inadequate access to neurological expertise.

A stroke system should coordinate access to a full range of services associated with stroke prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation. The task force determined it should consist of primary prevention, community education, notification and response of emergency medical services, acute stroke treatment, subacute stroke treatment, and secondary prevention, rehabilitation, and continuous quality improvement activities.

"It is critical to create a stroke system throughout the U.S. to improve patient outcomes with prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation," Acker says. "The current fragmented approach provides inadequate linkages and coordination among professionals and facilities."