Prehospital Triage of Acute Stroke Patients During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Mayank Goyal; Johanna M Ospel; Andrew M Southerland; Charles Wira; Sepideh Amin-Hanjani; Justin F Fraser; Peter Panagos; AHA/ASA Stroke Council Science Subcommittees: Emergency Neurovascular Care (ENCC), the Telestroke and the Neurovascular Intervention Committees

doi:10.1161/STROKEAHA.120.030340

Prehospital Triage of Acute Stroke Patients During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Stroke. 2020 Jul;51(7):2263-2267. doi: 10.1161/STROKEAHA.120.030340. Epub 2020 May 13.

Authors

Mayank Goyal^{1

2}, Johanna M Ospel^{1

3}, Andrew M Southerland⁴, Charles Wira⁵, Sepideh Amin-Hanjani⁶, Justin F Fraser⁷, Peter Panagos⁸; AHA/ASA Stroke Council Science Subcommittees: Emergency Neurovascular Care (ENCC), the Telestroke and the Neurovascular Intervention Committees

Affiliations

¹ Department of Clinical Neurosciences (M.G., J.M.O.), University of Calgary, Canada.
² Department of Diagnostic Imaging (M.G.), University of Calgary, Canada.
³ Department of Radiology, University Hospital of Basel, Switzerland (J.M.O.).
⁴ Departments of Neurology and Public Health Sciences, University of Virginia (A.M.S.).
⁵ Yale Department of Emergency Medicine and Yale Stroke Program, New Haven, CT (C.W.).
⁶ Department of Neurosurgery, University of Illinois (S.A.-H.).
⁷ Departments of Neurosurgery, Neurology, Radiology, and Neuroscience, University of Kentucky (J.F.F.).
⁸ Division of Emergency Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis (P.P.).

PMID: 32401680
DOI: 10.1161/STROKEAHA.120.030340

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has broad implications on stroke patient triage. Emergency medical services providers have to ensure timely transfer of patients while minimizing the risk of infectious exposure for themselves, their co-workers, and other patients. This statement paper provides a conceptual framework for acute stroke patient triage and transfer during the COVID-19 pandemic and similar healthcare emergencies in the future.

Keywords: COVID-19; emergencies; pandemics; stroke; triage.

MeSH terms

Acute Disease
Asymptomatic Diseases
Betacoronavirus*
COVID-19
Canada / epidemiology
Coronavirus Infections / diagnosis
Coronavirus Infections / prevention & control
Coronavirus Infections / transmission
Delayed Diagnosis
Emergency Medical Services / statistics & numerical data*
Equipment Contamination
Health Workforce
Humans
Infectious Disease Transmission, Patient-to-Professional / prevention & control
Infectious Disease Transmission, Professional-to-Patient / prevention & control
Occupational Diseases / prevention & control
Pandemics* / prevention & control
Pneumonia, Viral / diagnosis
Pneumonia, Viral / prevention & control
Pneumonia, Viral / transmission
Protective Devices
Resource Allocation
SARS-CoV-2
Stroke / complications
Stroke / diagnosis
Stroke / epidemiology*
Stroke / therapy
Symptom Assessment
Time-to-Treatment
Transportation of Patients
Travel
Triage* / methods
Triage* / standards
Unconsciousness / etiology
Workflow