Effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on advanced life support units’ prehospital management of the stroke code in four Spanish regions: an observational study

BMC Emergency Medicine

Research

Francisco Aranda-Aguilar¹  Jose Antonio Iglesias-Vázquez²  Nicolás Riera-López³  Montse Gorchs-Molist⁴ 

[1] Córdoba Provincial Service. Centro de Emergencias Sanitarias 061 (CES 061), Córdoba, Spain;Fundación Pública Urxencias Sanitarias de Galicia-061 (FPUSG-061), Santiago de Compostela, Spain;Servicio de Urgencias Médicas de Madrid (SUMMA-112), Madrid, Spain;Sistema d’Emergències Mèdiques (SEM), Barcelona, Spain;

关键词: Stroke;    COVID-19;    Emergency medicine;    Emergency medical service;    Stroke code;    Neuroprotective;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12873-023-00886-8

 received in 2023-05-28, accepted in 2023-09-13,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

IntroductionStroke is the most common time-dependent pathology that pre-hospital emergency medical services (EMS) are confronted with. Prioritisation of ambulance dispatch, initial actions and early pre-notification have a major impact on mortality and disability. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to disruptions in the operation of EMS due to the implementation of self-protection measures and increased demand for care. It is crucial to evaluate what has happened to draw the necessary conclusions and propose changes to improve the system’s strength for the future. The study aims to compare prehospital time and neuroprotective care metrics for acute stroke patients during the first wave of COVID-19 and the same periods in the years before and after.MethodsAnalytical, observational, multicentre study conducted in the autonomous communities of Andalusia, Catalonia, Galicia, and Madrid in the pre-COVID-19 (2019), “first wave” of COVID-19 (2020) and post-COVID-19 (2021) periods. Consecutive non-randomized sampling. Descriptive statistical analysis and hypothesis testing to compare the three time periods, with two by two post-hoc comparisons, and multivariate analysis.ResultsA total of 1,709 patients were analysed. During 2020 there was a significant increase in attendance time of 1.8 min compared to 2019, which was not recovered in 2021. The time of symptom onset was recorded in 82.8% of cases, and 83.3% of patients were referred to specialized stroke centres. Neuroprotective measures (airway, blood glucose, temperature, and blood pressure) were performed in 43.6% of patients.ConclusionDuring the first wave of COVID-19, the on-scene times of pre-hospital emergency teams increased while keeping the same levels of neuroprotection measures as in the previous and subsequent years. It shows the resilience of EMS under challenging circumstances such as those experienced during the pandemic.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© BioMed Central Ltd., part of Springer Nature 2023

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