Target Stroke
WHAT IS TARGET STROKE?
The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association (AHA/ASA) recognized the substantial and significant opportunity to assist hospitals and healthcare professionals with improving quality of care for stroke patients.
Target: Stroke was developed as an extension of Get With The Guidelines-Stroke in early 2010 to specifically focus nationwide efforts in reducing IV rtPA door to-needle (DTN) times and further support the information translation and educational needs of healthcare providers caring for this patient population.
The goal of Target: Stroke is to achieve DTN times of 60 minutes or less in at least 50% of eligible patients. Through Target: Stroke, hospital teams can work towards eliminating delays and reducing long-term disability in stroke patients.
WHAT ARE THE TARGET STROKE BEST PRACTICE STRATEGIES?
Briefly stated, the Target Stroke Best Practices Strategies are:
- Advance Hospital Notification by EMS
- Rapid Triage Protocol and Stroke Team Notification
- Single Call Activation System
- Stroke Tools
- Transfer Directly to CT Scanner
- Rapid Acquisition and Interpretation of Brain Imaging
- Rapid Laboratory Testing (including point-of-care testing of indicated)
- Mix IV rtPA Medication Ahead of Time
- Rapid Access to IV rtPA
- Team-based Approach
- Prompt Data Feedback
WHAT ORGANIZATIONS SUPPORT TARGET STROKE?
In addition to the American Heart Association/ American Stroke Association, many other professional healthcare organizations serve as co-sponsors or supporters of Target: Stroke including,
- The American Academy of Neurology
- The Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Registry
- The National Association of EMS Physicians (NAEMSP)
- The National Association of State EMS Officials (NASEMSO)
- The Brain Attack Coalition
- American Association of Neuroscience Nurses
- American College of Emergency Physicians
- National Institutes of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
- American Association of Neurological Surgeons
- American Society of Neuroradiology
- Congress of Neurological Surgeons
- National Association of Chronic Disease Directors
- NeuroCritical Care Society
- The Stroke Belt Consortium
I HAVE CHECKED THE FAQ BUT COULD NOT FIND THE ANSWER TO MY SPECIFIC QUESTION. HOW CAN I GET THE ANSWER?
For more information on Target: Stroke, please visit www.strokeassociation.org/targetstroke
