Prehospital Emergency Care in Childhood Arterial Ischemic Stroke

Abstract

Background and Purpose-Immediately calling an ambulance is the key factor in reducing time to hospital presentation for adult stroke. Little is known about prehospital care in childhood arterial ischemic stroke (AIS). We aimed to determine emergency medical services call-taker and paramedic diagnostic sensitivity and to describe timelines of care in childhood AIS. Methods-This is a retrospective study of ambulance-transported children aged <18 years with first radiologically confirmed AIS, from 2008 to 2015. Interhospital transfers of children with preexisting AIS diagnosis were excluded. Results-Twenty-three children were identified; 4 with unavailable ambulance records were excluded. Ninet..