Background: Emergency medical services (EMS) transport and hospital prenotification were not been strengthened in Taiwan. Our aims were to investigate changes in knowledge, attitudes, and behavior after organizing the management of patients with acute ischemic stroke prehospital and in the emergency department. Methods: Pretest and posttest questionnaires about acute stroke were sent to 180 people who worked in the EMS and emergency department. Results: Responses were received from 160 people for the pretest and 145 people for the posttest. In the pretest and posttest analysis, significant improvement in the attitudes of the physician group (p<0.001) and general behavior (p<0.001) were disclosed. The case-based educational module of acute stroke was better than the traditional oral lecture especially in the nursing group (p<0.001). The rate of administering thrombolytic therapy/total ischemic stroke increased from 3.0% to 7.9% (p=0.004) after running the organized service. Conclusion: Setting up and running a organized thrombolysis service for patients with acute ischemic stroke prehospital and in the emergency department can be a good method to increase the rate of administration of thrombolytic therapy. Case-based learning for EMS stroke education is effective when administered by the staff of the emergency department.
Background: Emergency medical services (EMS) transport and hospital prenotification were not been strengthened in Taiwan. Our aims were to investigate changes in knowledge, attitudes, and behavior after organizing the management of patients with acute ischemic stroke prehospital and in the emergency department. Methods: Pretest and posttest questionnaires about acute stroke were sent to 180 people who worked in the EMS and emergency department. Results: Responses were received from 160 people for the pretest and 145 people for the posttest. In the pretest and posttest analysis, significant improvement in the attitudes of the physician group (p<0.001) and general behavior (p<0.001) were disclosed. The case-based educational module of acute stroke was better than the traditional oral lecture especially in the nursing group (p<0.001). The rate of administering thrombolytic therapy/total ischemic stroke increased from 3.0% to 7.9% (p=0.004) after running the organized service. Conclusion: Setting up and running a organized thrombolysis service for patients with acute ischemic stroke prehospital and in the emergency department can be a good method to increase the rate of administration of thrombolytic therapy. Case-based learning for EMS stroke education is effective when administered by the staff of the emergency department.