Texoma Living Well Magazine May/June 2018 | Page 27

TMC Offers Life-Saving Advanced Stroke Care W “You only have a specific window of time to give tPA,” says Dr. Hansen. hen it comes to experiencing possible stroke, your doctor will tell you, minutes matter. John Bowman of Wapanucka, OK, is a testament to the importance of being treated at a Primary Stroke Center, like the one at Texoma Medical Center (TMC), where multidisciplinary teams work together to streamline patient care. Symptoms of Possible Stroke Last summer while relaxing in his home, located about an hour away from Denison, Mr. Bowman’s speech suddenly became slurred, and a friend noticed that his face looked odd. He called 911, and the EMS called an Air Evac to fly Mr. Bowman to TMC for treatment. Emergency Medical Services and Hospital Work Together “Because we received information from the EMS flight team while the patient was in transit, we knew how to prepare,” says TMC emergency physician Greg Hansen, DO. According to Dr. Hansen, as soon as the helicopter landed at TMC, Mr. Bowman was brought immediately to the CT scan room; and when the test results came in, Dr. Hansen ordered a dose of the clot-busting drug tPA. Treatment is FAST “What was so impressive about this patient’s care is that it only took seven minutes for him to receive tPA from the time he arrived at TMC,” says TMC stroke program coordinator Jenny Reeves, RN, SCRN, PCCN. According to the Get With the Guidelines 2017 data, approximately 0.5 percent of hospitals administer tPA in under 10 minutes. To speed up the process for the patient to be treated appropriately, TMC has made changes to help patients receive the care they need fast. For example, according to Dr. Hansen, instead of observing the patient in a room first, the clinical team now meets the patient in the CT scan room and evaluates them there. Depending upon the results of the CT scan, an order is given, and trained nurses can mix the tPA and administer it to the patient right away. “The sooner someone receives treatment for stroke, the better their outcome can be,” says Ms. Reeves, who also trains local long distance and air evac EMS teams on TMC’s stroke capabilities and how to evaluate and treat possible stroke victims while enroute to the hospital. Recognized for Quality TMC has advanced certification as a Primary Stroke Center by The Joint Commission. The hospital is equipped with a 24-hour stroke team and trained emergency department personnel who provide care in designated stroke units. To learn more about the hospital’s stroke services, visit www.texomamedicalcenter.net/stroke; or call 903-416-5070. See Advertisement Back Cover TEXOMA AREA Living Well Magazine | MAY/JUNE 2018 27