Siloam Springs Regional Hospital has joined with the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences to provide life-saving emergency care for stroke patients in the region.
Called AR SAVES (Arkansas Stroke Assistance through Virtual Emergency Support), the program uses a high-speed video communications system to help provide immediate, life-saving treatments to stroke patients 24 hours a day. The real-time video communication enables a stroke neurologist to evaluate whether emergency room physicians should use a powerful blood-clot dissolving agent within the critical three-hour period following the first signs of stroke.
The AR SAVES program is a cooperative between the UAMS Center for Distance Health, the state Department of Human Services, Siloam Springs Regional Hospital and 48 other Arkansas hospitals.
"Working with AR SAVES will enhance the high level of quality care that residents in our region can find close to home here in Siloam Springs," said Siloam Springs Regional Hospital CEO Patrick Kerrwood. "We're committed to helping reduce the number of deaths and disabilities in Arkansas caused by stroke each year, and we are excited to be a part of this important initiative."
"This is an important part of UAMS' mission -- reaching out to other areas of the state and helping local physicians identify patients with stroke and improve the patients' outcomes," said Michael Manley, outreach director for the UAMS Center for Distance Health and director of AR SAVES.
Arkansas, which ranks first in the nation in stroke death rates, had 1,560 stroke-related deaths in 2011, according to the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The nationwide direct and indirect cost of medical and institutional care of permanently disabled stroke victims was $73.7 billion in 2010, according to the American Heart Association's 2012 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics.
"The AR SAVES program will save lives and money because if stroke patients get the treatment they need within three hours, they have a much greater chance of living without a major, costly disability," said Sanjeeva Onteddu, M.D., AR SAVES interim medical director.
Onteddu said it's important the public be aware of the signs and symptoms of a stroke, such as facial drooping or an uneven smile, arm numbness or weakness, and slurred speech or difficulty speaking or understanding speech. To remember them and the importance of getting to a hospital immediately, think FAST -- Face, Arm, Speech and Time.
Since the program began Nov. 1, 2008, more than 2,791 patients have received stroke consults through AR SAVES and 751 patients have received the blood-clot dissolving agent.
Forty-Eight other Arkansas hospitals are participating in the AR SAVES program, which will continue adding hospitals across Arkansas in the coming months, said Curtis Lowery, M.D., director of the UAMS Center for Distance Health.
In addition to Onteddu, the team of stroke neurologists includes: Archana Hinduja, M.D., and Vladimir Karpitskiy, M.D., Ph.D., adjunct faculty in the UAMS College of Medicine; and Margaret Tremwel, M.D., at Washington Regional Medical Center in Fayetteville.
General News on 09/02/2015