Identification of stroke during the emergency call: a descriptive study of callers' presentation of stroke

Objectives: To evaluate symptoms presented by the caller during emergency calls regarding stroke, and to assess if symptoms in the Face-Arm-Speech-Time Test (FAST) are related to identification of stroke. Setting: Emergency calls to the Emergency Medical Communication Center (EMCC) concerning patients discharged with stroke diagnosis in a large teaching hospital in Stockholm, Sweden, in January-June 2011. Participants: The emergency calls of 179 patients who arrived at hospital by ambulance, and who were discharged with a stroke diagnosis and consented to participate were included in the study. Outcome measures: Frequencies of stroke symptoms presented and a comparison of symptoms presented in calls with dispatch code stroke or other dispatch code. Results: Of the 179 emergency calls analysed, 64% were dispatched as 'Stroke'. FAST symptoms, that is, facial or arm weakness or speech disturbances, were presented in 64% of the calls and were spontaneously revealed in 90%. Speech disturbance was the most common problem (54%) in all calls, followed by fall/lying position (38%) and altered mental status (27%). For patients with dispatch codes other than stroke, the dominating problem presented was a fall or being in a lying position (66%), followed by speech disturbance (31%) and altered mental status (25%). Stroke-specific symptoms were more common in patients dispatched as stroke. FAST symptoms were reported in 80% of patients dispatched as stroke compared with 35% in those dispatched as something else. Conclusions: This study implicates that fall/lying position and altered mental status could be considered as possible symptoms of stroke during an emergency call. Checking for FAST symptoms in these patients might uncover stroke symptoms. Future studies are needed to evaluate if actively asking for FAST symptoms in emergency calls presenting falls or a lying position can improve the identification of stroke.