Designation recognizes the hospital’s excellence in serving the community through stroke emergency treatment.

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The Georgia Department of Public Health’s Office of EMS and Trauma has designated Stephens County Hospital as a Remote Treatment Stroke Center.  The designation recognizes Stephens County Hospital’s excellence in providing stroke care to patients in Stephens County and surrounding communities. 

“Time is of the essence when it comes to stroke diagnosis and treatment.  Patients exhibiting stroke-like symptoms need emergency medical treatment  within 3 ½ - 4 hours of onset which they can receive at Stephens County Hospital which may eliminate the need to travel to a facility outside of the community,” said Stroke Medical Director and Emergency Department Medical Director, Brody Reid. 

To achieve the Remote Treatment Stroke Center designation, Stephens County Hospital demonstrated that the hospital has implemented evidence-based best practices for caring for stroke patients and submitted data about timely treatment, improvement efforts, processes and policies. 

After reviewing the submitted materials, the Georgia Department of Public Health’s Office of EMS and Trauma recognized Stephens County Hospital as an integral part of a comprehensive and growing stroke care system throughout the state.

Stroke is the obstruction of blood flow to the brain.  This can be caused by a clot (called an ischemic stroke) or a blood vessel rupturing (called a hemorrhagic stroke).  A TIA (transient ischemic attack), or “mini stroke”, is caused by a temporary clot. 

As the fifth leading cause of death and the number one cause of disability in the United States, early stroke detection and treatment are key to improving survival, minimizing disability and speeding recovery times.

“When a patient arrives at the emergency department with stroke-like symptoms, all departments know that we have a small window of time to be able to administer a thrombolytic drug, which is a medication that can break up or dissolve clots in the body,” said Loskoski.  “Tremendous collaboration between the emergency department, radiology, laboratory, and registration supports a quick diagnosis of the patient and initiation of appropriate treatment which is essential for improving patient outcomes.”  

“We are proud to be able to provide high quality care close to home providing our stroke patients with the best possible chance of survival and reduced disability.  Stephens County Hospital will be working to educate our communities to reduce the incidence of stroke and improve the health and lives of the residents we serve,” said Emergency Department Director, Sherry Loggins.

Members of the community should know the BEFAST acronym so they can recognize signs of a stroke and get help as quickly as possible. 

Balance – Watch for sudden loss of balance.

Eyes – Check for vision loss.

Face drooping – Does one side of the face droop or is it numb?  Ask the person to smile.  Is the person’s smile uneven? 

Arm weakness – Is one arm weak or numb?  Ask the person to raise both arms.  Does one arm drift downward? 

Speech difficulty – Is speech slurred?  Is the person unable to speak or hard to understand?  Ask the person to repeat a simple sentence, like “The sky is blue.”  Is the sentence repeated correctly? 

Time to call 9-1-1-  If someone shows any of these symptoms, even if the symptoms go away, call 9-1-1 and get the person to the hospital immediately.  Make sure to check the time so you’ll know when the first symptoms appeared.