Rob Dickson, MD

Editor's Note: This article was originally published by EMS1 on March 8th, 2021. 

MCHD EMS shares lessons learned in flexibility and preparedness from the winter storm that doubled call volumes and sidelined hospitals in Texas

EMS agencies and first responders were tasked with shuffling from one crisis to another when Texans faced an unprecedented winter storm in the midst of a once-in-a-century pandemic with COVID-19. These challenges stress-tested all EMS agencies and first responders to continue providing life-saving care during the winter storm while adjusting to the changes of providing care, setting up mass vaccination sites, and continuing our mission during the COVID-19 pandemic.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Special thanks to our guest blogger, Dr. Rob Dickson. Dr. Dickson is an emergency physician and EMS medical director of the Montgomery County Hospital District in Southeast Texas. He has a keen interest in stroke systems of care with an emphasis on uniting EMS with the emergency department and neurovascular specialists to improve systems of care in stroke. He is an assistant professor of emergency medicine with the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and author of numerous articles on systems of care in stoke and efficacy of the Pulsara platform in both STEMI and Stroke.

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Large vessel occlusion (LVO) stroke is a particularly disabling type of stroke where clots are blocking blood flow in the large vessels that supply the brain. The optimal therapy for this type of stroke is to re-establish blood flow as quickly as possible using clot-busting medication and remove the clot with a mechanical device. Data shows that for every 15- minute delay in re-perfusion, stroke patients are more likely to have a poor functional outcome.