Pulsara Blog

Feeling all alone out there on weekends/holidays/night shifts?

You’re not the only one. Any clinician involved in care of time sensitive emergent patients has experienced the frustration of delays in care during these “off times.” Unfortunately, strokes, STEMIs and traumas do not take time off. Two recent studies (here and here) released in London and Birmingham, UK allude to how process variations have resulted in a decrease in quality of stroke care. Specifically, the quality measurement of door to needle in less than 60 minutes took a hit, and was directly linked to day of week and time of day.

We have a saying in Montana: If you don't like the weather, wait 10 minutes and it will change. And springtime in Montana often brings blizzards and hail storms one minute, followed by sunshine and blue skies the next. Seriously! 

Bozeman, MT — Pulsara is thrilled to announce that a long-time Pulsara client, Good Shepherd Medical Center (GSMC), has recently been awarded the Get with the Guidelines-Stroke Gold-Plus Quality Achievement Award in recognition of their success in implementing quality improvement measures for stroke treatment as defined by the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association. 

Pulsara has added several new features to better enable stroke care teams to build regional systems of care.

--

Bozeman, MT - May 17th, 2016 - With the addition of Stroke Vitals to the Pulsara platform in 4.5, EMS Agencies and Hospitals can now truly build a regional system of care for stroke patients.

"You can solve your region’s LVO (Large Vessel Occlusion) problem, identify which patients need endovascular treatment for acute ischemic stroke and QUICKLY get the right patients to the right treatment," said James Woodson, Pulsara Founder and CEO.

“Nobody plays. Yourself included. I’m supposed to wear myself out for the team? What team? Nah, nah what I’m gonna do is look out for myself and get mine.”

“See man, that’s the worst attitude I ever heard.”

“Attitude reflects leadership…captain.”

These words were spoken by actors portraying Julius Campbell and Gerry Bertier on the football team in Remember the Titans, however, these could very easily be words spoken in regards to struggling Stroke Teams around the nation.

Since they started using Pulsara's Stop Stroke module, hospital teams across the U.S. have been shaving time off of their cases, ultimately saving their patients tissue and reducing their recovery times. But now, there is hard data to show just how much time is being saved.

Pulsara has added several new features to better enable endovascular treatment for stroke patients at hospitals that are intervention capable. 

Having a stroke is a life or death matter, yet a shocking number of adults do not know how to recognize the symptoms in themselves or others. One study found that 70% of adults who had suffered a TIA or minor stroke misidentified their symptoms and 30% wait for over 24 hours before seeking medical attention.

We all know that when it comes to time sensitive emergencies, like stroke or STEMI, time is tissue. As such, it should come as no surprise that a recent study performed by the University of California-San Francisco and the National Bureau of Economic has found that among 30,000 heart attack patients, those who were transported by ambulances that were diverted from busy ERs to other, further away hospitals, were 10 percent more likely to be dead one year later. 

tPA for stroke patients? No way. I’m not killing them.

Have you heard that before? It’s a common mantra in the emergency setting - and with good reason. However, the stroke world is rapidly changing and we all adopt the new science. Unfortunately, many organizations and practitioners are not aggressive with stroke treatment.

While comprehensive stroke centers are well-positioned to treat a lot of patients for Acute Ischemic Stroke, it is a regional system partnership. New trials released last year at the International Stroke Conference have concluded that endovascular treatment of stroke is the real deal.

Podcasts have increasingly become an invaluable medium for consuming information - from news to politics to entertainment to healthcare, there are podcasts dedicated to virtually every topic. When it comes to the world of Interventional Neurology, one podcast in particular stands out. 

Since its inception, Pulsara has been reducing case times for STEMI and stroke patients, ultimately resulting in shorter hospital stays, fewer deficits after treatment, and major cost and resource savings for the facilities we serve. And while all of the hospital and patient benefits we see are exciting, it is especially inspiring when patients walk away 100% deficit free after a stroke or STEMI. 

UPDATED April 21, 2021: This article has been revised, updated, and expanded for current accuracy and comprehensiveness.  

IT'S A FACT: Your patients are having Large Vessel Occlusion (LVO) strokes, whether your facility has protocols in place to manage them or not. So what exactly is an LVO stroke and what's your plan for treating these patients?

If you don't have a plan that works EVERY SINGLE TIME, then you are falling below the national standard of care. 

Last week we posted about the importance of patient symptom education in early identification and, thereby, positive outcomes for heart attack. Similarly, patient education is crucial in achieving the shortest times between symptom onset and treatment for stroke patients. 

Whether through a video, a catchy jingle, or just the use of the acronym itself, patients need to know about FAST and what it means in regards to stroke. The following video describes how body language can tell us about a myriad of behaviors, thoughts, and intentions, and it can also provide the life-saving information needed to detect a stroke right away. Check it out and pass it on to your patients!

2015 has been an amazing year for Pulsara. We grew our incredible team, gained some amazing clients, helped several facilities finally acheive their desired D2N and D2B times, and pushed out some truly revolutionary features on our platform - all in the name of improving patient outcomes for time sensitive emergencies. 

To celebrate a successful year, we thought we'd reflect on Pulsara's 5 most popular blog posts from 2015. Some were funny, others serious, but all were educational. Take a look for yourself!

Since current diagnostic measures for can take up to three hours to complete, patients suffering a stroke - a condition in which 2 million brain cells die per minute - are particularly at risk for lasting impairments after treatment. 

“Three-quarters of stroke patients suffer from ischemic stroke—a blockage of a blood vessel in the brain. In those cases, time is of the essence, because there is a good drug available, but for a successful outcome it has to be given within three or four hours after the onset of symptoms,” Roy Cohen, a research scientist at the Baker Institute for Animal Health at Cornell University says. “By the time someone identifies the symptoms, gets to the hospital, and sits in the emergency room, you don’t have much time to obtain the full benefit of this drug.”

Perhaps the best testimonial a company like Pulsara could hope for, is one where someone is in a job they love so much that they say they will retire from that job - only to be so touched by our potential to impact lives on such a large scale that they feel compelled to come work for us instead. 

Brandon Means is a paramedic and RN who loves saving lives and helping sick patients above all else. In his past role, he was also a customer of Pulsara. After noting the effect the company had on door-to-needle and door-to balloon times, Brandon realized the opportunity to impact lives on such a broad scale was a chance he could not turn down and became one of our Clinical Specialists. The rest, as they say, is history. 

Recently, Brandon was chosen by Sam Bradley, host of the Disaster Podcast, to be featured on an episode of The MedicCast. The episode was cast live from the PhysioControl Studios on the floor of the EMS World Expo earlier this fall, after Sam saw a demo of Pulsara.