Swedish Medical Center's Ballard campus has a new TeleStroke Program to provide a real time 24-hour, 7 day a week link between the emergency room and physicians and stroke specialists at the Swedish's Cherry Hill Campus where their nationally recognized stroke program is based.

"TeleStroke is another important tool in our arsenal against the third leading cause of death in the United States and the number one cause of adult disability," said Dr. Bill Likosky, medical director of the Swedish Stroke Program.

Swedish is the first hospital in western Washington to start a TeleStroke Program. By having its own program, Swedish is improving stroke diagnosis and treatment.

A stroke is a sudden disabling attack or loss of consciousness caused by an interruption in the flow of blood to the brain.

Likosky uses the word "FAST" to describe the symptoms of a stroke. "FAST" stands for face, arm, leg, speech. If someone feels any weakness in those areas or is having the worst headache of all time, they should call 911 for help.

Brain damage can occur if too much time goes by without medical assistance. If it is treated in a few hours, there is a chance to remedy it said Likosky.

The TeleStroke system uses a secure videoconferencing network to give a real-time, expert assessment of patients arriving at the hospital with stroke symptoms. Doctors who specialize in stroke at the Cherry Hill campus can perform "virtual" bedside neurological evaluations. They can examine patients, review brain images and select the best acute stroke treatments in collaboration with emergency room staff.

The Swedish stroke staff can be paged and then login from their home or office computers if necessary. Cameras take the staff into the emergency room and they can see and talk to patients and emergency room doctors.

Swedish Stroke Program doctors can do everything reach out and touch the patient. "We take that team to that emergency department. We can see the patient, listen to the patient and doctor and then make decisions," said Likosky.

TeleStroke gives the Swedish Stroke Program the capacity to help a small hospital or a hospital without a trained stroke staff in a stroke situation.

Fourteen Swedish Stroke Team clinicians have been trained in the TeleStroke system. The clinicians include seven neurologists, three nurse practitioners, one physician assistant and three registered nurses.

"It levels the playing field. Ballard has trained people but they are not as experienced on a day to day basis," said Likosky.

Swedish's First Hill, Cherry Hill, Ballard and Issaquah campuses are certified as Primary Stroke Centers by the Joint Commission for the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations.

The TeleStroke Program is modeled after the first program of its kind at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Massachusetts General Hospital helped implement TeleStroke at Swedish and the program was up and running on Oct. 22.

"We chose to partner with Massachusetts General Hospital because they are one of the national leaders in implementing telemedicine for stroke. They have been doing this for about 10 years and it makes little sense for anyone to reinvent the wheel when advanced stroke therapy is needed in so many parts of the country right now," said Swedish Stroke Program Manager Tammy Cress, R.N.

"After years of experience helping stroke patients through this telemedicine program in Massachusetts, it is exciting to be able to help even more patients by expanding this successful program to other parts of the country," said Lee Schwamm, M.D. and the director of the Partners TeleStroke Program and the Massachusetts General Hospital Acute Stroke Service.

Other medical centers could become part of the TeleStroke network in the future. "If it works well, we can add it to other hospitals," said Likosky.

The Swedish Foundation has donated $100,000 to get the program started and is now raising funds for subsequent phases of TeleStroke.

Evidence of the importance of the TeleStroke program can be found in the statistics compiled by the American Stroke Association.

Approximately 700,000 Americans suffer from a stroke or recurrent stroke each year. A stoke occurs every 45 seconds and about every three minutes, someone dies of stroke.

Washington has the sixth highest rate of stoke deaths in the country.

Dean Wong may be contacted at 783.1244 or deanw@robinsonnews.com