The American Heart Association is pumping $5.2 million into a program to bolster stroke care in Wyoming.
Mission: Lifeline Stroke seeks to transform stroke care by creating a “system of care” that sets stroke patients up for faster symptoms recognition and access to the care and treatment they need. Stroke is the fifth leading cause of death in Wyoming, with 238 in 2024. It’s also a leading cause of long-term disability.
“ Time is brain,” said Walter Panzirer, a trustee of Helmsley Charitable Trust, which has committed to pouring millions into the state over the next three years. He added that for every minute that blood flow to the brain is disrupted, 1.9 million neurons die.
“In rural America, time is a challenge because of the distances – getting people to recognize symptoms of a stroke early on, ambulances being dispatched out there. It's also a challenge on which hospitals to bring it to, because not every hospital is a stroke-ready hospital, and that's what this grant is going to help change," he said.
Nancy Brown, CEO of the American Heart Association, said the program will support 28 hospitals to strengthen coordination and create a system of care shared across all groups that assist in treating stroke.
“We'll be bringing together the entire system that touches a person who may have had a stroke, including EMS agencies, hospitals, rehabilitation providers, community organizations, and public health partners to agree upon a shared framework for creating timely, evidence-based care,” Brown said. “ From the moment the patient hits an emergency room, or if they're in a very remote area and we're using telemedicine to dial into an emergency room, what are the best practices of how that care can and should be delivered? And the best thing about creating a system of care is these hospitals can learn from each other.”
Part of the program is helping the public better recognize stroke symptoms and activate this system of care sooner by calling 911.
To that end, the American Stroke Association rolled out the Learn to B.E. F.A.S.T. campaign with a mnemonic device to recognize warning signs of a stroke:
B = Balance loss
E = Eye (vision) changes
F = Face drooping or twisting
A = Arm weakness
S = Speech difficulty
T = Time to call 911
“We want to convince all people to remember that you need to call 911, that you don't need to tough it out and ride – [or] go drive yourself to the hospital, because there's interventions that can be done on the ambulance,” said Panzirer, who worked as a first responder in rural South Dakota. “[It’s] also important for the hospital to know a stroke patient's coming, so that way they're ready and can give the highest quality care in the fastest amount of time.”
Panzirer said the Helmsley Charitable Trust has seen “great outcomes” from the $41 million it’s granted to eight states to improve stroke care, including a reduction in the time between when a stroke patient arrives at the hospital to when they receive a thrombolytic.
“Twenty minutes doesn't sound like a lot, but that can make a huge difference in your recovery and in returning to normal daily life,” he said.
Mission: Lifeline Stroke comes to Wyoming as the state is distributing $205 million from the federal Rural Health Transformation Program, with an aim to bolster critical access hospitals and emergency medical services.
