Most people who have a stroke wait too long for treatment, study finds
Posted June 16, 2011 1:01 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A new study suggests Canadians aren’t taking strokes seriously enough.
A report released today by the Canadian Stroke Network found most stroke victims don’t get to a hospital within the treatment window.
It is recommended that people get to a hospital within four-and-a-half hours of first noticing stroke symptoms to have the best chance of recovery.
But the study found two-thirds of stroke victims wait longer than that.
The report also found hospitals take too long to treat stroke patients.
It says only 40 per cent of stroke victims who arrived within three-and-a-half hours of symptoms first appearing were treated within an hour.
The Canadian Stroke Network — made up of university and hospital-based researchers — gathered data on 38,210 stroke patients from 295 hospitals across the country to prepare the report.
The report was released today in Ottawa by the network and Conservative Sen. Kelvin Ogilvie.
