MGM Healthcare launched on Thursdaya dedicated helpline 044-42004200 and a stroke rapid response team to mark World Stroke Day. The helpline was inaugurated by actor R. Sarathkumar.
The Institute of Neurosciences and Spinal Disorders at the hospital has put in place a dedicated multidisciplinary team to treat people who have suffered stroke.
According to K. Sridhar, Director of the institute the moment a person calls the helpline a team of healthcare professionals drawn from neurology, emergency medicine, radiology and interventionist apart from nurses, would be ready to receive the patient and start treatment.
“By having such a team we have been able to reduce the door to needle time to 11 minutes,” said Dr. Sridhar. Across the world the golden hour is up to 30 minutes.
When a person suffers a stroke, every minute counts, doctors say. Stroke is a condition when the brain cells die due to lack of oxygen flow, which can also caused by blood clots in the brain blood vessels. Approximately 30,000 brain cells can die every second once the oxygen flow to the brain is stopped, he said.
The team would have protocols and would be able to handle an emergency without having to waite for a specialist to take over. He gave the analogy of the Formula 1 race where in a pit shop each car is serviced by a group of technicians and within seconds the car tyre is changed and it is ready to leave.
G. Arjun Das, senior consultant neurologist, said a centre to treat stroke was first established at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital.
