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When a patient suffers a stroke, the difference between recovery and death is measured in minutes. Rapid response is critical to saving lives and limiting disability. The Ottawa Hospital (TOH) is proud to once again set a new Canadian record for fastest time to treatment for stroke patients.

From the moment a suspected stroke victim arrives at TOH, it can now take as little as 12 minutes to get a clot-buster drug, which dissolves the blood clots that can cause brain damage or death.

“Ours is the only documented time this fast, to anyone’s knowledge,” said Dr. Dar Dowlatshahi, a TOH stroke neurologist who was involved in the record-breaking intervention.

In 2010, TOH set the previous record for fastest “door-to-needle time” of 14 minutes. The record before that was 16 minutes, set by the Calgary Stroke Program.

The new record is nearly five times faster than what is considered best practice for acute-stroke care, which focuses on administering a clot buster within the first hour after a stroke patient arrives at a hospital. The drug must be administered within 4.5 hours of the onset of symptoms to be effective. If more time passes, the benefits of the treatment may be limited.

In many cases, however, precious hours can tick by before a patient is even aware that a stroke has occurred. Many do not recognize the warning signs, such as sudden weakness, difficulty speaking, vision problems, severe headaches and loss of balance.

Even before the new record was set, TOH already had excellent door-to-needle times, with half of all stroke patients getting their clot buster within 48 minutes of arriving in the Emergency Department. The 12-minute record shows TOH continues to push the boundaries of what is considered the highest quality care.

Since joining TOH in 2010, Dr. Dowlatshahi has led regular door-to-needle drills to test how quickly acute-stroke care teams can react. Each of those drill times is verified independently and logged officially by the Champlain Regional Stroke Network, which coordinates services to ensure all Eastern Ontarians get access to the best-possible stroke care.

The newest record was set on July 3, the result of a collaborative effort by the Ottawa Paramedic Service, Regional Paramedic Program for Eastern Ontario and TOH’s Stroke Team, including the Emergency Department at the Civic Campus.

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