Stroke Center—
When time is of the essence.

"We need to treat
stroke with the urgency
of trauma. Time lost is brain lost."
— Professor of
Neurology Tarakad Ramachandran, MD Department of Neurology Stroke Center

After driving an ambulance for 15 years, Gerry of Auburn knew stroke symptoms when he saw them, like the incoherent or slurred speech and weakness on one side of the body. But when Gerry experienced those symptoms himself, he had trouble expressing what was happening. "My son was in the next room, but I couldn’t get out of my chair," Gerry remembers. "I thought I was calling for help, but my words weren’t making sense."

Gerry’s son called 911. Within minutes, an ambulance had arrived to assess his father. Within an hour, they had Gerry at University Hospital in Syracuse, Central New York’s first NYS designated stroke center and now the hub hospital for the region’s stroke care.

Because Gerry arrived at the hospital quickly, the stroke team was able to administer the clot-busting drug tPA, which must be given within three hours of ischemic stroke onset. The vast majority of stroke patients eligible for tPA seek help too late. When it comes to stroke treatment, time is of the essence.

"We need to treat stroke with the urgency of trauma," says Dr. Tarakad Ramachandran, neurologist and stroke director at University Hospital. "Time lost is brain lost."

More than 80 percent of strokes—including Gerry’s – are ischemic, or caused by a clot that blocks blood flow to the brain. Without oxygen-rich blood, sections of the brain quickly die, and with them die critical skills, like walking and speech.

Gerry remembers arriving at University Hospital, unable to lift his right arm or leg. “And I was talking, but it wasn’t anything that anyone could understand," he remembers. But after his treatment with tPA, and two weeks of rehabilitation at University Hospital, Gerry was close to fully recovered. "The decision to take me to University Hospital made all the difference," he says. "I was lucky, especially considering that I live an hour away."

Now, patients unable to utilize tPA may be eligible for neuro-interventional or other advanced procedures that may be administered within six to eight hours of stroke onset.