Prehospital diagnosis and management of patients with acute stroke.

Significant advances in the early management of ischemic stroke have been made since the 1995 National Institute of Neurologic Disorders and Stroke data demonstrated the benefit of early intravenous administration of tissue plasminogen activator to select patients with acute ischemic stroke within a 3-hour onset window of suspected stroke symptoms. One concept in stroke care that has become better understood is the importance of time management and the ability to deliver patients with acute stroke to appropriate care as soon as possible. Minimizing delay to definitive therapy remains the current focus in the prehospital phase of stroke care.