Rural-urban differences in emergency medical services bypass routing of stroke in North Carolina.

ABSTRACT:

Purpose

Acute stroke is a serious, time-sensitive condition requiring immediate medical attention. Emergency medical services (EMS) routing and direct transport of acute stroke patients to stroke centers improves timely access to care. This study aimed to describe EMS stroke routing and transports by rurality in North Carolina (NC).

Methods

We conducted a retrospective study using existing data on EMS transports of suspected stroke patients in NC in 2019. The primary study outcome was EMS bypass of the nearest hospital for transport to a nonnearest hospital, determined by geographic information systems (GIS) analysis. Incident addresses were geocoded to census tracts and classified as urban, suburban, or rural by Rural-Urban Commuting Area codes. We compared the frequency of

SUBMITTER: Patel MD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11637935 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature