Paramedic Acute Stroke Treatment Assessment (PASTA)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Paramedic Acute Stroke Treatment Assessment
IRAS ID
172456
Contact name
Chris Price
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Joint Research Office Regent Point
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 5 months, 30 days
Research summary
When a stroke occurs, quicker treatment for some patients can improve the chances of making a full recovery. If a stroke is caused by a blockage in one of the blood vessels leading to the brain (the most common type of stroke), it is important that patients are assessed quickly to decide if it is appropriate to use a clot busting drug treatment called ‘thrombolysis. The quicker this clot busting treatment is received, the more likely it is that damage to the brain is reduced and a better recovery may occur.
Unfortunately, rapid treatment of stroke is not always achieved. This can be because of delays in patients seeking medical assistance but also because of the time taken to perform the specialist medical assessments to determine which type of stroke treatment, including thrombolysis, may be appropriate. Procedures to reduce delays and to accelerate access to stroke treatments are needed, and paramedics may be able to play a more important role.
This research study is a multicentre cluster randomised controlled trial to determine whether a Paramedic Acute Stroke Treatment Assessment (PASTA) pathway can speed up access to stroke treatments, especially thrombolysis treatment, and improve recovery after stroke. Participants will receive either the PASTA pathway or usual emergency stroke care. The PASTA pathway is a care pathway where paramedics perform an enhanced role in stroke assessment including additional pre-hospital information collection, structured handover of stroke information at hospital and assistance with urgent tasks on hospital arrival.
The effectiveness of the PASTA pathway will be evaluated by comparing recovery after stroke of participants in each randomisation group.
The study will run for 3 years and aims to recruit 3640 participants from three geographical areas is the UK: North East England, North West England and Wales.
REC name
North East - Newcastle & North Tyneside 1 Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/NE/0309
Date of REC Opinion
9 Nov 2015
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion