Emergency Department and Trauma Center
Since stroke is always a medical emergency, quick and decisive treatment is crucial. That’s why physicians and staff at our Emergency Department and Trauma Center are specially trained in stroke recognition and emergency treatment procedures. As eastern Wisconsin’s only certified Adult Level I Trauma Center, the staff is prepared to use thrombolytic agents (such as tPA) for restoration of blood flow, and is trained in emergency management of ruptured cerebral aneurysms and raised intracranial pressure. Additionally, the Flight for Life helicopter service is based here, ready to rapidly transport patients requiring the highest level of care.
Froedtert Acute Stroke Team (FAST) — on the Job 24/7
Seconds count when responding to stroke. Neurons die rapidly during the first hours after stroke onset, and limiting the extent of damage requires urgent evaluation and treatment. That’s why the Froedtert & The Medical College of Wisconsin Acute Stroke Team (FAST) is available around the clock.
The team provides immediate and experienced stroke expertise to determine if the latest treatments can benefit a stroke patient. The team provides stroke patients with rapid access to expert diagnosis and treatment, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Consisting of critical care neurologists, neurosurgeons, interventionalists, emergency medicine physicians and nurse specialists, the FAST team is the only one of its kind in eastern Wisconsin.
Studies have shown that thrombolytic drugs, or clot-busters, effectively stop strokes and improve patient outcomes if specialists trained in giving the drugs are immediately available. The most widely known stroke therapy and the only FDA-approved drug for treatment of stroke — intravenous tPA (tissue plasminogen activator) — can reverse stroke if given to carefully selected patients within three hours of stroke onset.
Our FAST professionals have successfully used tPA since 1996, and actively teaches other hospitals how to safely administer this drug. Other new advances in stroke therapy are emerging, including neuroprotective medications, aneurysm coiling, carotid artery stenting and intra-arterial thrombolytic therapy. As these new emergency stroke therapies become approved, FAST is ready to respond.
FAST Facts:
- 24-7 ER coverage by stroke specialists
- Specialized protocols for rapid evaluation
- Average door-to-CT time less than 40 minutes
- Average door-to-tPA time less than 60 minutes
Stroke Specialists
Medical College of Wisconsin physicians in multiple specialties combine their expertise to provide comprehensive care for patients who have suffered a stroke. The collaboration of these specialists provides each patient with the best possible treatment options and the highest quality of care — all in one location.
Team members in the Stroke and Neurovascular Program excel in diagnosing and treating stroke through a wide range of treatment options, including some that are part of clinical research trials. Physicians are up-to-date on the latest research findings and treatment techniques. Stroke specialists include:
- Emergency medicine specialists
- Neurologists — a physician specializing in diagnosing and treating disorders of the nervous system
- Neuro-intensivists — a neurologist with training in critical care for neurology patients
- Interventionalists — a neurologist trained in minimally invasive interventional procedures to treat a variety of vascular (blood vessel) disorders of the brain
- Neurosurgeons — surgeons who treat disorders affecting the brain, spinal cord, nerves and spine
- Vascular surgeons — surgeons who specialize in diseases of the blood vessels
- Physiatrists — physicians who specialize in physical medicine and rehabilitation
- Rehabilitation specialists with training in stroke