Mobile Infirmary Emergency Department
Mobile, Alabama
Mobile Infirmary Emergency Department
he Mobile Infirmary Emergency Department, which sees nearly 40,000 patient visits annually, focused on its stroke process to improve times and patient outcomes. The team set internal goals more stringent than the national benchmarks and has consistently exceeded them. Its success is due to collaboration with an interdisciplinary stroke team from arrival to discharge. Activation of stroke codes has been moved to a nurse-driven level. If an ED provider has not responded in two minutes, the RN initiates the stroke code, and the patient is taken to CT for studies. From the initiation of the stroke code, the process flows seamlessly. The goal for door-to-needle is 30 minutes, and the team understands time is brain. The sooner thrombolytics are administered, the better the outcome is for the patient. Mobile Infirmary recently achieved Comprehensive Stroke Center designation through the Joint Commission, making it only the second in the state to do so. Additionally, a newly formed interdisciplinary team developed and created a Code IR that runs similar to Code STEMI to expedite patients to the IR lab, improving times for thrombectomy patients getting to the IR suite.