The Loyola EMS System Obtains ASLS Training Center Status
June 10, 2024
Categories: Emergency Medicine & Trauma
The Loyola Emergency Medical Services System recently became the first authorized training center in the state of Illinois for the Advanced Stroke Life Support (ASLS) program.
The ASLS program offers an assessment approach which is designed to rapidly identify various types of stroke presentation, which may be ordinarily missed by traditional assessment means. The Miami Emergency Neurologic Deficit (MEND) exam was devised to facilitate communication between healthcare providers throughout the continuum of care for stroke patients. The same tool can be used to obtain a baseline exam in the prehospital setting and then for initial evaluation and subsequent exams in the emergency department, ICU, or hospital floor.
The need for the MEND exam arose because the NIHSS, while very thorough, is also a time-consuming exam. It is not feasible to perform in the prehospital setting and on regular neurologic evaluations by nurses. Conversely, although the CPSS is a quick screening examination, it has only a 70% sensitivity to detect stroke in the field, it is not used in the hospital setting, and is missing components that are important for localization, severity and interval changes. The MEND exam is more thorough than the CPSS but takes less than 3 minutes to perform and requires no additional tools. This allows for quick, yet detailed initial exams and interval assessments.
“It only makes sense that we offer education to our pre-hospital providers, as well as front-line Emergency Department staff,” said Lead EMS Instructor Oliver Boryszewski, CCEMT-P, NRP, EMT-P, who will also serve as the ASLS Training Center Coordinator, “it will allow our EMTs, Paramedics, Nurses, and Physicians to all be on the same page when it comes to stroke care.”
The LEMSS looks forward to improving the pre-hospital stroke care within Region VIII, surrounding EMS regions, as well as throughout the state of Illinois.
About Loyola Medicine
Loyola Medicine, a member of Trinity Health, is a nationally ranked academic, quaternary care system based in Chicago's western suburbs. The three-hospital system includes Loyola University Medical Center (LUMC), Gottlieb Memorial Hospital, MacNeal Hospital, as well as convenient locations offering primary care, specialty care and immediate care services from nearly 2,000 physicians throughout Cook, Will and DuPage counties. LUMC is a 547-licensed-bed hospital in Maywood that includes the William G. and Mary A. Ryan Center for Heart & Vascular Medicine, the Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center, the John L. Keeley, MD, Emergency Department, a Level 1 trauma center, Illinois's largest burn center, the Nancy W. Knowles Orthopaedic Institute, a certified comprehensive stroke center, transplant center and a children’s hospital. Having delivered compassionate care for over 50 years, Loyola also trains the next generation of caregivers through its academic affiliation with Loyola University Chicago’s Stritch School of Medicine and Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing.
Established in 1961, Gottlieb Memorial Hospital is a 247-licensed-bed community hospital in Melrose Park that includes the Judd A. Weinberg Emergency Department, the Loyola Center for Metabolic Surgery and Bariatric Care, Loyola Cancer Care & Research at the Marjorie G. Weinberg Cancer Center, acute rehabilitation, a transitional care center, childcare center and fitness center. MacNeal Hospital is a 374-licensed-bed teaching hospital in Berwyn with advanced medical, surgical and psychiatric services and a 68-bed behavioral health program.
For more information, visit loyolamedicine.org. You can also follow Loyola Medicine on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram or X (formerly known as Twitter).
About Trinity Health
Trinity Health is one of the largest not-for-profit, faith-based health care systems in the nation. It is a family of 127,000 colleagues and more than 38,300 physicians and clinicians caring for diverse communities across 26 states. Nationally recognized for care and experience, the Trinity Health system includes 93 hospitals, 107 continuing care locations, the second largest PACE program in the country, 142 urgent care locations and many other health and well-being services. In fiscal year 2024, the Livonia, Michigan-based health system invested $1.3 billion in its communities in the form of charity care and other community benefit programs. For more information, visit us at www.trinity-health.org, or follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and X (formerly known as Twitter).