Welcome to your pre-hospital stroke training

As first responders, the ambulance service play an important role in identifying a suspected stroke and getting patients to the right hospital, one with a specialised hyperacute stroke unit, as quickly as possible.

This interactive online training has been designed to support the decision-making process around the pre-hospital diagnosis of patients with potential stroke symptoms and aims to equip paramedics and pre-hospital clinicians with the knowledge and skills necessary to assess and diagnose stroke patients in the pre-hospital setting.

Part 1: Pre-Hospital Stroke Training

Part 1 of the training aims to provide you with essential knowledge for accurately diagnosing stroke patients. This module covers the anatomy of the brain, signs and symptoms that support the identification of suspected stroke patients, the stroke assessments used to correctly diagnose stroke, and stroke mimics and how they can be differentiated from stroke in the pre-hospital field.

Part 2: Interactive Patient Scenarios

Part 2 gives you the opportunity to apply what you have learnt through interactive patient scenarios, allowing you to practice your stroke assessment and diagnostic abilities in a virtual environment. The scenarios simulate real-life situations and patient interactions, enabling you to experience the challenges and complexities of stroke assessment and practice your stroke knowledge by recognizing the signs and symptoms of stroke, assessing patients accurately, and making time-critical decisions.

Part 3: Interhospital Stroke Transfers

Part 3 looks at potential complications which may occur when transporting a stroke patient between local stroke services and dedicated thrombectomy centres, and how these can be managed.

Upon completion of parts 1, 2 and 3, you will receive a certificate that you can download or print.

Part 4: Incorporating the NIHSS Assessment into FAST

Part 4 demonstrates how you can incorporate the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) assessment into your FAST stroke assessment, allowing you to obtain a more detailed picture of the patient’s neurological status and helping you to pick up more subtle signs of stroke.