Wales Air Ambulance belief is prehospital CT scanning and treatment would massively shorten the time to revascularisation for stroke patients, both by thrombolysis and mechanical thrombectomy. This would result in a larger proportion of patients having good functional neurological outcomes, and reduce inequalities in care for patients in rural or hard to reach areas of the country.
With this grant from the Jude Morris Innovation and Development Fund, Wales Air Ambulance will model how advanced prehospital teams can bring early diagnostics and treatment to stroke patients prehospitally, including CT scanning and thrombolysis, as well as more expedient transfer to thrombectomy centres. The modelling will utilise NHS Wales data on stroke patients over the previous years, and data from our medical partners (EMRTS) and Ambulance service regarding response times, transit times and asset availability.
The modelling will consider air and road platforms for initial response and for ongoing transfer, along with staff mix onboard the Mobile Stroke Unit (MSU)2 and will consider dispatch including critical care/HEMS dispatch resources. We will also conduct a health economic analysis on the model and aim to develop a strategic case to trial a mobile stroke unit within Wales.

Impact and Outcomes
• Production of a modelling report and summary. We will include relevant data such as the number of stroke-related missions Wales Air Ambulance attends, to demonstrate the impact and number of patients who will benefit from this project.
• Publishing of the results of modelling in relevant journals, followed by producing a proposal for a physical trial of mobile stroke unit teams.
• Learning will be shared within the wider air ambulance community, to enable informed dispatch policy decisions, and help improve prehospital care across the UK.