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HEMS dispatch timing matters for LVO stroke thrombectomy

Impact of Helicopter Emergency Medical Services on endovascular thrombectomy delays, clinical outcomes, and societal costs in large vessel occlusion stroke: a retrospective registry based counterfactual simulation study
Scandinavian Journal of Trauma, Resuscitation and Emergency Medicine · Added 27 July 2026

The efficacy of endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) for large vessel occlusion (LVO) stroke is highly time-dependent.

Study type

Modelling

Design

Retrospective registry study with counterfactual spatial simulation and cost modelling

Participants

617 EVT-treated LVO stroke patients; simulations on 159-patient subset

Main finding

Scene-time paradox: matched on-scene time yielded 19.7 min HEMS transit advantage versus 1.7 min with prolonged scene time; simultaneous HEMS dispatch saved median 4.8 min for patients >30 km (31% saving >20 min); secondary dispatch lost median 3.8 min; optimised dispatch could prevent 0.76–1.98 severe disability cases over 5 years and save €39,000–€107,000 over 2 years.

Caveat

Counterfactual simulations on a subset with modelled clinical and economic estimates.

Bottom line

Hypothesis-generating

Learning goal

Understand how dispatch timing and on-scene decisions influence thrombectomy delays for patients with large vessel occlusion stroke.

More

• Topic: Stroke & neuro
• Daily scan: 27 July 2026

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