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Stroke & neuro
Prehospital stroke triage: high under- and overtriage rates
Performance of the Lausanne Ischemic Stroke Pathway prehospital triage system in identifying acute reperfusion candidates: a quality-control study
Swiss Medical Weekly · 2026-10-29 · Added 3 November 2026
A Swiss single-centre quality-control study of a prehospital stroke triage pathway found EMS undertriaged 21% and overtriaged 63% of acute reperfusion candidates, with both rates falling when a coordinated medical team (including a neurologist) was phone-consulted.
- Study type
- Cohort
- Design
- Retrospective single-centre quality-control study
- Participants
- 1,071 patients with suspected acute ischaemic stroke
- Main finding
- 41% were eligible for reperfusion; EMS undertriage 21%, overtriage 63%; the physician-led call-team step reduced undertriage to 11% and overtriage to 57%
- Caveat
- Physician-staffed call-team model is not how Australian dispatch works, and single-centre retrospective design
- Bottom line
- Context only
Why it matters in Australia (Medium relevance). The second-assessment step rests on a physician-staffed call team Australian services don't run, but the under- and overtriage rates are a useful benchmark for our own stroke screens.
Learning goal
Refine my prehospital stroke assessment to better identify patients suitable for acute reperfusion and reduce undertriage.
More
- Topic: Stroke & neuro
- Daily scan: 3 November 2026
- Podcast: Paramedic Papers Daily, 3 November 2026
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