The Health Bureau (SSM) announced in a statement yesterday that it continues to improve its Stroke Green Channel* process in the emergency department of the public Conde de São Januário Hospital Centre (CHCSJ) and is planning to collaborate with the Fire Services Bureau (CB) to establish a “pre-hospital stroke assessment and notification mechanism.”
According to the statement, this mechanism will allow pre-notification to the hospital while a suspected stroke patient is on the way in an ambulance, enabling medical staff to allocate resources and prepare necessary treatments before the patient’s arrival, which facilitates prompt intravenous thrombolysis (clot-busting)** or interventional thrombectomy*** for acute ischemic**** stroke patients, effectively reducing treatment waiting times and improving the success rate of rescue efforts.
The statement added that the public Conde de São Januário Hospital Centre established a stroke prevention team and a green channel for stroke emergencies in 2016, and aims to shorten waiting times for treatment and provide round-the-clock intravenous thrombolysis and interventional thrombectomy for patients.
Over the past year, the green channel has been activated more than 300 times, successfully performing clot-busting 100 times and completing interventional thrombectomy approximately 40 times. Furthermore, the proportion of hospitalised stroke patients receiving intravenous thrombolysis has increased from 1.9 percent in 2016 to over 30 percent today, a rate that surpasses that of neighbouring regions, the statement said.
Stroke is one of the leading causes of death and disability worldwide, and cardiovascular diseases currently rank as the second largest cause of death in Macau, the statement said.
The statement noted that today is World Stroke Day, which has been designated by the World Stroke Organisation (WSO) for October 29 annually, and this year is themed “Recognise Symptoms Early, Seek Immediate Medical Attention”, emphasising the importance of promptly identifying early stroke symptoms and seeking immediate treatment.
*The Stroke Green Channel is a pre-established, hospital-wide protocol that prioritises stroke patients, allowing them to “bypass” typical emergency department queues and procedures. It’s an express pathway designed to get a patient from the ambulance to diagnosis and treatment in the shortest possible time.
**Intravenous thrombolysis (often called “clot-busting”) is a medical emergency treatment that uses powerful medication, delivered through an IV drip in a vein, to dissolve dangerous blood clots that are blocking blood vessels. -DeepSeek
*** Interventional thrombectomy (also known as mechanical thrombectomy) is a minimally invasive surgical procedure where a physical blood clot is mechanically removed from a blocked artery in the brain. -DeepSeek
****Acute ischemic describes a condition where a part of the body suddenly loses its blood supply, and therefore its oxygen supply. - DeepSeek
This undated and unlocated handout photo provided by the Health Bureau (SSM) shows SSM doctors conducting a training session for Fire Services Bureau (CB) paramedics a “pre-hospital stroke assessment and notification mechanism”.
