Map Details: Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Stroke Transports to Hospital Destination

Impact Statement

Emergency medical services (EMS) transport patterns and time from dispatch to hospital arrival are important to ensure rapid treatment and reduce death and disability from stroke.

The choropleth map indicates the median transport time in minutes, with the darker blue representing longer transport times and the lighter blue representing shorter transport times. Line symbols represent whether a transport was by ground (blue) or by air (red). Medical facilities are symbolized by point data, with comprehensive stroke centers as yellow circles, acute stroke hospitals as pink circles, and nondesignated hospitals as green triangles.
Key Points

Major Findings 

Minnesota counties with the highest transport times for stroke in 2014 did not have a designated stroke hospital.

How the map will be used, or has been used

Understanding transport times by EMS is important for targeting strategies to improve patient outcomes for stroke based on the prehospital phase of treatment and transport.