Prairie Mountain Health has put in place new procedures on how to handle patients who appear to be showing signs of suffering from a stroke.

CEO Penny Gilson says the new Telestroke program started up at the end of June.

Stroke patients are taken directly to Dauphin or Brandon Regional Health Centres, where physicians will have access to stroke neurologists and radiologists 24 hours per day through video conferencing.

Glson says time is everything when treating a stroke.

“In particular if a stroke has been caused by a clot, then there are clot busting drugs that if we can deliver them within about 4.5 hours after the start of symptoms, then it can certainly contribute to at minimum probably a partial and possibly a complete recovery.”

Mock stroke-protocol trials were recently held in Dauphin and Brandon to help train staff for the new Telestroke program.