PLUMBER Study (Prevalence of Large Vessel Occlusion Strokes in Mecklenburg County Emergency Response).

Background And Purpose: The recently proposed American Heart Association/American Stroke Association EMS triage algorithm endorses routing patients with suspected large vessel occlusion (LVO) acute ischemic strokes directly to endovascular centers based on a stroke severity score. The predictive value of this algorithm for identifying LVO is dependent on the overall prevalence of LVO acute ischemic stroke in the EMS population screened for stroke, which has not been reported.

Methods: We performed a cross-sectional study of patients transported by our county's EMS agency who were dispatched as a possible stroke or had a primary impression of stroke by paramedics.