A posse of prehospital stroke expertise

The Australian Stroke Alliance’s Stroke Golden Hour program relies on the goodwill and hard work of many individuals who have joined our advisory councils and committees.

It’s an exciting time to be involved in our five-year research program, funded by the Medical Research Future Fund. We are working with more than 40 national organisations in our quest to develop lightweight brain scanners, prehospital telestroke capabilities, and national education programs. It’s a mightily complex and multifaceted program. We share one audacious goal: to enable the rapid delivery of pre-hospital stroke care by air and road ambulances – to all Australians.

To ensure we deliver targeted milestones, we have established a new Prehospital Stroke Council, bringing together key authorities from the clinical, research, Indigenous health, consumer and education sectors. This group of 30 experts advises on, and sets national priorities for, the clinical validation and educational activities of the Stroke Alliance.

The council is co-chaired by neurologists, Professor Mark Parsons from Liverpool Hospital, and Professor Chris Levi from John Hunter Hospital. They report to the Stroke Alliance CEO and executive team in accordance with the Medical Research Future Fund’s timelines.

A significant focus is clinical education, anticipating changing stroke care protocols that will arrive from late 2022 as we introduce Stroke Alliance initiatives in prehospital retrieval. The council oversees the enormous amount of work being done by the alliance’s National Education Working Group.

As well, council members are currently identifying rural and remote priorities that intersect with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

A key to our success will be our ability to raise awareness of the alliance’s initiatives with national networks and stakeholder groups who are likely to be engaged in implementation, and the council members are crucial in this endeavour.

The alliance is profoundly grateful to all those who contribute their expertise to our councils and committees, and we acknowledge the hard work being done by these dedicated volunteers who manage to squeeze our demands into their busy working lives.