Use of Rapid Response Teams to Expedite Imaging and Treatment for Inpatients With Acute Stroke

In-hospital strokes carry high long-term morbidity and mortality rates, but treatment pathways for inpatient strokes are not as well studied as those for community-onset strokes. This single-center, retrospective study of in-hospital Code Strokes extracted data from a database maintained by stroke nurse coordinators at an urban academic institution (January 2017 to March 2023). The objective was to explore the benefits of a rapid response team-driven Code Stroke model. Of 900 Code Stroke activations, 836 were driven by the rapid response team and 64 were not driven by the rapid response team. Patients with codes activated by the rapid response team received imaging faster than did those with codes not activated by the rapid response team (mean [SD] time, 15.7 [13.7] minutes vs 23.2 [23.1] minutes; P = .03). More Code Strokes were activated in the intensive care units and cardiovascular units than in other areas.