Joining hands with Hong Kong Fire Services Department, we provide faster care and save more lives.

Rapid treatment is the key to favorable recovery to stroke patients. In the early management of patients with suspected stroke, ambulance personnel play a critical role. With early identification of suspected stroke patients and pre-hospital alerts by ambulance personnel, stroke team in the hospital can mobilize downstream resources required for emergency treatments before patients’ arrival, resulting in faster treatment which optimizes recovery potential.

The CU Stroke Angels has partnered with the Hospital Authority and Hong Kong Fire Services Department to implement the PRE-ACT (Pre-hospital Identification and Notification of Stroke Patients) programme in New Territories East Cluster since February 2019. This program has significantly speeded up the complex triage process in acute stroke, which enables earlier delivery of treatments to recanalize occluded vessels in the brain and increase the number of patients who could be treated.

Supporting continuous education and career advancement for healthcare service providers have been one of our main commitments. Over the past decade, our members have been actively involved in providing training to nurses and physicians in the Hospital Authority. Since 2006, we have also established the Master of Science Programme in Stroke and Neurosciences  which provides advanced knowledge supporting career development in research and clinical practice.

Moreover, raising public awareness is also the key to tackle the increasing burden of stroke. To improve the readiness for better stroke care in different levels, we launch public educational campaigns regarding brain health and stroke in the community through public talks and various media platforms.  

Collaborating with the Department of Health Technology and Informatics at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Department of Information Technology at the Hospital Authority, CUHK has started to apply telemedicine for thrombolytic therapy for stroke patients in Hong Kong since 2012. With the help of SEMIDS (Security-enhanced Mobile Image Distribution System), a teleradiology program developed by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, stroke patients who attended the hospital during non-working hours when neurologists are not available in the hospital, could be evaluated via teleconsultation using iPad by off-site neurologists immediately for thrombolytic therapy.

The introduction of TeleStroke (i.e. application of telemedicine for stroke treatments) to Hong Kong has revolutionized stroke service delivery in our locality. It facilitates the provision of 24-hour thrombolytic therapy despite severe shortage of neurologists in the public healthcare system. Today, many hospitals under Hospital Authority are adopting this service model to provide 24-hour thrombolytic service for stroke patients, which greatly improve patients’ access to acute stroke treatments in our community. The significant clinical impact has led us to the Asia Pacific HIMSS Digital Healthcare Award in 2013 and the Hospital Authority Outstanding Team Award in 2019.