• Javad Malekzadeh, Hojjat Shafaee, Hamidreza Behnam, and Amir Mirhaghi.
• aDepartment of Medical-Surgical Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad bDepartment of Medical-Surgical Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Chahrrah-e-Doktorha, Mashhad, Razavi Khorasan cCritical Care Nursing, Emergency Medical Communication Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences dEmergency Medical Communication Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Kaghani Blv, Rezashahr eDepartment of Neonatal and Pediatrics Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad fDepartment of Neonatal and Pediatrics Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Chahrrah-e-Doktorha, Mashhad, Razavi Khorasan, Iran.
• Int J Evid Based Healthc. 2015 Jun 1; 13 (2): 87-92.

BackgroundThe emergency medical service is designed to recognize and transfer critically ill patients. Evidence-based practice has rarely been emphasized in the emergency medical service field, especially in the dispatch center.AimsTo identify the effect of the Cincinnati Prehospital Stroke Scale (CPSS) on telephone triage of stroke patients by telephone triage nurses at the emergency medical dispatch center and to compare CPSS with the National Guidelines for Telephone Triage Tool (NGTT).MethodsA quasi-empirical study was conducted from June 2013 to June 2014. The setting of the study was the Mashhad dispatch center of the EMS. Two hundred and forty-six patients were randomly allocated to the CPSS intervention group (n = 121) and the NGTT control group (n = 125). True triage, triage error and odds ratio were statistically reported.ResultsThe mean age of the patients was 70.9 ± 12.7 years. Of all the cases, 77.7 and 65.6% of patients in the intervention and the control groups, respectively, were accurately triaged. Under-triage cases were 10.7 and 13.6% of the patients in the intervention and the control groups. Odds ratio was 1.14 (95% confidence interval 0.62-2.07) for the CPSS compared with the NGTT.ConclusionCPSS is more efficient for use by telephone triage nurses in identifying stroke. The use of CPSS assists nurses by reducing the triage error and supports the evidence-based care. It needs to be developed to cover signs and symptoms of posterior-circulation stroke patients.

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