• Peter M Koch, Alexander Kunz, Martin Ebinger, Frederik Geisler, Michal Rozanski, Carolin Waldschmidt, Joachim E Weber, Matthias Wendt, Benjamin Winter, Katja Zieschang, Kerstin Bollweg, Sabina Kaczmarek, Matthias Endres, and Heinrich J Audebert.
• From the Klinik und Hochschulambulanz für Neurologie (P.M.K., A.K., M.E., F.G., M.R., C.W., J.E.W., M.W., B.W., K.Z., M.E., H.J.A.), Center for Stroke Research Berlin (A.K., M.E., M.R., K.B., M.E., H.J.A.), German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Partner Site Berlin (M.E.), and German Center for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK), Partner Site Berlin (M.E.), Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany; Berlin Fire Brigade, Berlin, Germany (S.K.); and Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), Berlin, Germany (K.B., M.E.). peter.koch@charite.de.
• Stroke. 2016 Aug 1; 47 (8): 2136-40.

Background And PurposeSpecialized computed tomography-equipped stroke ambulances shorten time to intravenous thrombolysis in acute ischemic stroke by starting treatment before hospital arrival. Because of longer travel-time-to-scene, time benefits of this concept are expected to diminish with longer distances from base station to scene.MethodsWe used data from the Prehospital Acute Neurological Treatment and Optimization of Medical Cares in Stroke (PHANTOM-S) trial comparing time intervals between patients for whom a specialized stroke ambulance (stroke emergency mobile) was deployed and patients with conventional emergency medical service. Expected times from base station to scene had been calculated beforehand using computer algorithms informed by emergency medical service routine data. Four different deployment zones with-75% probability-expected arrival within 4, 8, 12, and 16 minutes and total population coverage of ≈1.3 million inhabitants were categorized for stroke emergency mobile deployment. We analyzed times from alarm-to-arrival at scene, to start of intravenous thrombolysis and from onset-to-intravenous thrombolysis.ResultsCorresponding to the size of the respective catchment zone, the number of patients cared increased with distance (zone 1: n=30, zone 2: n=127, zone 3: n=156, and zone 4: n=217). Although time to stroke emergency mobile arrival increased with distance (mean: 8.0, 12.5, 15.4, and 18.4 minutes in zones 1-4), time from alarm-to-intravenous thrombolysis (mean: 41.8 versus 76.5; 50.2 versus 79.1; 54.5 versus 76.6; and 59.3 versus 78.0 minutes, respectively; all P<0.01) remained shorter in the stroke emergency mobile group across all zones.ConclusionsIn a metropolitan area such as Berlin, time benefits justify a specialized stroke ambulance service up to a mean travel time of 18 minutes from base station.Clinical Trial RegistrationURL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01382862.© 2016 American Heart Association, Inc.

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