Ireland's first specialised ambulance response system for stroke patients has been launched in the midlands area.
As part of the new system, ambulance requests for patients believed to have suffered a stroke will be prioritised and treated as an emergency.
In addition, 90 ambulance paramedics have been trained to recognise the symptoms of a stroke and can contact the accident and emergency department in advance of their arrival to fast-track the patient's assessment.
"A common perception is that stroke is something that can wait," said Dr Sean Murphy, consultant in stroke and geriatric medicine at the Midland Regional Hospital in Mullingar, who helped implement the response system with the National Ambulance Service for the midlands area.
"But time is brain - that's something that we should remember. It's estimated that for each minute wasted, two million brain cells are lost," Dr Murphy said.
Strokes occur when the flow of blood to the brain is interrupted, usually by a blood clot or other particle and in some cases by a ruptured blood vessel in the brain. The brain is deprived of oxygen and the nerve cells in the affected area cannot function.
The severity of strokes varies from mild to severe, and often leads to paralysis or weakness to one side of the body. They can also affect the patient's ability to see, feel and talk as well as their understanding of speech.
According to Dr Murphy, stroke is the third-biggest cause of death in Ireland and the leading cause of neurological disability. Up to 10,000 adults suffer an acute stroke each year and of these about 2,000 die.
The Midland Regional Hospital in Mullingar, which serves Westmeath, Longford, Laois and Offaly, treats about 120-150 stroke victims a year.
"At the moment Irish stroke patients don't recover as well as their counterparts in other countries like Germany and Denmark," said Dr Murphy. "The reality is that stroke care in other countries is better organised. It's crucial to get patients into hospital as soon as possible and for brain imaging to be done and read quickly. This new policy is the first step to doing this."
Robert Morton, chief ambulance officer with the National Ambulance Service midland area, said the launch of the response system was an important development.
"With this in place we can arrive at the emergency room with everything ready to get the patient an early diagnosis and the treatment they need. That's very positive.
"For anyone who has seen a stroke patient or who has a relative who has suffered a stroke, they'll understand. They're a group of patients that tear you up inside, because in a way you're looking at a perfect mind in a broken body."
The introduction of the specialised response system has been welcomed by the chairman of Irish Heart Foundation Council on Stroke, Prof Desmond O'Neill, who is encouraging other areas to follow its example.
The Midlands Regional Hospital intends to develop the stroke service over the next year and an acute stroke unit is due to open there by the end of 2007.