New Law in Missouri: EMS Required to Transport Patients Directly to Designated Centers

The governor of Missouri, Matt Blunt, signed new legislation on July 12, 2008, that requires emergency medical services to transport acute stroke and heart attack patients to a designated stroke or ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) care center, rather than the closest facility. The legislation strengthens efforts to protect Missourians from the fatal and debilitating effects of strokes and heart attacks. The new law creates a statewide “time-critical diagnosis system” for stroke and ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Research shows patients transported to these centers, rather than simply the nearest hospital, have higher survival rates. The legislation was developed by a task force which included Dr. Scott Duff, a neurologist and medical director of the CoxHealth Stroke Center in Springfield, Missouri. The task force included more than 100 people involved in the state’s emergency medicine community. It was led by William Jermyn, state emergency medical services director, who died of a heart attack earlier this year. “The legislation is going to help organize hospitals in the state so that we can all work together to create a better system of care for the people of Missouri who suffer a stroke or heart attack,” says Dr. Duff. “This legislation puts those two diagnoses on the same level as trauma care in our country.”

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