TY  - JOUR
AU  - Ala, Alireza
AU  - Shams Vahdati, Samad
AU  - Sadeghi-Hokmabadi, Eliyar
AU  - Jalilzadeh, Sadaf
AU  - Kashtkar, Mahsa
AU  - Rouhi, Asghar Jafari
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/02/25
TI  - Examining the Pre-Hospital Workflow of Stroke Patients Referred with Code SAMA (724) and their Outcome in the Emergency Department of Imam Reza Hospital (AS)
JO  - OBM Neurobiology
SP  - 325
VL  - 10
IS  - 01
AB  - The "Sama Code" is a protocol implemented in Iranian pre-hospital emergency services to manage time and treat patients with suspected stroke symptoms based on the FAST criteria. This study aims to analyze the workflow of patients with stroke symptoms transferred under the Sama Code. All patients with neurological symptoms who were brought to Imam Reza Hospital by pre-hospital emergency services after activating the Sama Code during the years 2021 and 2022 were included in the study. Data were collected from pre-hospital emergency records and registries, including patient age and gender, time of emergency contact, code activation, arrival of personnel at the patient’s side, clinical findings recorded in pre-hospital files, time to emergency department arrival, CT scan (Computed tomography scan), thrombolytic therapy initiation, reasons for treatment cancellation, and patient outcomes. A total of 880 patients were included in the study, with a mean age of 69.24 years (CI 95%: 68.30-70.17). The median age was 71 years, with most patients aged 61-80 years. Among the patients, 505 (57.4%) were male, and 375 (42.6%) were female. The number of patients transferred by pre-hospital emergency services under the Sama Code was roughly equal over the two years studied. The median time from emergency notification to mission start was 1 minute, while the median time from care plan initiation to patient arrival was 10 minutes. The median time from the patient’s side to transfer was 18 minutes, and from transfer initiation to hospital arrival was 10 minutes. The median time from hospital arrival to CT scan was 17 minutes. Of 880 patients, 750 were admitted to the hospital, and 13 Sama Codes were canceled during triage due to other diagnoses. Of the remaining 737 patients, only 20 received thrombolytic treatment, with a median time from CT scan to treatment of 20 minutes. According to this study’s findings, a small percentage of patients receive thrombolytic treatment; however, patient transfers in accordance with the Sama Code guidelines are well implemented, ensuring rapid CT scanning and timely decision-making.
SN  - 2573-4407
UR  - https://doi.org/10.21926/obm.neurobiol.2601325
DO  - 10.21926/obm.neurobiol.2601325
ID  - Ala2026
ER  -