Justin Sattina

The husband will be angry that the wife called 911 and it caused a big scene with the ambulance out in front at their house, and I say ‘no, no, no, your wife did the right thing,’ i see these little looks of thanks when I reinforce that for the family.

It's a story I’ve heard plenty of times, that the patient resisted seeking help but the spouse insisted or they call the daughter who happens to be a nurse or whatever, and that's why they’re here.

The thing about coming in by 911 is that there's pre-notification to the hospital that there's a stroke patient coming in and everything clicks along faster.

You don’t get the benefit of that if you (drive to the hospital), even if it's true that you arrive at the front door a little quicker, it disrupts what’s really an intricate and adjusted process of caring for acute stroke patients.