Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez and the Miami-Dade County Board of County Commissioners proclaimed that Tuesday, October 6, 2015 be named Miami-Dade County Stroke Consortium (MDSC) Day. Led by Jeffrey Horstmyer, MD, FAAN, and the Board of Directors the MDSC is comprised of Fire Rescue Departments: City of Miami, Miami Beach, Hialeah, Coral Gables, Key Biscayne, and Miami Dade County, and Stroke Center Hospitals: Baptist Hospital, South Miami Hospital, West Kendall Hospital, Homestead Hospital, Aventura Hospital, Kendall Regional Hospital, Mercy Hospital, Jackson Memorial Hospital, Jackson North Hospital, Mount Sinai Hospital, Coral Gables Hospital, Hialeah Hospital, North Shore Hospital, and Palmetto General Hospital.
“In keeping with the pre-eminence of Miami Dade County’s EMS services after the creation of the 9-1-1 emergency response system which was first established in Miami Dade County, recognition of the first EMS-Hospital Stroke Care Network in Miami-Dade Country is truly an honor. I would like to personally thank Commissioner Barbara Jordan for sponsoring the Proclamation, Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez and the entire Board of County Commission for recognizing the MDSC for all we do to provide the highest quality acute stroke care and improve recovery outcomes,” said Dr. Horstmyer.
About Miami-Dade County Stroke Consortium – In 2011, the Miami-Dade Stroke Consortium (MDSC) was established as a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation to improve stroke care and outcomes. An affiliate of Neuroscience Centers of Florida Foundation’s (NSCFF), MDSC has established an innovative approach to stroke data collection for the estimated 4000 strokes that occur per year in Miami-Dade County. Working under the auspices of the Fire Officer’s Association of Miami-Dade County (FOAM-D), agreements with 14 Primary and Comprehensive Stroke Center Hospitals in Miami-Dade County have been executed to include participation in MDSC’s network. MDSC’s design for data collection standardizes pre-hospital and in-hospital data among the 6 Fire Rescue departments and 14 hospitals. Pre-hospital data is collected using an electronic Stroke Tool, while in-hospital data is collected electronically using American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Patient Management Tool. Both prehospital and in-hospital data sources are then collated into NIH’s REDCap system. REDCap is a secure, web-based application, designed to support data capture for research studies. With an advisory group consisting of top neurologists and neuro-interventional radiologists to provide appropriate guidance, and another committee made up of hospital stroke coordinators, MDSC has created a framework that will aid in accomplishing its mission.
