introduced by the Indian Stroke Association. The app will assist patients and caretakers in locating the nearest listed hospitals that provide specialized treatment for stroke and also request emergency support from them.
Dr Vinit Suri, Indian Stroke Association President, Senior Consultant Neurologist and Coordinator – Department of Neurology, from Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals in New Delhi, explained about stroke and its emergency treatments. He said, “Stroke is a devastating medical emergency which requires immediate management to restore circulation in the blocked vessels by Intravenous thrombolysis (conducted up to 4.5 hours) or mechanical thrombectomy (conducted up to 6 hours and up to 24 hours in selected patients). Unfortunately in India only 1-5% patients get access to these therapies because of lack of awareness to recognise stroke and additionally lack of awareness towards where and what treatment is to be administered once stroke strikes”.
Dr Vinit Suri further detailed about the StrokeSOS app and its benefits, functions and emergency uses. He said, “The application called StrokeSOS helps stroke patients in the emergency situation. It picks up the location of the user, provides information about common symptoms of stroke and provides information about nearby hospitals (both government and private) where stroke management can be administered. It provides contact numbers of the hospital and navigates the patients on Google maps with indication of the time taken to reach the medical facility”.
