In 2011, the Miami-Dade Stroke Consortium (MDSC) was established as a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation to improve stroke care and outcomes. The Consortium has established an innovative approach to stroke data collection for the estimated 4000 strokes that occur per year in the County.

 

Working under the auspices of the Fire Officer's Association of Miami-Dade County (FOAM-D), agreements with 16 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 16 hospitals.  Pre-hospital data is collected using an electronic Stroke Tool installed on all emergency vehicles while in-hospital data is collected electronically using American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Patient Management Tool.  Both pre-hospital 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 interventionalits to provide advice, and another made up of hospital stroke coordinators, MDSC has created a framework that will aid in accomplishing our mission.