Aiming to deliver the highest quality acute stroke care available and improve recovery outcomes, Coral Gables, Hialeah, Homestead, Key Biscayne, Miami, Miami Beach and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Departments have joined forces with area hospitals to deploy one of the largest networks for the treatment and transport of stroke victims in the country. According to the Center for Disease Control someone suffers a stroke every 45 seconds of the day. This translates into more than 780,000 strokes annually in the United States alone, with someone dying every 3.3 minutes; costing more than 53.9 billion dollars each year for the treatment of stroke victims.

“The goal of this initiative is to dramatically improve a patient’s chance of recovery after a stroke,” said Dr. Jeffrey Horstmyer, FOAM-D Neurologist and Chairman of the Department of Neurology of FIU’s Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine. 
 
Stroke is a disease that affects the arteries leading to and within the brain. It is the fourth leading cause of death and the primary cause of adult disability in the United States. A stroke occurs when a blood vessel that carries oxygen and nutrients to the brain is either blocked by a clot or bursts. When that happens, part of the brain cannot get the blood and oxygen it needs, so it starts to die. For every minute that acute stroke care is delayed, two million more brain cells die off.
 
FOAM-D provides a forum for all fire rescue departments within Miami-Dade County to exchange ideas and information and initiate or support projects to enhance services, such as the Stroke Network, for all who live, work and visit our County.  

WHO:              Fire Officers Association of Miami-Dade (FOAMD)            
WHAT:            Stroke Consortium Press Conference 
WHEN:            10:00 a.m. on Thursday, July 26, 2012                    
WHERE:          Florida International University’s Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine
11200 S.W. 8th Street, AHC II (Academic Health Center 2), Room 170-FIU Map is attached.

Mobile link: https://m.fiu.edu/map/index.php?action=building&campus=1000&building=AHC2

Editor’s note: Stroke survivors, neurologists, and fire chiefs will be available for interviews in English and Spanish.