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V O L . X X I N O. X X I S E P T E M B E R 2 1 , 2 0 1 5 22 second and minute critical in identifying, evaluating and treating someone having a stroke. Quick and appropri- ate treatment can limit damage to the brain and increase the chances of full recovery. Ideally, it should happen within three hours of the stroke's onset. Optimum care for stroke victims is literally a race against the clock. In recent years, he says, best medical practices for emergency stroke victims have identifi ed the timely administration of thrombolytics (clot-dissolving medi- cations) as a critical life-enhancing step that should be taken as soon as possible after a stroke victim's arrival in a hospital emergency room. But there's an impor- tant caveat: e intravenous administration of the tPA clot-busting medicine involves a lengthy checklist that needs to be followed to ensure that it's the appropri- ate treatment. And not every emergency room doctor or nurse has the level of expertise that's needed to go through that complicated decision-making process. "We have specialists who live, breathe and sleep it," Fravert says of neurologists based at MMC in Portland and Pen Bay Healthcare in Rockport who are able to provide 24/7 guidance regarding the best medical practices for treating acute ischemic stroke patients to emergency department physicians at other facilities within the MaineHealth Telestroke Network. By using secure two-way videoconferencing technol- ogy, MaineHealth's telestroke initiative enables member hospitals in Belfast (Waldo County General Hospital) and Damariscotta (Miles Memorial Hospital), its St. Andrews urgent care center in Boothbay Harbor and MaineHealth uses ergonomically designed mobile carts to facilitate quick and easy movement of telehealth workstations to exam rooms, emergency departments and physician offi ces whenever they're needed. P H O T O / J E F F S C H E R Telehealth initiatives MaineHealth's specialists use technology to expand their reach B y J a m e s M c C a r t h y F O C U S THERE IS THERE IS A DIFFERENCE A DIFFERENCE THERE IS THERE IS Because www.sheridancorp.com Construction Management Design/Build General Contracting Engineering Construction Management Design/Build General Contracting Engineering Henry & Ellen Hinman Hall at Thomas College Sheridan Construction ยป C O N T I N U E D F R O M C O V E R