Mississippi Administrative Code
Title 15 - Mississippi Department of Health
Part 8 - Office of Health Policy and Planning
Subpart 90 - Planning and Resource Development
Chapter 05 - Acute Care Facilities and Services Overview
Section 15-8-90-05-521 - Acute Ischemic Stroke System of Care
Section 15-8-90-05-521.02 - Protocols

Standard treatment protocols for Stroke Ready and Non-Stroke hospitals have been developed and published by the Mississippi Healthcare Alliance (MHCA), the practitioners' organization which initiated the development of the system of care. The current protocols may be found on the MHCA website at: http://mshealthcarealliance.org/.

The protocols are centered on the "Drip and Ship" model, where outlying hospitals identify the presence of an acute ischemic stroke through a head CT and initiate thrombolytic therapy (tPA-Alteplase) prior to transferring the patient to a Stroke Center. EMS protocols include the use of the Cincinnati Stroke Scale to identify potential stroke victims and their delivery to a Stroke Ready hospital for diagnosis.