Wellstar Leads New, Life-Saving Treatment for Ischemic Strokes

When a stroke or heart attack strikes, every second matters. Saving time could mean saving a life, and it’s crucial that medical treatment starts right away. That’s why in the case of a heart attack or stroke, call 911 immediately — don’t drive yourself or another person to the hospital. 

Emergency Medical Service crews are trained to start life-saving treatment on the way to the hospital, minimizing damage to your heart or brain. They can also conduct and interpret electrocardiograms to diagnose a heart attack in the ambulance. 

You also don’t want to drive if you are experiencing a heart attack or stroke yourself because your condition could worsen on the way to the emergency department and impact your ability to stay safe on the road. 

“If you're having an emergency, which could be severe abdominal pain, chest pain, shortness of breath, weakness that you can't really explain, you've got to call 911,” said Dr. Ed Malcom, an emergency medicine physician at Wellstar North Fulton Hospital. “The ambulance and the EMS services will get you to the emergency department in a safe way, and we will get you taken care of.” 

When a patient has a heart attack, ambulance crews communicate with our cardiac team on the way to the hospital, bypassing the emergency department and diverting directly to the cardiac catheterization lab, where our team is ready to restore blood flow to your heart. Calling 911 means reopening the heart artery sooner. And when someone has a stroke, it’s also crucial to take action right away — the sooner you seek treatment, the more brainpower can be saved. 

To learn more about how Wellstar treats heart attacks and strokes, visit our heart care and neuro care pages. 

No one expects to have a stroke — much less one that is rare or complicated to treat. However, these life-threatening medical events can happen to anyone, at any time.

That’s why Wellstar now offers the highest level of stroke care at two key locations: Wellstar Kennestone Hospital and Wellstar North Fulton Hospital. Here, patients have access to cutting-edge treatments, advanced technology and an expert neuro team, ready to treat even the most complex strokes.

Our primary stroke centers — including Wellstar Atlanta Medical Center, Wellstar Atlanta Medical Center-South, Wellstar Cobb Hospital and Wellstar Spalding Regional Hospital — are also poised to deliver high-quality stroke care where it’s needed most.

“Wellstar has nine hospitals that provide stroke care in our network,” said Dr. Rishi Gupta, director of stroke and neurocritical care with Wellstar Health System. “Each of these locations is in communities that have high stroke rates in metro Atlanta.”

With the largest Joint Commission Stroke Certified hospital network in the Southeast, Wellstar is saving more lives with the stroke capabilities.

For many people, the warning signs of a stroke — like numbness in the arm, confusion, loss of balance or trouble speaking and seeing — are unmistakable. But often, the underlying cause of these life-threatening medical events can be harder to uncover.

“Strokes are complicated because there’s no pain associated with it,” said Dr. Rishi Gupta, director of stroke and neurocritical care with Wellstar Health System. “Many people think they can sleep it off and they’ll be better in the morning.”

“However, if you are experiencing the signs of a stroke, the faster you get to the emergency room, the more likely it is that we can reverse disability.”

While the telltale symptoms may be similar to one another, all strokes are not alike.

At Wellstar, we know each and every stroke is different. That’s why our neuro team provides tailored care along with fast, life-saving treatment for all types of strokes, even the most complex cases.

Fight back against strokes and learn the difference between the three main types: ischemic, hemorrhagic and transient ischemic attack.