Abstract
Although the introduction of t-PA (tissue plasminogen activator) was considered radical treatment for acute cerebral ischemic disease, the actual number of cases for such administration was limited in Japan for many reasons. One such reason was related to the ability of EMT (emergency medical technician) paramedics to transport patients to the proper hospital for treatment within 2 hours of onset. From this point of view, the Committee of the Prehospital Stroke Life Support (PSLS) of the Japanese Society for Emergency Medicine (JSEM) developed an original standard for prehospital treatment of stroke. In this paper, I provide an overview of PSLS and a half-day practical course, which has been widely disseminated over a short period of time.
