Scan of an intraparenchymal bleed (bottom arrow) with surrounding edema (top arrow) in a stroke victim.

Herewith a look at the effort of  states  to create systems linking their hospitals  to speed diagnosis and care for stroke victims. Speed, of course, is very important in responding to possible strokes.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provides funding to get stroke systems off the ground through its Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Program.  And the American Stroke Association pushes states to develop coordinated, comprehensive stroke systems, in which speed of treatment is a priority.

Some smaller and/or rural hospitals may be leery of joining statewide systems because of the resources necessary to meet data entry requirements and national stroke guidelines,