ArticleAfrican journal of emergency medicine : Revue africaine de la medecine d'urgence2021
The barriers and facilitators to the telephonic application of the FAST assessment for stroke in a private emergency dispatch centre in South Africa.
Article in African journal of emergency medicine : Revue africaine de la medecine d'urgence, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
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7 citing papers in PubMed.
- The competency requirements for emergency medical services call takers and dispatchers - a scoping review.African journal of emergency medicine : Revue africaine de la medecine d'urgence · 2026Article
- Multi-method approach to the development of contextual telephone triage systems.African journal of emergency medicine : Revue africaine de la medecine d'urgence · 2026Article
- Accuracy of Medically Experienced Emergency Dispatchers - A Unique Nationwide Model.Open access emergency medicine : OAEM · 2026Article
- Mapping the evidence on mHealth interventions for cardiovascular event care in Africa: a scoping review.Heart (British Cardiac Society) · 2025Article
- Protocol for an observational prospective study on the use and impact of over-the-phone interpretation in 911 calls with language discordance.BMC public health · 2025Observational
- Urban and rural disparities in stroke prediction using machine learning among Chinese older adults.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- The barriers and facilitators to initiation of telephone-assisted bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation for patients experiencing out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in a private emergency dispatch centre in South Africa.Resuscitation plus · 2024Article
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundStroke is one of the leading contributors to morbidity and mortality globally. The incidence of stroke is on the increase in Sub-Saharan countries such as South Africa. As stroke is a time-sensitive condition, emergency medical services (EMS) play an important role in the early recognition of stroke. The telephonic application of the FAST (Face, Arm, Speech, Time) assessment has been suggested to screen patients for stroke, but this is not applied consistently. This study aimed to identify the barriers and facilitators to the telephonic application of the FAST assessment.
methodsThis retrospective, exploratory study sampled 20 randomly selected emergency calls to a private EMS in South Africa, with suspected stroke. After verbatim self-transcription, data were analysed using inductive content analysis to identify the barriers and facilitators to the application of the FAST assessment. Results were arranged according to themes.
resultsResults indicated that in 15/20 (75%) of the calls, the FAST assessment was successfully applied. Eight barriers under three themes (practical barriers, emotionality, and knowledge and understanding) and three facilitators under one theme (clear communication) were identified. Most notably, language discordance, lack of empathy and caller frustration featured prominently as barriers while caller cooperation and clear instructions were prominent facilitators.
conclusionWith the barriers known, methods to address these may be constructed. Additional training and credentialing for call-takers may be a reasonable first step. These lessons can likely be applied to other telephonic acuity and recognition algorithms.
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