Western Baptist, Marshall County begin stroke robot partnership

Western Baptist neurologist Joseph Ashburn, M.D., wasn’t in the same hospital room with 29-year-old patient James Pugh, but he was still able to save his life thanks to a new stroke robot partnership between Western Baptist and Marshall County hospitals.

Paramedics took Pugh of Benton to Marshall County Hospital Nov. 4 after his family found him having a seizure at home. Emergency department physician Louis Forte, M.D., in Benton asked Dr. Ashburn in Paducah to provide a real time consultation on the case via the stroke robot’s secure video connection. The stroke robot had just been put in place at Marshall County Hospital the day before.

“I couldn’t touch him, but I could see his body jerking and knew he was actively seizing,” said Dr. Ashburn, Western Baptist stroke center director. “We were able to give him (anti-epileptic medication) Dilantin, which has a high success rate. Without treatment, the seizure would have killed him.” 

By the time Pugh was transported to Western Baptist, the seizures had stopped, and Dr. Ashburn could tell his condition had improved.

“With the stroke robot, patients in Marshall County now have access to a neurologist,” Dr. Ashburn said. “The stroke robot allows me to see the patient and the monitors, as well as confer with the staff, even from my home. It was that easy. It was a complete joy to be able to help Mr. Pugh.”

Dr. Forte said the family was impressed with the telemedicine procedure.  “This stroke robot really helped to produce a positive outcome,” he said.

The robot was provided as part of the three-year $300,000 outreach grant awarded in 2009 to Western Baptist, the Purchase District Health Department and the University of Louisville from the Centers for Disease Control through the Kentucky Department for Public Health. Western Baptist has since become the area’s only certified stroke center.

Mary Legge, R.N., Western Baptist’s stroke team leader, said the hospital developed the stroke center to help residents in an area known for high incidence of stroke.

“The number of stroke patients is growing, and we see a lot of TIAs, small strokes which many times are a warning sign for a major stroke,” Legge said. “Stroke can affect people of all ages.”

Stroke is the nation’s third leading killer and the leading cause of serious, long-term disability. On average, someone suffers a stroke every 45 seconds and someone dies of a stroke every 3.1 minutes. In the Commonwealth, it is a major problem – only 11 other states have a higher death rate from stroke than Kentucky, according to the American Heart Association.