The Intermountain Children’s Health virtual Pediatric Telestroke Network, announced Thursday, gives families instant access to specialists at Primary Children’s Hospital in partnership with the University of Utah Health’s Department of Pediatrics.
And for teenager Lucy Merrell, a stroke survivor whose experience helped launch the project, quick action allowed her to completely heal.
“I’m excited to help other kids who have been struggling with the same thing as me, but I hope that they can be healed like I was healed,” Lucy told reporters on Thursday at Primary Children’s in Salt Lake City.
Now, children in Utah and southern Idaho experiencing a stroke can now see a pediatric stroke expert and receive a lifesaving diagnosis and treatment from home, often in a short period of time.
“This will help improve kids’ health outcomes and lower costs to families. Plus, it’s the right thing to do,” said Amy Back, director of pediatric telehealth services for Intermountain Children’s Health.
The program is being touted as the nation’s largest and most comprehensive pediatric stroke network, aimed at reducing the debilitating and deadly effects of strokes in children, according to Intermountain Children’s Health.
Officials highlight lifesaving stroke care for children
Back called the initiative “expansive.”
“The goal of this program is to connect children having a stroke with the pediatric stroke expert at Primary Children’s, allowing them to stay as close to home as possible,” Back said.
She emphasized the importance of speed in stroke care.
“When time matters, as it does in a stroke, this is a really valuable tool to have,” she said. “Telehealth allows us to provide pediatric expertise regardless of where children are.”
Dr. Lisa Pabst, a pediatric neurologist, stroke expert and director of the pediatric stroke program, said the effort is focused on improving outcomes for families.
“Our program’s mission is to improve outcomes for children with strokes and for their families,” Pabst said. “Today is really about awareness for pediatric stroke and sharing how we’re working to do that with our pediatric telestroke program.”
Pabst noted that many people associate stroke with adults, but children are also affected.
“Most people think that strokes are a problem in adults, but kids have strokes too,” she said.
She said strokes in children can present differently than in adults, with causes and symptoms that vary.
“The tricky thing is sometimes those symptoms can look relatively mild or they can be a little bit vague,” Pabst said.
Because of that, families may not immediately recognize that a child is having a stroke, delaying diagnosis, “and that’s really important when time is of the essence,” she said.
Such was the case with the Merrell family two years ago.
Lucy Merrell’s stroke and recovery
As an eighth grader, Lucy Merrell was getting ready for a two-hour soccer practice when a sudden, intense headache struck. Nothing she tried eased the pain, so she went to find her mother for help.
“I was going down the hall, and I was trying to speak, but it wouldn’t come out,” Lucy recalled.
Noticing Lucy’s unusual behavior, her mother, Melanie, and older brother tried to figure out what was happening.
Melanie called Lucy’s father, Randy, but he was working and unable to immediately answer. She then called her older daughter, a certified nursing assistant, asking, “Are you seeing what I’m seeing?” — referring to her suspicion that Lucy might be having a stroke. Her daughter concurred.
They rushed Lucy to the hospital, where doctors considered two possibilities: an exotic disease or a migraine. Lucy’s father, Randy, an ICU nurse, disagreed.
“I kept insisting, ‘This is a stroke. This looks like a stroke,’” Randy told the doctors.
That’s when Pabst stepped in.
Lucy’s recovery took two weeks, and she has made a full recovery.
With tears in her eyes, Lucy shared that she has felt well over the past year and that last month she traveled to New York City with her school choir, performing at Carnegie Hall — a trip she said was really fun.
“I am so glad that I got another chance to be here (on Earth),” Lucy said.