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UC IRVINE RECOGNIZED FOR EMERGENCY SERVICES LEADERSHIP

Dr. Steven Cramer's vision for stroke receiving center program lauded

Santa Ana, Calif., May 21, 2009 - Orange County's Emergency Medical Services has honored UC Irvine Healthcare doctors and nurses for their commitment and leadership in improving the delivery of emergency care to county residents.

In an EMS Week ceremony May 19 at Western Medical Center in Santa Ana, Dr. Steven C. Cramer, associate professor of neurology, received the Vision in EMS Award for spearheading the creation of a Stroke-Neurology Receiving Center system in Orange County, the first in Southern California. Paramedics and ambulances will be able to take patients in the early hours of a stroke to one of six designated receiving centers that offer high-level neurovascular care and have specialists available 24/7.

Dr. Samuel J. Stratton, Orange County EMS medical director, said that not long ago emergency services could only diagnose a stroke and tell the patient's family "to hope for the best."

"Now in Orange County medics recognize the signs of stroke ... and take the patient to a Stroke-Neurology Receiving Center, where an entire team will provide care, like a trauma team," Stratton said. "We owe Dr. Cramer an incredible amount of gratitude."

Other EMS award categories and UCI nominees included:

Teamwork in EMS:
Dr. Christopher Kahn, assistant professor of clinical emergency medicine and director of the EMS base station at UC Irvine Medical Center

Exceptional Performance:
Patty Gleed, emergency department nurse and interim EMS base coordinator

Vision in EMS (in addition to Cramer):
Carerie Kozak, pre-hospital coordinator for trauma services at UC Irvine Medical center
Darlene Bradley, director of emergency services at UC Irvine Medical Center
Dr. Marianne Cinat, associate professor of clinical surgery and director of UC Irvine Regional Burn Center
Dana Stradling, UC Irvine Stroke and Cerebrovascular Center manager who helped develop the Orange County Stroke-Neurology Receiving Center program

About UC Irvine Medical Center: UC Irvine Medical Center is Orange County's only university research hospital, Level I trauma center, American College of Surgeons-verified regional burn center and National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center. It offers acute- and general-care service at its new 482,000-square-foot UC Irvine Douglas Hospital.

About the University of California, Irvine: UC Irvine is a top-ranked university dedicated to research, scholarship and community service. Founded in 1965, UC Irvine is among the fastest-growing University of California campuses, with more than 27,000 undergraduate and graduate students, 1,100 faculty and 9,200 staff. The top employer in dynamic Orange County, UC Irvine contributes an annual economic impact of $4.2 billion. For more UC Irvine news, visit www.today.uci.edu.

News Radio: UC Irvine maintains on campus an ISDN line for conducting interviews with its faculty and experts. Use of this line is available for a fee to radio news programs/stations that wish to interview UC Irvine faculty and experts. Use of the ISDN line is subject to availability and approval by the university.

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Contact:
John Murray
714-456-7759
jdmurray@uci.edu

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