A Woodend paramedic has been recognised for his dedication to improving the wellbeing of stroke patients.
Grant Hocking recently received the Stroke Foundation’s President’s Award for his work in stroke management in the past 10 years.
As a clinical manager at Ambulance Victoria, Mr Hocking was part of a team that developed guidelines to help paramedics treat stroke patients. The guidelines include changes to the handling of patients before they arrive at hospital, including notifying hospitals a stroke patient is on the way and the use of lights and sirens when ambulances are travelling to hospital.
Mr Hocking, a member of Woodend Rotary, said a Rotary campaign 10 years ago sparked his interest in stroke management.
“I started supporting the Know Your Numbers campaign through Rotary and went on to run it for the district,” he said. “My interest built from there and I started to focus on stroke management at Ambulance Victoria.”
According to the Stroke Foundation, about 60,000 new strokes happen in Australia each year. Stroke is the second leading cause of death and the leading cause of disability.
Mr Hocking said he was proud to have helped make a difference.
