Coverdell Stroke Program: Part of the Wisconsin Chronic Disease Prevention Program

Recognize. Respond. BE FAST Against Stroke

Drawing of a person pointing to the following symptoms of stroke: Balance, Eyes, Face, Arm, Speech, Terrible Headache.

Each year, stroke-related death and disability affect thousands of stroke patients, their families, employers, and communities in Wisconsin. More than 2,500 people died of stroke in Wisconsin in 2023, making it the fourth leading cause of death. That year, there were more than 11,000 hospitalizations in Wisconsin with stroke as the principal diagnosis. 

Quick stroke recognition is the first step to ensure timely medical care.

BE FAST Bella helps people learn to act quickly recognizing the six most common signs of a stroke through the BE FAST acronym.
Balance – sudden loss of coordination or balance
Eyes – sudden change in vision
Face – sudden weakness on one side of the face or facial droop
Arm – sudden arm or leg weakness or numbness
Speech – sudden slurred speech, trouble speaking, trouble understanding speech
Terrible Headache – sudden onset of a terrible headache.
Learn more about stroke risk factors and how to recognize stroke symptoms and share this important information with friends and family. 


Coverdell Stroke Program in Wisconsin

Logo for the Wisconsin Coverdell Stroke Program

Strokes are a leading cause of death and long-term disability, and many are preventable. By increasing awareness, early intervention, and care coordination, WCSP aims to improve outcomes for individuals at risk and those who have already experienced a stroke. Shared data exchange and quality improvement with partners aims to decrease the burden of stroke in Wisconsin, reduce mortality, improve outcomes for stroke survivors, and decrease incidence of subsequent strokes.

In the United States, approximately 1 in 21 adult deaths are due to stroke.

It is estimated that 80% of all strokes are preventable.

Source: https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/epub/10.1161/CIR.0000000000001123

Drawing of a dark-colored ambulance next to a light-colored ambulance

Approximately 1 in 2 stroke patients in Wisconsin arrived at the hospital by Emergency Medical Service (EMS) in 2024. When a stroke occurs parts of the brain can be damaged and die within minutes. Calling 911 can result in more timely care on the way to reduce this damage.

Source: Get With the Guidelines, 2025.


Stroke and the Wisconsin Chronic Disease Prevention Program

The Wisconsin Chronic Disease Prevention Program (CDPP) works with hospitals, emergency medical services (EMS), community-based and professional organizations across the state to support a healthier Wisconsin by improving the community awareness and the quality of stroke care.


The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) has funded stroke quality improvement initiatives since 2001, providing competitive grants to state health departments to support the development of stroke systems of care. This funding is called the Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Prevention Program (Coverdell), named after Georgia Senator Paul Coverdell who suffered and died of a stroke while serving in Congress.


In 2024, Wisconsin CDPP was one of 13 states to receive funding in the latest iteration of the Coverdell grant program, extending Wisconsin’s ongoing participation in Coverdell since 2012. CDPP manages several projects to enhance coordinated systems of care, promote clinical best practices, and support patient self-care and health literacy. Wisconsin has been a Coverdell state since 2012.

The goals of Wisconsin’s stroke program are to:

  • Increase public awareness of stroke treatment and prevention
  • Track, monitor, and assess clinical and social services and support needs measures and referrals across the stroke continuum of care for those who have experienced a stroke, those at the highest risk of stroke due to undiagnosed or uncontrolled hypertension, and to identify health care disparities
  • Promote the implementation of a team-based care approach across the stroke continuum of care for those who have experienced a stroke and those at the highest risk of stroke, focusing on hypertension prevention, detection, control, and management through the mitigation of barriers to social services and support needs to improve outcomes
  • Link individuals to community resources and clinical services to support bidirectional referrals, self-management, and lifestyle changes for those who have experienced a stroke and those at the highest risk of stroke and to mitigate barriers to social services and support needs to improve outcomes
     

The objectives of the program are:

  • Public Awareness – Promote messaging for stroke prevention, signs and symptoms, and the importance of calling 911.
  • Partnerships – Increase and maintain multi-disciplinary partnerships. These include Stroke Coordinators of Wisconsin, the EMS Board Physician Advisory Committee, community-based organizations, and others. These partnerships guide the Wisconsin Coverdell Stroke Program and enhance other statewide stroke efforts.
  • Recruitment – Recruit and engage EMS, hospital systems, and community partners in quality improvement.
  • Data Infrastructure – Implement an integrated data management system. It will measure, track, and assess the quality of care.
  • Data Use – Increase the reliability and use of stroke data across transitions of care. This includes EMS to hospital, hospital to home, and primary care to community services.
  • Quality Improvement – Coordinate efforts to improve quality of stroke care.
  • Sustainability – Develop a plan and/or methods to support ongoing coordinated stroke care systems.

Facts and figures

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Learn more about the state of stroke in Wisconsin.


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Publications and materials

Read abstracts, publications, toolkits, and Wisconsin Coverdell Stroke Program success stories.


Resources by settings

Learn about the impact EMS, hospitals, stroke systems of care, and community organizations can make on improving stroke care.

Stroke Systems of Care

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Find out how coordinated stroke systems of care (SSoC), from dispatch and response of EMS to transitions home, can improve stroke care.

Community-Based Organizations

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Find out what community-based organizations (CBOs) partnering with the Wisconsin Coverdell Stroke Program are doing to address stroke in Wisconsin.

Emergency Medical Services

Icon representing EMS showing a drawing of an ambulance with a circle around it.

Get the facts about what EMS providers across Wisconsin are doing to improve stroke care by partnering with the Wisconsin Coverdell Stroke Program.

Hospitals

Hospital Icons showing 3 drawings: one with the medical symbol, one with a bed drawn, one with a rectangle with 4 lines in the rectangle depicting text. All icons have circles around them.

Find out what hospitals of various types and sizes are doing to improve stroke care in coordination with Wisconsin’s Coverdell Stroke Program.

Community Stroke Education

Community icon showing a drawing of 3 houses surrounded by a circle.

Find out how to recognize risk factors for stroke with Risk Factor Rick and the signs of a stroke with the help of BE FAST Bella.

Wisconsin Stroke Coalition

Logo for Wisconsin Stroke Coalition showing a drawing of a human brain, next to text reading "Wisconsin Stroke Coalition"

Find out more about the Wisconsin Stroke Coalition (WSC) and best practices for stroke care in Wisconsin.

Glossary

 
Last revised June 2, 2025