Massachusetts Heart on the Hill Virtual Campaign Toolkit Week of May 10, 2021 IMPROVING STROKE CARE Improving Stroke Care Page 02 YOU'RE THE CURE About You’re the Cure Every day, Americans’ lives are touched by heart disease and stroke. Whether it's our own health that is impacted or the health of family members, friends or co-workers, there is a lot at stake when it comes to fighting our nation’s No. 1 and No. 5 killers. We all have the power to make a difference by speaking out for policies that help build healthier communities and lives. The moving force behind policy change for the American Heart Association are You’re the Cure advocates like you. Advocates bring heart and stroke statistics to life by sharing their personal stories with lawmakers. How to Advocate Typically, You’re the Cure advocates join at the Massachusetts State House each spring to speak to lawmakers in person. This year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are providing you with several ways to advocate remotely. Through emails, phone calls, letters to the editor and social media, you can directly influence policy and improve the quality of life for all Massachusetts residents. May Campaign: Improving Stroke Care Starting the week of May 10, we are asking you to focus your efforts one of our key issues – improving the emergency care of patients who are having a stroke. This toolkit will help you build an advocacy campaign to make a difference by pushing for legislation (House Bill 2253 and Senate Bill 1477) that would ensure stroke patients are transported to the hospital best equipped to treat them, rather than the hospital located closest to them. Together, with our policy leaders, we can minimize the long- term effects of a stroke and even prevent death. Improving Stroke Care Page 03 ISSUE OVERVIEW Stroke's Impact Someone in the U.S. has a stroke every 40 seconds. In 2017, stroke accounted for about 1 of every 19 deaths nationally. In Massachusetts, stroke is the fifth leading cause of death, claiming more than 2,000 lives per year. Far too many people die or are disabled from stroke because they do not get available lifesaving treatment quickly enough. Timely treatment can mean the difference between returning to work or becoming permanently disabled, living at home or living in a nursing home. It can be the difference between life and death. We Need Better Treatment In Massachusetts, first responders are required by law to take stroke patients to the closest hospital, regardless of the stroke’s severity. Unfortunately, the closest hospital may not be the best hospital to treat them. First responders need to have the ability to triage and transport patients who are experiencing severe strokes to the facilities best-equipped to treat them. Severe strokes may require procedures to remove the blood clot causing the stroke, restore blood supply to the brain, and save threatened tissue. A Local Solution Legislation being considered by Massachusetts lawmakers — and supported by the American Stroke Association — would ensure that patients experiencing the most severe cases of stroke are triaged by ambulance crews and transported to hospitals capable of performing such a procedure at any time of day or night. These facilities, known as Level 1 Stroke Centers, are staffed with highly trained doctors, nurses and technologists. Improving Stroke Care Page 04 STEP 1: TALK TO YOUR LAWMAKERS Lawmakers want to know what’s important to their constituents. Calling or having face-to- face meetings with them, even over video conferencing, is an effective way to humanize your topic, make it relevant for the decision makers, and encourage these leaders to commit to this issue. Whatever way you meet with your representatives, you can have a strong impact when you talk to them, or better yet, look them in the eye and answer their questions about your campaign, share personal stories and discuss proposed solutions. Also, don’t underestimate the value of talking with the staff of lawmakers. Staff are the lifeblood of a policy maker’s office and are key to keeping your issue in front of the decision maker. Below are some helpful tips to make the most of your conversations. Save the Date Making an appointment is easy. Simply call or email your legislators and talk to the office's scheduler. To find your state representative and senator, click here or copy and past this link into your web browser (malegislature.gov/Search/FindMyLegislator) and enter your home address. From there, you can find your legislators' email addresses and office phone numbers. Here are a few things to keep in mind: Be flexible with the date and time. Legislators have busy schedules, and meetings usually last 15 to 30 minutes. You may end up meeting with a staffer rather than a legislator, which is fine. Many legislators rely heavily on staff to keep them informed and make decisions about issues. Improving Stroke Care Page 05 KEY MESSAGING FOR YOUR CONVERSATIONS This year, nearly 800,000 people in the United States will have a stroke, and 140,000 of them will die. Stroke patients who get the correct treatment quickly have the best chance to survive and regain their independence. Unfortunately, in Massachusetts, first responders are required to take stroke patients to the closest hospital, even when that facility isn’t the best place for them to be treated. Fortunately, Massachusetts is on the right path toward correcting this and improving outcomes for stroke patients and their families. Pending legislation (House Bill 2253 and Senate Bill 1477) would ensure that patients experiencing the most severe cases of stroke are triaged by ambulance crews and transported to hospitals capable of performing procedures to remove the blood clot causing the stroke, restore blood supply to the brain, and save threatened tissue at any time of the day or night. These facilities, known as Level 1 Stroke Centers, are staffed with highly trained doctors, nurses and technologists. The individual costs of failing to improve our stroke triage and transport protocols are devastating – with potential lifelong disability or death for patients. The societal costs are also tremendous. Stroke costs the United States about $34 billion annually, including health services and missed days of work. Massachusetts’ stroke costs are projected to have increased from $1.5 billion 10 years ago to $2.5 billion today. Avoiding or delaying treatment for this terrible illness will lead to more tragic losses for our families and our nation. We must act now. Improving Stroke Care Page 06 STEP 2: WRITE TO YOUR NEWSPAPER Public commentary has long been one of the most powerful ways to broadly communicate ideas. By having an op-ed or letter to the editor published in your local newspaper, you’ll be able to convey this campaign’s essential messages to legislators, journalists and the community. Letters to the Editor Letters to the editor are an effective, simple way to spread awareness about your issue. As implied by the name, a letter to the editor is a short letter sent to the editor of a publication about an issue of concern. Your letter should be short and concise, usually up to 250 words. Most publications have limitations on how long letters can be, so we recommend you check the website of the publication you’re submitting your letter to beforehand. Include your contact information. Publications will often call to verify your identity, so be sure to include your name, address, email and phone number when you submit your letter. Use a catchy title. Your title should offer a preview of what your letter is about in a way that attracts the attention of your audience. Your letter should seek to answer these two questions: Why is this issue important to you? Why is it important to people in your community? Op-Eds An op-ed, short for opinion editorial, generally gives a bit more space than a letter to the editor. Well-known individuals who aren’t a part of the newspaper’s editorial team most often write op-eds. However, many newspapers accept op-ed submissions from their readers. Check the submission guidelines. Most news outlets have strict guidelines on op-eds, including limits on word count (typically around 500) and specific directions on how to submit (via email or online). Check your paper’s requirements before you start writing. Get to the point. Make your key points early and often, and back them up with facts and examples. Write like you talk. Avoid jargon, fancy words and slang. Your op-ed must be understandable to the general public, including people that may have no knowledge of the issue or your campaign. Share a story. A personal story is a great way to humanize your issue. Whenever possible include a story in your op-ed. Improving Stroke Care Page 07 TEMPLATE FOR OP-ED & LETTER TO THE EDITOR We have provided a template below to you help write to your nes. You may use as much material from this template as you would like, but we also encourage you to add your personal reasons for supporting this issue in your submission. More than 2,000 Massachusetts residents die from stroke every year and even more are left with long-term disabilities. In many cases, this could be prevented. They key is ensuring stroke patients get to the right hospital as quickly as possible. This is not always happening in Massachusetts. That’s why I’m calling on our state lawmakers to schedule a vote on legislation (House Bill 2253 and Senate Bill 1477) that would prevent death and disability from stroke.