People who experience the symptoms of a stroke should call 9-1-1 immediately. Upon arriving at the hospital, the hospital staff will attempt to stabilize the patient using information from an emergency computed axial tomography (CAT) scan. Common strategies include:

• Maintaining breathing in patients who may be losing consciousness. This is done through the use of breathing equipment and/or supplemental oxygen.
  
  
• Reducing fever (if present) with medications.
  
  
• Providing certain medications, depending on stroke type. Patients who have had an ischemic stroke, may be given intravenous thrombolytic medications to dissolve any obstructing blood clots. The drug must be given within three hours of symptoms first appearing, which underscores the need for patients to get to an emergency room quickly.
  
  
• Some strokes that result from blood clots may be treated with emergency catheter procedures, where a catheter is inserted in the leg and maneuvered to the brain. A contrast dye is injected to better locate the blockage. In some cases a corkscrew-type catheter can be used to remove the blood clot.
  
  
• Some patients with stroke due to hemorrhage may be treated with blood clotting factors to promote clotting. After patients have stabilized, they may be treated with a procedure where a catheter is inserted in the leg and advanced to the brain. Contrast dye is injected to locate the aneurysm. In some cases a coil can then be placed in the aneurysm causing it to clot and prevent further bleeding.
• 
  
• Special attention may be given to maintaining nutritional needs intravenously or through the mouth and preventing pneumonia, a common complication after a stroke.

In cases where the stroke was caused by a partial blockage of a carotid artery in the neck, a surgery called carotid endarterectomy might be used to remove the accumulated plaque. In other cases, a cerebral angioplasty may be used to treat problems with the brain's blood vessels. This procedure commonly uses balloons and stents.