CABARRUS COUNTY, N.C. -- If a person is suffering from a stroke, every second counts.

And in rural areas like Cabarrus County, where they treated 157 patients in 2017 for a stroke, time is rarely on a paramedic's side.

Cabarrus County EMS will soon be bringing telemedicine video technology from Medris Healthcare Solutions into the ambulances to allow physicians the ability to be up to date on a patient and their chart before they even get to the emergency room.

"By taking this to the ambulance rather than the emergency department, We think we can easily save anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes off of the process and take the patient essentially right from the ambulance to the cat scanner," says Dr. Andrew Asimos with Atrium Health's Carolinas Stroke Network. 

The technology was given to Cabarrus County EMS by the Northeast Foundation and community partners.

They hope to have it in operation in the next month or two.