Meet The UCLA Stroke Ambulance That Could One Day Save Your Life

LOS ANGELES, CA — UCLA Health Wednesday officially launched what's billed as the first mobile stroke unit on the West Coast, enabling rapid delivery of brain-saving medications to stroke patients who might otherwise face debilitating delays in treatment.

In the first phase of a pilot program, the specialized high-tech ambulance unit and highly trained personnel began responding in September to select 911 calls in Santa Monica in coordination with the Santa Monica Fire Department.

With support from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, the unit's range will soon expand to other parts of the county, possibly including Compton, Carson, Long Beach and Westwood. Ultimately, program organizers hope, the unit will operate in other areas of the county and may be the first of a fleet of four to nine units serving the entire county.

"Rapid response is critical, because the sooner a stroke is treated, the better the patient's outcome," said Dr. May Nour, medical director of the UCLA Arline and Henry Gluck Stroke Rescue Program. "We know from research at UCLA that in a typical stroke, every minute that goes by without treatment, two million brain cells die."

A mobile stroke unit is a unique type of ambulance equipped with a mobile CT scanner, which allows doctors to diagnose and treat strokes in the field with appropriate medications. Within the unit are a mobile blood-testing laboratory, as well as a neurologist, critical care nurse, CT technologist and paramedic.

"With the UCLA Health Mobile Stroke Unit, we are bringing the hospital to the patient instead of the patient to the hospital, in order to save as much brain as possible," said Dr. Jeffrey Saver, director of the UCLA Comprehensive Stroke Center.

City News Service; Photo: Shutterstock