Boyertown Ambulance, LVHN partner to save lives
Mobile stroke unit enables treatment to begin in the field
Berks County just got a little bit safer, thanks to a new partnership between Boyertown Community Ambulance Service and the Lehigh Valley Health Network mobile stroke unit.
The mobile stroke unit enables treatment to begin right in the field. This saves time and saves damage to the brain, while the patient is transported to an appropriate stroke-certified facility of their choice.
The mobile stroke ambulance will bring the highest level of diagnostic equipment, stroke treatments and a specially educated team right to the patient, allowing care to begin immediately instead of waiting to reach a hospital.
The unit will be equipped with computed tomography and video and telehealth technology to help caregivers first, determine what type of stroke the patient is experiencing, and then begin treatment before arriving at the hospital.
The stroke unit is equipped with clot-busting and blood-thickening medications that can be administered to the patient on the way to a stroke center, rather than waiting until the patient arrives to begin treatment.
“Mobile stroke care could improve intervention time by up to 20 to 30 minutes, which could have a significant impact on the outcome for the patient,” said neurologist Dr. Yevgeniy Isayev, director of the Comprehensive Stroke
Center at LVH–Cedar Crest.
The Stroke Center was certified in 2012 by The Joint Commission as the first Comprehensive Stroke Center in Pennsylvania, the highest level of certification.
Stroke occurs when blood flow
to the brain is disrupted by either a blood clot that blocks a vital blood vessel supplying the brain (ischemic stroke) or a burst vessel that spills blood into surrounding tissues (hemorrhagic stroke).
“Almost two million brain cells die every minute during a stroke,” Isayev said. “Timing of care is one of the most important factors in recovery.”
A 2016 summary report by the Berks County Health Collaborative showed a significantly higher risk of stroke for residents of Berks County. In fact, it was a leading cause of death in Berks with a rate of 47.5 per 100,000, a higher rate than both the national average of 36.2 and the state average of 36.8.
Stroke experts have a saying: Time is brain.
“Our EMS team provides exceptional patient care, but there are limitations as to what can be done with stroke care in the field. This mobile stroke team partnership is a game-changer,” said Jeff Knopf, director of EMS for Boyertown Community Ambulance Service. “With one call, we can bring the stroke team to you and more definitive care can begin immediately.”
If you think you are having a stroke, call 9-1-1 and rest assured you are in good hands.