Stroke ambulance set to roll
Health network partners with emergency service to launch $1 million vehicle
Lehigh Valley Health Network and Cetronia Ambulance Corps will launch an emergency vehicle in April that they say can better treat stroke patients and improve their chance at recovery.
The mobile stroke unit, which costs nearly $1 million, will have imaging and video-conferencing technology as well as health workers who can take a brain scan and prescribe life-saving medication, the two organizations said at a news conference Thursday.
Typically, patients get medication and a brain scan at the hospital. The unit can speed up treatment by 20 to 30 minutes for a condition where getting treatment a few minutes earlier can make the difference between a successful recovery or a brain injury, they said.
For patients, the service — which administrators said is the first of its kind in Pennsylvania — will cost the same as an ambulance ride because government payers and insurers won’t reimburse for it.
Stroke is the fifth leading cause of death in the United States and can result in serious disabilities, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 795,000 people in the country have a stroke each year. Strokes occur when something blocks the blood flow to the brain or when a blood vessel in the brain bursts. It can cause brain damage, disability or death.
LVHN announced plans to launch the stroke emergency vehicle at the end of 2017. The network took another year to work out the partnership with Cetronia and clear regulatory hurdles, hospital officials said.
Cetronia covers parts of Lehigh and Berks counties, including the townships of South Whitehall, Whitehall, Upper Macungie, Weisenberg and Lynn, as well as Coplay borough and portions of Salisbury and Lowhill townships. Cetronia gets about 200 calls for potential stroke patients each year, said CEO Larry Wiersch.
The stroke ambulance will be dispatched once emergency responders determine that a patient is potentially suffering a stroke. After the initial assessment and treatment in the vehicle, the patient will be taken to the nearest hospital that can treat the stroke patient.
LVHN said its stroke center treats about 1,500 patients each year.
St. Luke’s University Health Network doesn’t have plans to launch a stroke ambulance, and spokesman Sam Kennedy questioned whether such technology will improve outcomes.
Mobile stroke units are relatively new. There are about 20 or so across the country, including in Houston and Cleveland.
A six-year study of the technology in Houston may settle the question of effectiveness, said Dr. James Grotta, the director of Houston’s mobile stroke unit consortium, which includes all hospitals in the city. The study began in 2014 and is still underway.
Doctors know that the faster a stroke patient gets treatment, the better the outcome. But researchers are still looking into just how much benefit a stroke ambulance provides.
“The question is: Is it better than what happens when you take a patient to the hospital?” said Grotta. “How much better? And is it worth the expense?”
Dr. Megan Leary, medical director of LVHN’s mobile stroke unit, said the network invested in the technology because it believes it can improve lives.
“Two minutes, four minutes matter in terms of recovery,” she said.
Wiersch knows how devastating a stroke can be. His father suffered a stroke that left him unable to walk or talk for more than a decade before he died.
“This is for my dad as well.” Wiersch said.
Bhuang@mcall.com Twitter @Bhuang2012 610-820-6745