Stroke victims will be offered a first-of-its-kind service in Colorado this summer, when a stroke-treatment ambulance unit begins operations, University of Colorado Health officials announced Friday.
It will be one of only three Mobile Stroke Treatment Units in the country — and part of a research initiative to see if these specially equipped ambulances can deliver clot-busting medications fast enough to preserve significantly more brain function and save more lives. “Time is brain,” experts say. For every minute treatment is delayed, 1.9 million neurons can die.
Stroke is the fifth-leading cause of death in the U.S. and the leading cause of adult disability.
The unit will carry a CT scanner, lab, critical-care nurse, and telestroke equipment on board that will allow for remote evaluation of the patient by a stroke specialist.
If the neurologist determines the patient is having a stroke, treatment with the clot-dissolving medicine, t-PA, can begin immediately. Medications should be given within 45 to 60 minutes to give patients the best chance of recovery.
Less than 1 percent of stroke patients are treated within 60 minutes of onset of symptoms, Jones said.
“Until now, we’ve had to wait until a patient arrives at the hospital to treat them,” said Dr. William Jones, medical director of the stroke service at the University of Colorado Hospital.
The unit will cost an estimated $1 million to get up and running, Jones said, and operational cost, according to preliminary rough estimates could be $500,000 or more a year. But the hope is that it could change the standard of care for stroke victims.
Coloradans suffer 6,000 strokes a year, Jones said. UC Hospital treats 300 stroke patients a year.
UCHealth is working with local governments, fire departments and EMS services to develop plans to serve patients in Aurora, Denver and Colorado Springs with the mobile stroke treatment unit.
Stroke patients will continue to be transported to the closest appropriate hospital, Jones said.
“This is a great opportunity for our community,” Jones said. The other two cities with these units are Cleveland and Houston.
Electa Draper: 303-954-1276, edraper@denverpost.com or
