UTHealth Introduces Nation’s First Mobile Stroke Unit

Ambulance equipped with scanner to be part of EMS services for Houston area

HOUSTON – (Feb. 3, 2014) – The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) Medical School, in partnership with Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center, is unveiling the country’s first Mobile Stroke Unit today.

On board the ambulance is a computed tomography (CT) scanner that allows a mobile stroke unit team member to quickly assess whether a patient is having a stroke caused by a blood clot and if so, the clot-buster tPA (tissue plasminogen activator) can be administered. The stroke unit will be run in conjunction with the Emergency Medical Services of the Houston Fire Department, Bellaire Fire Department and West University Fire Department.

Stroke occurs when blood flow to the brain is interrupted by a blockage or a rupture in an artery, depriving brain tissue of oxygen. It is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States and a leading cause of disability. According to the American Stroke Association and the Centers for Disease Control, nearly 800,000 Americans suffer a stroke each year – one every 40 seconds – and stroke costs the United States $38 billion a year. The only FDA-approved treatment for ischemic stroke, the most prevalent kind, is the clot-buster tPA, but it must be given within three hours of the first signs of stroke to be most effective, and the earlier the better within that three-hour time frame.

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