In this series highlighting hospital award winners, we’re celebrating medical facilities that are using innovative and advanced methods in patient care. Stephanie Wimberly was leaving her dentist’s office after a routine root canal when she suddenly felt something was off. The right side of her body felt weak, and when the staff measured her blood pressure, it was alarmingly high, which was unusual since she had no history of high blood pressure. The dentist’s office immediately called for an ambulance.
Two ambulances responded to the call: a traditional one and UCLA’s Mobile Stroke Unit (MSU). The first team checked Stephanie and suggested that her symptoms might be due to the anesthesia from the root canal, advising her to visit a hospital or urgent care if she didn’t feel better later. The MSU, however, took a more thorough look.
Upon arrival, the MSU team started assessing her for signs of a stroke. “They shone a light in my eye and noticed something wasn’t right,” Stephanie recalls. She was then taken inside the MSU for a CT scan. Unlike regular ambulances, the MSU is equipped with CT imaging, basic lab tests, and a telehealth system, with a CT technician, a transport nurse, and a doctor all onboard. Stephanie noted that it felt more like an emergency room than an ambulance.
According to Dr. May Nour, Medical Director of the UCLA Arline and Henry Gluck Stroke Rescue Program, these ambulances essentially function as mobile stroke centers, effectively bringing hospital-level care directly to patients. The MSU program is the first of its kind in California and the entire West Coast, funded by the Arline & Henry Gluck Foundation and Los Angeles County. It operates as part of the 911 response, receiving calls via a partnership with the Santa Monica Fire Department and Los Angeles County Emergency Medical Services Agency. When a stroke or potential stroke is reported, the MSU joins the scene alongside fire engines and ambulances.
Luckily for Stephanie, she was within the MSU’s service area that day, a factor that would ultimately save her life. The CT scan on the MSU detected a blood clot on the left side of her brain. They quickly administered a Tissue Plasminogen Activator (tPA) injection through an IV to dissolve the clot and restore blood flow. “As soon as I received the tPA shot, I began feeling better,” Stephanie shares. The medical team informed her that the medicine was working as intended and that they would take her to the hospital.
During a stroke, every moment counts. “Every minute and second without treatment means the situation worsens,” says Kayla Kilani, Nurse Manager of UCLA Health Mobile Stroke Unit. She explains that once brain cells die, they cannot regenerate, and delayed treatment often leads to lasting effects that require extensive rehabilitation without full recovery.
Treating a stroke on-site rather than waiting for a hospital can save crucial time. For Stephanie, the swift and life-saving treatment provided by the MSU meant she could still be there for her children.
UCLA’s MSU participated in a national trial involving seven cities, called Best-MSU, to demonstrate the unit’s effectiveness. This study showed that for every 100 patients treated on mobile stroke units after an ischemic stroke (where blood flow to the brain is blocked), 27 experienced less severe outcomes. Dr. Nour highlights a cost analysis presented at the International Stroke Conference revealing that although MSUs are more expensive than usual ambulances, they are highly cost-effective compared to the costs associated with rehabilitation from a severe stroke.
Despite their proven benefits, Mobile Stroke Units remain limited on a national and international level due to funding constraints, says Dr. Nour. Her team is working to have mobile stroke units recognized as official places of service, hoping Medicare will cover treatments conducted within them.
Stephanie knows how lucky she was to be within the MSU’s reach that day. Following the stroke, she underwent therapy and was off work for about three months, but she acknowledges that her situation could have been much worse. Remarkably, in March 2021, she welcomed a new baby.
