JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Earlier this week, a bill was introduced before the Jacksonville City Council which, if passed, would provide over $800,000 for UF Health’s Mobile Stroke Treatment Unit. The specialized ambulance is already operational in Alachua County and is designed to significantly improve outcomes for stroke patients.
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UF Health Shands Hospital, in conjunction with UF Health Jacksonville, wants to launch the second MSTU program in Florida and Duval County. Jacksonville Fire Rescue Chief Keith Powers said when a patient is having a stroke, time is truly of the essence.
“What we know from the American Heart Association is every 3 minutes and 14 seconds, somebody in the United States is dying from a stroke,” Powers said. ″When you have a clot, you need to get that perfusion started within that 60-minute time frame. And this just allows that to begin a lot quicker."
The MTSU will quickly diagnose patients suffering from a stroke by starting care in the field prior to the patient’s arrival at one of three Comprehensive Stroke Centers in Duval County.
Powers said inside the mobile unit, there will be a 16-slice CT scanner, which will then be used to determine what is happening with the patient. The information collected from the scans will then be transmitted to a neurologist in real time.
“There are cameras in the back of the unit that are focused all over, so the neurologist can then tele-medicine in,” Powers said. “It’s like the neurologist is in the back of the unit with the staff members, and he begins to direct treatment on that patient.”
The MTSU would be housed at Fire Station 64, located at Harts Road and Dunn Avenue. Chief Powers said JFRD data show it is an area of town with a high number of stroke patients.
“It’s one of our underserved communities, but it’s also where the majority of the strokes are happening,” Powers said. “This northwest quadrant of town has got a lot of dots in that area.”
Powers said he has visited the MSU in Alachua County and has learned of the impact it is having in that region.
“They told me about a patient that had a stroke that was so debilitating, when they got him in the back of the rescue unit, they had to intubate him, had to put a breathing tube down him because he could not maintain his own airway,” Powers explained. “Under normal circumstances, that patient is probably going to end up in a hospital for a long time, then go to rehab and ended up in a nursing home.”
The chief said in this patient’s case, that quick response and treatment changed everything.
“The next morning, he was extubated, sitting up in bed, asking for pizza, and within two days, he was discharged home with no rehab required because of the work that the unit did in Alachua,” Powers said. “It truly is game changing.”
The bill will fund seven new Jacksonville Fire Rescue Department positions, which will provide advanced life support and ambulance transport services.
It will also fund the lease of the MSTU Rescue vehicle from UF Health for a payment of $1 per year. The agreement will continue for three years and automatically renew for successive terms of one year each unless it’s terminated earlier.
Chief Powers said his hope is for the unit to be operational in May. Ultimately, he hopes to see units in areas throughout Jacksonville, reaching even more patients.
