It's a specially equipped ambulance that's operated by Grady EMS. The mobile unit takes cutting edge diagnostic and treatment capabilities directly to patients in the city of Atlanta. It has an on-board CT scanner to facilitate the earliest treatment possible. Grady's mobile stroke unit is 1 of only 17 in the nation.
"Using a sophisticated tele-medicine platform, our goal is to extend the vast experience and proven expertise of our stroke specialists to participating network hospitals, giving each and every stroke patient in the areas serviced by our network partners the best chance of survival and living an independent quality of life," says Marcus Stroke Network director Michael Frankel, MD, professor & director of vascular neurology, Emory University School of Medicine, chief of neurology and director of Grady's Marcus Stroke and Neuroscience Center.
Dr. Frankel says, "think of it as a mobile emergency room focused on recognizing and treating stroke as early as possible." He says when a blood vessel is blocked in the brain, "minutes matter."
These ambulances are very expensive, costing as much as a million dollars.
Grady's Mobile Stroke Unit was made possible by the generosity of The Marcus Foundation.
The mobile stroke unit will be in operation Monday through Saturday and manned by an experienced team of medical professionals – an emergency medicine nurse, paramedic, advanced EMT and CT technologist.
More information can be found on their website, https://www.gradystroke.org/