Does My District Need a Mobile Stroke Unit?

In their article in this issue of the Journal on emergency medical response in cases of stroke, Grotta and colleagues1 report several positive findings for mobile stroke units in comparison with conventional medical service ambulances. These include 22% greater access to intravenous thrombolysis treatment with mobile stroke units (97.1% of eligible patients vs. 79.5%), a 36-minute shorter median time from stroke onset to initiation of treatment (72 minutes vs. 108 minutes), and a 24% larger percentage of patients returning to normal activities 3 months after stroke (55.0% vs. 44.4%). Specialist stroke care saves lives and reduces disability,2 and evidence supports . . .