UF Health Mobile Stroke Program provides faster stroke care to rural counties

With stroke, every minute counts to prevent death or limit severe disability.

Now, new data show that UF Health’s approach of sending a specially equipped stroke ambulance to meet paramedics at designated “rendezvous points” to take patients from surrounding rural areas significantly improves timely stroke care — on average, by nearly an hour. In stroke care, the “golden hour” starting with symptom onset is a critical window to minimize brain damage.

Launched in July 2023, the specialized ambulance — called the Mobile Stroke Treatment Unit, or MSTU — is one of only 16 active programs of its kind nationwide and “brings the hospital to the patient." In collaboration with Alachua County Fire Rescue, the MSTU carries a stroke-trained registered nurse, a paramedic, an emergency medical technician, and a CT technologist, as well as a vascular neurologist either on the truck or through telemedicine.