UCLA Health and Supervisor Hahn Introduce Mobile Stroke Units to Strengthen Public Health Response

TORRANCE—In a significant expansion of emergency stroke care across Los Angeles County, Supervisor Janice Hahn and UCLA Health May 29 unveiled two new highly-advanced mobile stroke units that will respond to medical emergencies across LA County, allowing stroke specialists to diagnose and treat stroke patients in the field – saving brain function and lives.

“After a stroke, every minute counts,” said Supervisor Hahn, a long-time advocate for the Mobile Stroke Unit program. “The faster we can get patients the treatment they need, the better their chances of survival and of avoiding long-term brain damage. With three Mobile Stroke Units now serving LA County, we’re giving more residents a fighting chance to recover fully after a stroke and live healthy lives.”

A mobile stroke unit is a specially-equipped ambulance, built with a mobile CT scanner, point-of-care lab tests, telehealth connection with a vascular neurologist, and therapies, all designed to deliver proven stroke treatments to patients faster than ever before. Physicians on the unit can administer clot-busting drugs to patients in the field, long before they get to an emergency room. 

The two new mobile stroke units join an existing unit that UCLA Health has operated in partnership with LA County since 2017 and has responded to more than 2,000 calls and treated more than 360 patients. The new ambulances will allow the program to provide more coverage to 33 communities on the Westside, the South Bay, Long Beach, and the Gateway Cities and to eventually expand its coverage area. Beginning in August, the third ambulance will serve the San Fernando Valley, which has been identified by the stroke rescue program as one of the major geographic areas with high incidence of stroke.

For every minute that passes following the onset of a stroke, 2 million brain cells die. A study published in 2021 in the New England Journal of Medicine found that treatment in a mobile stroke ambulance leads to better patient outcomes, both immediately and three months later.

With her work championing mobile stroke units, Supervisor Janice Hahn is building on the legacy of her father, Supervisor Kenny Hahn. The late-Supervisor started the nation’s first paramedic program which began as a way to treat heart attack patients in the field, before they arrived at a hospital, improving their health outcomes. Her father later suffered a stroke and was partially paralyzed for the rest of his life. 

Nationwide, nearly 800,000 people experience a stroke each year — one every 40 seconds, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or CDC. Around 87% of these are ischemic strokes, in which blood flow to the brain is blocked by a clogged artery or blood clot. The remainder are hemorrhagic strokes, which occur when a blood vessel in the brain ruptures and bleeds. Mobile stroke ambulances have the capabilities to treat both types.

The UCLA Mobile Stroke Unit acquired the two new ambulances with funds from two philanthropic donations. The Brett Torino Foundation donated $6 million to add the second ambulance, which will serve the San Fernando Valley. Heidi and Larry Canarelli of Las Vegas donated an additional $6 million for UCLA to acquire the third ambulance that will be stationed in Westwood.