Fred Rincon, MD, MSc: Increasing Use of Mobile Stroke Units

“Not having a mobile stroke unit would make no sense. That’s like if you were in the cardiac arrest world, and not having available AEDs or bystander CPR.”

Paired with telemedicine, mobile stroke units have become one of the most impactful ways to treat stroke victims in a timely manner. More and more hospitals and academic centers have begun to incorporate this technology, which in effect can expand the reach that specialists have to save stroke patients on site.

Fred Rincon, MD, MSc, chief of cerebrovascular disease at Jefferson University Hospitals, described the significant impacts that mobile stroke units have had on communities in South Carolina and North Carolina, where access to comprehensive stroke centers is lacking. If a stroke patient takes more than 30 minutes to reach an emergency department, they could die, but the evolution of telemedicine and mobile stroke units can help reduce the mortality rate significantly.

In an interview with NeurologyLive, Rincon shared his perspective on why mobile stroke units will continue to prove to be the most effective way of treating stroke victims at the source.