New York Presbyterian unveiled a new mobile stroke treatment unit for Brooklyn and Queens.
Officials say that it’s an emergency vehicle that will provide immediate and specialized care to patients experiencing a stroke.
The vehicle will have a team, equipment and medications specific to diagnosing and treating strokes. There is a portable CT scanner, which will transmit the scan to a neuroradiologist to evaluate. There is also a camera for first responders to video-conference with neurologists at a moment's notice.
Officials say that it cuts down the response time significantly by approximately 40 minutes. "This might mean that someone who could not talk is able to talk or someone who cannot see from one side of their vision is able to see," said Miran Salgado, a representative from New York Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital
New York City's first mobile stroke treatment unit was launched in 2016 in Manhattan. There have been collaborations with Weill Cornell Medicine, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, and the Fire Department of New York.
The new emergency vehicle is expected to launch May 29.