New mobile stroke treatment unit arrives to Colorado Springs UCHealth hospital
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO)--A new mobile health unit has arrived in the Pikes Peak region.
On Wednesday, February 14, UChealth unveiled its new mobile stroke treatment unit. The new ambulance is meant to help treat patients wherever and whenever they are showing signs of a stroke or having one. There are about 30 mobile stroke units across the United States and two of them are now in Colorado.
In the past, the original unit was shared by health professionals in Aurora and Colorado Springs, but now residents will have one here permanently.
"What we anticipate is that we are going to now be able to treat twice as many patients per year as we were in the past," said David Ornelas, Nurse Manager for the Mobile Stroke Unit. Ornelas said between 2016 and 2023 the original mobile stroke unit helped treat more than 5,000 patients in Colorado Springs and Aurora.
"What we hope to see is not only will we be arriving on time a lot more but that we are going to be utilized a lot more, a lot of the problems we were running into is that our EMS colleagues were getting confused whether or not we were in service not in service in the springs or in Aurora," said Ornelas.
New to the mobile stroke unit is the CT scan. It's a state-of-the-art technology that allows medical professionals to scan a patient while they're inside the ambulance.
"And then what separates our mobile stroke unit apart from others is that we are tied into their electronic medical records so everything gets sent to the hospital before the patient gets there," said Ornelas.
The units also have a two-way visual and audio communication system, also known as telehealth that allows a neurologist to examine, diagnose, and recommend treatment for patients while inside the vehicle.
"We have treated patients in King Soopers' parking lot, in the Target parking lot. We have obviously gone to patient's homes, other healthcare facilities so pretty much anywhere that we can drive this thing we can treat patients," said Ornelas.
This new mobile stroke unit will start its official service on February 19.
