Top: Matthew Hill, fire captain and paramedic for the Santa Monica Fire Department; Dr. May Nour; UCLA prehospital care coordinator Ryan Burgess; and Julian Zermeno, captain and paramedic coordinator for the Santa Monica Fire Department. Bottom Left: (From left) Dr. Nour, Johnese Spisso, Henry and Arline Gluck, Dr. John C. Mazziotta, L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn and Dr. Jeffrey Saver. Bottom Right: The ribbon-cutting ceremony included, from left, Drs. Mazziotta and Nour, Ronald Gluck, Henry and Arline Gluck, Supervisor Hahn, Tracey Gluck, Santa Monica Fire Department Chief Bill Walker and Dr. Saver. Photos: Reed Hutchinson
On October 25, 2017, UCLA Health, the County of Los Angeles and the City of Santa Monica celebrated the launch of the UCLA Health Mobile Stroke Unit (MSU) with a standing-room-only audience at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. Event attendees included L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn; Santa Monica Fire Department Chief Bill Walker; Arline and Henry Gluck and their children Tracey Gluck and Ronald Gluck; Dr. May Nour (RES ’13, FEL ’14, ’15), assistant professor of neurology and radiology and medical director of the UCLA Arline and Henry Gluck Stroke Rescue Program; Dr. Jeffrey Saver, professor and senior associate vice chair of neurology and director of the UCLA Comprehensive Stroke Center; Johnese Spisso, president of UCLA Health and CEO of the UCLA Hospital System; Dr. John C. Mazziotta (RES ’81, FEL ’83), vice chancellor of UCLA Health Sciences and CEO of UCLA Health; UCLA nurses; and first responders from Santa Monica and L.A. County.
The UCLA MSU, sponsored by the Henry and Arline Gluck Foundation and part of the UCLA Arline and Henry Gluck Stroke Rescue Program, is a specialized ambulance equipped with a mobile CT scanner for the rapid diagnosis of stroke. The MSU entered service on September 11, 2017, as part of a national clinical trial to measure the benefits of expedited stroke care. The ambulance brings the hospital to the patient, with a specialty care team that delivers the clot-busting drug tPA to those experiencing an ischemic stroke — caused by a clot that blocks blood flow to the brain and accounts for 80 percent of all strokes. The stoppage of blood circulation to the brain has a “platinum half hour,” during which the quick delivery of tPA can dramatically improve patient outcomes by breaking down the clot so blood will continue to flow to the brain. In L.A. County, 49 people suffer a stroke each day, and without timely intervention, many will die or suffer permanent disabilities.
After the completion of the study, Supervisor Hahn hopes to roll out a fleet of MSUs to serve all 10 million residents of L.A. County.
