FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM MAY 17, 2018 • WELLNESS • THE QUEENS COURIER 51
wellness
Photo provided by Ryan Carbain
Leadership from NewYork-Presbyterian/Queens was joined by Chief James P. Booth of the FDNY to announce that the hospital launched a mobile stroke treatment unit in Queens
NewYork-Presbyterian/Queens deploys
mobile units to treat stroke victims
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
edavenport@qns.com / @QNS
Time is critical when responding to
a potential stroke victim. Th anks to an
advanced mobile unit, a Queens hospital
can now treat stroke victims quickly
and effi ciently.
With help from Weill Cornell
Medicine, Columbia University
Irving Medical Center and the FDNY,
NewYork-Presbyterian is expanding its
Mobile Stroke Treatment Units (MSTU)
to help patients suff ering a stroke in
Queens.
Th e MTSU is an advanced vehicle
that can provide immediate, specialized
care to patients who may be experiencing
a stroke. Th e New York City
911 System started to deploy the MTSU
through the FDNY to community surrounding
NewYork-Presbyterian/Queens
in Flushing on April 30.
Each MSTU is staff ed by a highly specialized
team of two NYP paramedics, a
computed tomography (CT) technologist
and a registered nurse. Th e staff can
contact a neurologist remotely through a
video conference. Th e MSTU allows the
neurologist to view the patient and provide
an assessment and recommendations
for care.
Th e MTSU also contains equipment
and medications specifi c to diagnosing
and treating strokes and a portable
CT scanner which will help paramedics
instantly detect if the patient is having
a stroke.
“Response time is a critical factor in
stroke recovery and the Mobile Stroke
Treatment Units now have the capacity
to help even more patients,” said Dr.
Matthew E. Fink, who oversees the MSTU
program and is neurologist-in-chief at
NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell
Medical Center, and chairman of the
Department of Neurology and the Louis
and Gertrude Feil Professor in Clinical
Neurology at Weill Cornell Medicine.
“We are bringing the emergency room
directly to a patient suff ering a stroke.
Th is is a game changer in advanced stroke
care.”
A donation from W.P. Carey
Foundation made NewYork-Presbyterian
the fi rst health system in the country to
operate three of these units in Brooklyn
and Queens.
“We are extremely grateful to
our donors for their support in helping
us provide life-saving stroke treatment
with signifi cantly reduced treatment
times to the communities of
Queens and Brooklyn,” said Dr. Steven J.
Corwin, president and CEO of NewYork-
Presbyterian. “NewYork-Presbyterian is
proud to be a leader in advanced stroke
care by becoming the fi rst to operate three
Mobile Stroke Treatment Units.”
To learn more about the MSTU, visit
nyp.org/neuro/services/stroke/mobilestroke
treatment-unit.
link
