We know when it comes to stroke, we have to act FAST. The chance of recovery greatly increases if a stroke is treated within 60 minutes — a critical time called the "golden hour." That is why we created the UF Health Mobile Stroke Program.
Call 911 immediately!
Our network of mobile stroke treatment units, or MSTUs, across the state of Florida is an extension of our comprehensive stroke services in Gainesville, Jacksonville and Central Florida. Currently, only around 20 mobile stroke programs are operational nationwide.
The MSTU vehicles are engineered to help facilitate a stroke diagnosis in patients and allow our specialists to administer time-sensitive treatment in the field. The MSTU brings the hospital to the patient, decreasing the time it takes to make an accurate stroke diagnosis and administer time-sensitive stroke therapies earlier — saving time and improving patient outcomes.
Treatment of stroke within the first hour leads to improved functional outcomes and decreases the chance of death. A large number of stroke patients arrive at the hospital too late to dissolve the blood clot or clots causing the stroke (thrombolysis).
The Mobile Stroke Treatment Unit decreases the median time from stroke onset to treatment by about 38 minutes. On the MSTU, 38% of stroke patients are treated within 90 minutes of symptom onset (nationally this statistic is about 10%) and 18% of patients are treated within 60 minutes (nationally this is about 1.4% for stroke patients).
Use of a mobile stroke unit increases the number of disability-free patients by about 11%.
On average, patients with a stroke diagnosis who are treated on the MSTU compared with those brought to the emergency room by standard ambulances have significantly improved outcomes:
20-30% increase in being discharged from the hospital directly to home
Shortened hospital length of stay by an average of 2 days
Reduced risk of dying from stroke by 45%.
When a stroke is suspected, both EMS on a standard ambulance and the Mobile Stroke Treatment Unit are dispatched simultaneously. The stroke team will conduct a neurological evaluation, and if the results are consistent with stroke, treatment will begin immediately.
UF Health’s Mobile Stroke Treatment Unit is a specialized ambulance that includes:
A portable CT scanner
Clot-busting drugs such as tenecteplase, or TNK
Medications given intravenously to lower high blood pressure
Medications used to reverse the effects of bleeding inside the brain
Accessibility to stroke doctors using telemedicine technology
Ambulances will be staffed by a team that includes:
Stroke-trained registered nurses
CT technologists
EMT drivers
Critical care paramedics
Board-certified stroke neurologists (available via telemedicine)
By deploying to the patient, the MSTU team can begin treatment on scene; this saves critical moments to reduce long-term disability from the stroke.
The UF Health Mobile Stroke Program has a network of mobile stroke treatment units across the state of Florida. In addition to our unit in the Gainesville area, in 2025, we launched a unit to serve the Jacksonville area, and plan to launch an additional unit in The Villages.
