A mobile stroke unit helped save this 21-year-old Pennsylvania woman's life: "I could have died"
Jefferson Health's mobile stroke unit is saving lives by providing advanced care on location and as patients are being transported to a hospital.
Seconds count with strokes, and now, instead of waiting to get to a hospital for treatment, it can happen on the way.
Gianna Parrillo-Shennard was overcome with emotion Monday when she saw the technology in a mobile stroke unit that saved her life.
"It really saved my life. … I could have died," Parrillo-Shennard said. "You just don't know your life could change in an instant."
Parrillo-Shennard was just 21 when, in October, she was overcome at work, first with a bad headache.
"My speech was very, very slurred," Parrillo-Shennard said. "It sounded like I was drunk, and I remember my face slouching to the side."
A stroke unit fully equipped with a CAT scan and medications was dispatched.
"It's like a hospital on wheels," Upper Merion EMS Chief James Johnson said. "We can show up at your house and treat you for your stroke in your driveway."
Dr. Alvin Wang with Jefferson Health says in addition to quick imaging from the CAT scan, this ambulance is also equipped with telemedicine. A stroke neurologist can remotely evaluate the patient and direct care.
"Every minute we wait to begin treatment is more brain cells dying," Wang said. "We know the sooner that you get the diagnosis for a stroke, the better your chances are for a normal neurological outcome after the event."
Parrillo-Shennard is living proof.
"I couldn't believe it," she said. "I thought strokes were for old people."
She's learned strokes can happen to anyone and that it's critical to recognize signs like trouble with speech, balance or movement.
"I had two blood clots on the right side of my brain," Parrillo-Shennard said. "By the time I got to the hospital, I was perfectly fine. My speech was back. Everything was back, so I was very thankful."
Life is back to normal for Parrillo-Shennard, who's going to have a baby in October.