{"id":115521,"date":"2023-01-11T22:03:37","date_gmt":"2023-01-12T03:03:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=115521"},"modified":"2023-01-11T22:05:11","modified_gmt":"2023-01-12T03:05:11","slug":"lvhn-mobile-stroke-unit-partners-with-northern-valley-ems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=115521","title":{"rendered":"LVHN Mobile Stroke Unit Partners with Northern Valley EMS"},"content":{"rendered":"

Image from https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/lvhealthnetwork<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Increased level of stroke care reaches more than 40,000 additional residents in the region<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Lehigh Valley, Pa. (January 11, 2023) – Northern Valley Emergency Medical Services (NOVA), serving a 90-square-mile area primarily in northern Lehigh County, has partnered with Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN)\u2019s Mobile Stroke Unit to bring a higher level of emergency stroke care to those it serves.<\/p>\n

With the addition of NOVA, the mobile stroke unit now covers about 400 square miles in the region.<\/p>\n

The mobile stroke unit, part of Lehigh Valley Fleming Neuroscience Institute, was the first mobile stroke unit in Pennsylvania when it debuted in 2019 and is currently one of 20 such units across the county providing leading-edge stroke care.<\/p>\n

The mobile stroke unit is based at Cetronia Ambulance in the Allentown area and has been operated in partnership with Cetronia since its inception.<\/p>\n

The new partnership with NOVA, operational as of Dec. 22, 2022, means the stroke unit will respond to stroke calls along with Northern Valley (NOVA) or rendezvous with NOVA crews on their way to a comprehensive stroke center, such as Lehigh Valley Hospital (LVH)\u2013Cedar Crest.<\/p>\n

In Lehigh County, NOVA serves\u00a0North Whitehall, Washington, Heidelberg and portions of Lowhill townships. It also serves Walnutport, Northampton County and provides emergency services on part of the Pennsylvania Turnpike.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re excited to be able to provide a higher level of care for stroke patients and begin crucial intervention and treatment before even arriving at the hospital emergency room,\u201d said Kristie Wentling, NOVA executive director.<\/p>\n

The mobile stroke unit does not operate everywhere within the LVHN footprint. However, in addition to Northern Valley, it\u00a0currently has agreements with and assists on stroke calls with Cetronia, Macungie and Boyertown ambulance companies.<\/p>\n

Ken Reichenbach, mobile stroke unit program director, said the mobile stroke unit is essentially a neurological emergency room on wheels.<\/p>\n

The stroke unit is equipped with a camera that doctors at LVHN stroke centers can operate to evaluate what\u2019s happening and direct initial treatment. Mobile stroke unit crews could be directed to start clot-busting medication or blood-thickening medication, depending on the type of stroke.<\/p>\n

Doctors have direct communication with the stroke unit crew, which also can perform a computed tomography\u00a0(CT) scan so doctors can get a view of what\u2019s happening inside the patient\u2019s brain. Communication with doctors also provides information on which type of stroke center \u2013 primary or comprehensive \u2013 is best for the patient under the circumstances.<\/p>\n

Someone has a stroke every 40 seconds in the United States. In most cases, that means blood flow to the brain is blocked. It also can mean an artery in the brain has ruptured and is causing bleeding around the brain.<\/p>\n

In either case, the lack of oxygen-rich blood means brain cells begin to die within minutes. Millions of cells can die each minute, causing potential trouble with movement, speech and thinking.<\/p>\n

Strokes also can be deadly and are the fifth leading cause of death in this country.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe faster a stroke patient gets treatment, the better the outcome,\u201d said Reichenbach. \u201cThat\u2019s why time is brain.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Lehigh Valley Health Network<\/a>\u00a0(LVHN) includes 13 hospital campuses, four in Allentown, two in Bethlehem, one in Easton, one in East Stroudsburg, one in Hazleton, two in Pottsville, one in Dickson City, and one in\u00a0Lehighton, Pa.; 28 health centers; numerous primary and specialty care physician practices; 20\u00a0ExpressCARE<\/a>\u00a0locations including the area\u2019s only\u00a0Children\u2019s ExpressCARE<\/a>; pharmacy, imaging, home health, rehabilitation and lab services; and preferred provider services through Valley Preferred. Specialty care includes: trauma care for adults and children, burn care at the Regional Burn Center; kidney and pancreas transplants; perinatal\/neonatal, cardiac, cancer, orthopedics, neurology, complex neurosurgery capabilities including national certification as a Comprehensive Stroke Center, and robotic surgery in 10 specialties.\u00a0Lehigh Valley Topper Cancer Institute<\/a>,\u00a0Lehigh Valley Heart and Vascular Institute<\/a>,\u00a0Lehigh Valley Institute for Surgical Excellence<\/a>,\u00a0Lehigh Valley Orthopedic Institute<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Lehigh Valley Fleming Neuroscience Institute<\/a>\u00a0physicians provide the most advanced treatments.\u00a0Lehigh Valley Topper Cancer Institute is a member of the\u00a0Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Alliance<\/a>\u00a0(MSK Cancer Alliance)<\/u>, an initiative that helps community providers improve the quality of cancer care and offers access to MSK clinical trials.\u00a0Lehigh Valley Reilly Children\u2019s Hospital<\/a>, the third largest children’s hospital in Pennsylvania, provides care in more than 30 specialties and general pediatrics.\u00a0Lehigh Valley Hospital\u2013Cedar Crest<\/a>\u00a0is ranked as the region\u2019s No. 1 hospital for nine straight years and has been recognized among Pennsylvania\u2019s top 10 hospitals for nine consecutive years by\u00a0U.S. News & World Report<\/a>. Lehigh Valley Hospital (LVH)\u2013Cedar Crest,\u00a0LVH\u201317th Street<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0LVH\u2013Muhlenberg<\/a>\u00a0are the region\u2019s only\u00a0Magnet\u00ae<\/a>\u00a0hospitals for nursing excellence. Additional information is available by visiting\u00a0LVHN.org<\/a>\u00a0or following us on\u00a0Facebook\u00a0<\/a>,\u00a0Twitter<\/a>,\u00a0LinkedIn<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jamie L. Stover
\nMedia Relations Specialist
\nMarketing & Public Affairs
\nLehigh Valley Health Network
\nAllentown, PA 18105<\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Image from https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/lvhealthnetwork Increased level of stroke care reaches more than 40,000 additional residents in the region \u00a0 Lehigh Valley, Pa. (January 11, 2023) – Northern Valley Emergency Medical Services … Continue reading LVHN Mobile Stroke Unit Partners with Northern Valley EMS<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":115522,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[69,482],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-115521","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-in-the-valley","category-press-release-2"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/lvhn-nova.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115521"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=115521"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115521\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/115522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=115521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=115521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=115521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}