Northwestern Medicine Central DuPage Hospital in Winfield, Ill., has upgraded its mobile stroke unit to enhance prehospital stroke care in 20 west suburban Chicago communities.
The new unit is equipped with a 32-slice CT scanner, enabling faster, high-resolution brain imaging in the field, according to a March 19 system news release. The compact design also improves navigation on narrower suburban streets, while enhanced onboard technology supports safer and more efficient care.
The mobile stroke unit, which operates 365 days a year across a 138-square-mile region, enables earlier stroke diagnosis and treatment. Patients treated in the unit receive thrombolytic therapy within an average of 47 minutes from dispatch, compared to 83 minutes via standard EMS response.
In 2025, 507 patients were treated aboard the mobile stroke unit, up from 166 in 2017, its debut year. The unit is staffed by a specialized team and connected remotely to Northwestern Medicine neurologists and radiologists.
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