Question for the LA area

[wtferick]

Any one know any further information about the MSU that UCLAs are testing.

Seems like an interesting gig that I want to get Into after finishing Nursing School.

 

[zzyzx]

Don't know anything about it, but I'm pretty skeptical of the whole idea.
It must be insanely expensive to run.

 

[TheComebacKid]

Its a pilot program by UCLA mostly funded by donations and philanthropy. As of now only Santa Monica Fire and Beverly Hills Fire are considering utilizing them, since the MSU deploys out of UCLA and doesn't leave the west LA area (LAFD and LACoFD are firmly against using it due to logistic complications). Its also a redundant apparatus since all the local hospitals (UCLA RR, Cedars, Kaiser Sunset) are all stroke centers. These mobile stroke units are better suited in rural environments where the closest acute stroke care center is 100+ miles away. the MSU is in an extremely metropolitan area, and although not a terrible idea, just not serving its purpose in a area where transport to a stroke center is ~5 minutes.

So, You want to work on it? With all that being said, I doubt it will last very long, eventually sold off or left for dead in one of the campus's parking lots with all the other disaster equipment within the next two years. It IS a pilot program after all. Even if it lasts for a couple more years all the hiring is internal and made up of members who helped assemble the MSU project. I imagine if you wanna work as an RN on it, you would have to be a ICU or Neuro RN with a few years of experience at UCLA ronald reagan.

 

[BobBarker]

Its a pilot program by UCLA mostly funded by donations and philanthropy. As of now only Santa Monica Fire and Beverly Hills Fire are considering utilizing them, since the MSU deploys out of UCLA and doesn't leave the west LA area (LAFD and LACoFD are firmly against using it due to logistic complications). Its also a redundant apparatus since all the local hospitals (UCLA RR, Cedars, Kaiser Sunset) are all stroke centers. These mobile stroke units are better suited in rural environments where the closest acute stroke care center is 100+ miles away. the MSU is in an extremely metropolitan area, and although not a terrible idea, just not serving its purpose in a area where transport to a stroke center is ~5 minutes.

So, You want to work on it? With all that being said, I doubt it will last very long, eventually sold off or left for dead in one of the campus's parking lots with all the other disaster equipment within the next two years. It IS a pilot program after all. Even if it lasts for a couple more years all the hiring is internal and made up of members who helped assemble the MSU project. I imagine if you wanna work as an RN on it, you would have to be a ICU or Neuro RN with a few years of experience at UCLA ronald reagan.

I have no idea where you got the information that it stays only in the West LA area and that LA County Fire doesn't use them. UCLA Mobile Stroke Unit alternates from Santa Monica to Lakewood, Signal Hill and Cerritos with LA County Fire. They tweeted on March 5th and March 7th that they were responding with LA County Fire to a stroke call in Whittier. Look at their Twitter: https://twitter.com/uclahealthmsuhttps://twitter.com/uclahealthmsu

 

[TheComebacKid]

I have no idea where you got the information that it stays only in the West LA area and that LA County Fire doesn't use them. UCLA Mobile Stroke Unit alternates from Santa Monica to Lakewood, Signal Hill and Cerritos with LA County Fire. They tweeted on March 5th and March 7th that they were responding with LA County Fire to a stroke call in Whittier. Look at their Twitter: https://twitter.com/uclahealthmsuhttps://twitter.com/uclahealthmsu

It was at a seminar at UCLA in July of last year, Dr. May Nour came to talk about it. I guess the information I have is very outdated, my mistake!

Edit: I was also reading my previous comment, and it seems passive aggressive, which is not at all what I meant. I think its a great program, I was just under the impression that it only operated in west los angeles, since that's what Dr. Nour told us. Since it serves the communities of Los Angeles county, I think it would be best suited in the Antelope Valley or San Gabriel Valley where stroke receiving centers are far and few in between.

 

[BobBarker]

It was at a seminar at UCLA in July of last year, Dr. May Nour came to talk about it. I guess the information I have is very outdated, my mistake!

Edit: I was also reading my previous comment, and it seems passive aggressive, which is not at all what I meant. I think its a great program, I was just under the impression that it only operated in west los angeles, since that's what Dr. Nour told us. Since it serves the communities of Los Angeles county, I think it would be best suited in the Antelope Valley or San Gabriel Valley where stroke receiving centers are far and few in between.

I 100% agree with you that it's not really needed as much as the SGV or Antelope Valley. It's still a pretty cool idea and can be beneficial, but Santa Monica residents are 5-8 minutes away, at most, from a stroke center. The only thing this MSU can help in SM right now is telling the difference between an ischemic and Hemorrhagic. If its a hemorrhagic stroke, they would have to divert to UCLA Ronald Regan as opposed to SM UCLA or St Johns, as they don't have that capability

 

[rescue1]

There's one of these in Manhattan too, an island that has a giant academic hospital/stroke center every couple blocks, which I always thought was the most ridiculous idea I've ever heard of.

Apparently there's a lot of debate in the emergency medicine physician world about whether or not tPA is actually as beneficial as we've all been taught.
I don't know what much about the data behind the different opinions, but given that there is some controversy I'm even less inclined to think very positively of MSUs. Think of the real ambulances they could staff with that money.

 

[Peak]

I'm not in LA but we have one around here ran by the U, but my understanding is that it will only go out so far because they don't have sufficient data signal to transmit the CTs to a neuroradiologist in rural areas. We have more stroke centers than should probably be allowed, so I don't really understand the need for it in the metro area and if I member correctly the early data is not showing a faster time to TPA administration.

I wouldn't start on a stroke unit as a new nurse, it is far too specialized and I doubt it's going to last. When these programs ultimately fall apart you are going to have a hard time getting a different ICU, ED, or CCT job; I'm doubtful most of these programs will hire new grads anyway.

 

[VentMonkey]

@wtferick if you’re that interested in neuro-ICU nursing try the ENLS course for starters.

Yes, its title makes it sound like yet another “patch course”, but the course itself is very in-depth with regard to neurocritical care. It’s put on by neurointensivists and EM physicians; it’s also self paced.

A lot of it is certainly beyond most CCP’s need-to-know fundamentals of care, but given that my program (like many other CCT programs) sees a large bulk of scene, and IFT neurocritical care patients I figured it could only help.

Also, it’s worth about 15 CE’s.

https://www.neurocriticalcare.org/