King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre (KFSHRC) has launched the first-of-its-kind Mobile Stroke Ambulance Unit in the Middle East and North Africa, bringing advanced medical technology and clinical expertise directly to stroke patients. This innovation allows the medical team to use travel time to provide immediate medical care, significantly improving recovery and survival chances while reducing long-term disabilities, with a 70% higher likelihood of restoring normal body functions.
The initiative aims to improve stroke outcomes and accelerate the delivery of life-saving care during the critical first hour after symptom onset. It addresses specific challenges faced by patients in Riyadh, such as traffic congestion and prolonged transport times to hospitals, which result in delayed access to critical care, factors that have a crucial impact on treatment outcomes and patient quality of life.
The Mobile Stroke Unit is dispatched after the Saudi Red Crescent Authority receives a report from the patient’s family about stroke symptoms, such as arm weakness, facial drooping, or difficulty speaking. Following this, KFSHRC’s emergency unit is notified, and the Mobile Stroke Unit is deployed to the patient’s location, enabling on-site diagnosis and immediate treatment.
The Stroke Unit, specially equipped within an ambulance, includes a specialized medical team consisting of a vascular neurologist, a critical care nurse, a paramedic, and a CT scan technician, who facilitates brain tissue and cerebral blood vessel imaging inside the ambulance before reaching the hospital, to determine the cause of stroke symptoms and provide the necessary medical intervention on site.
The Mobile Stroke Unit is part of KFSHRC’s pavilion at the Global Health Exhibition in Riyadh, allowing visitors to explore its advanced features, including technologies such as CT scans, computed imaging, MRI, carotid artery ultrasound, and cerebral angiography, which enhances KFSHRC’s leadership in providing novel stroke treatment solutions.
Stroke is a significant global health challenge, ranking as the third leading cause of death in Saudi Arabia and occurring due to a lack of blood flow to a part of the brain or the rupture of a blood vessel, leading to brain damage. Anyone, including children, can experience a stroke at any time if risk factors are present.
It is noteworthy that KFSHRC has been ranked first in the Middle East and Africa and 20th globally in the list of the world’s top 250 Academic Medical Centres for the second consecutive year and recognized as the most valuable healthcare brand in the Kingdom and the Middle East, according to the 2024 Brand Finance rankings. Additionally, in the same year, it was ranked among the world’s best 250 hospitals and included in the list of the world’s best smart hospitals for 2025 by Newsweek magazine.
