Jacksonville has its first stroke treatment ambulance, study says it's not always cost-effective
Mayor Donna Deegan and the Jacksonville Fire Rescue Department just cut the ribbon on northeast Florida's first 'mobile stroke treatment unit,' an ambulance given to the city by UF Health.
UF Health says the ambulances can help provide immediate, potentially life-saving care to people having a stroke and get the specific kind of care they need through the ambulance's stroke-oriented emergency medical equipment and staff onboard.
The city put more than $855,000 in funding toward seven new, full-time JFRD positions to keep the ambulance running.
Action News Jax reviewed new numbers from JFRD showing only a fraction of the calls it's responded to in the last few years were actually for strokes:
- 2021: 147,701 total EMS calls; 3,339 dispatched as stroke
- 2022: 146,716 total EMS calls; 3,543 dispatched as stroke
- 2023: 144,327 total EMS calls; 3,630 dispatched as stroke
- 2024: 143,929 total EMS calls; 3,497 dispatched as stroke
Read: Roads closed in Jacksonville Beach as firefighters respond to fire on Shetter Avenue
JFRD told Action News Jax not all of the calls dispatched as a stroke actually turned out to be a stroke, meaning only a portion of those calls ended up being for people having a stroke.
On average, the numbers show the department has responded to 10 stroke calls per day since 2021.
We also discovered a recent study from the American Heart Association, which says that, although these ambulances do provide life-saving care, they are not always cost-effective.
The study, which covers international research, said they cost millions to purchase and operate every year and that only a portion of the calls they are dispatched to are for actual strokes, not to mention that only a portion of those calls require the emergency medical equipment onboard.
Action News Jax asked the city how this particular unit will be worth the cost for the staffing to operate it.
We were told it will be mainly serving northwest Jacksonville, a district it calls a hotspot for strokes.
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'These communities have been underserved for a long time, especially this one. And I think it's incredibly important that we give folks who live on this side of town the same opportunity to be healthy as people in other parts of town and have all the time,' Mayor Deegan said.
The ambulance is going to be based out of JFRD Station 64, located on Harts Road on the north side.
It's worth noting JFRD runs on a roughly $400 million budget, and it says the $855,000+ for the staff working the ambulance will become an annual cost
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