Was The Mobile Stroke Unit Show Just Another Ploy by Summers, Gilman, & Co.?

[Lori Allen _]

http://my.clevelandclinic.org/services/ ... troke-unit

According to this, the mobile stroke unit is housed at the Cleveland Clinic Main Campus, which is 93 blocks east of downtown. Unless a special mobile stroke unit will be housed 24/7 at Lakewood, or even Fairview, it is virtually useless. By the time the mobile stroke unit gets from main campus to Lakewood, Lakewood's paramedics could probably be at a hospital.

When our family friend had a stroke a few weeks ago, the mobile stroke unit was nowhere in sight. Not to mention the MRI machine was broken at Lakewood's supposed, world-class, "ER." I have heard other stories of people being taken to Fairview with stroke symptoms and being life-flighted elsewhere because Fairview can't handle it or they have no beds.

Remember when Lakewood had a level II trauma center before Fitzgerald, Summers, and his cronies began the decanting?

Yes, I believe they are messing with us. Whenever City Hall is caught with their pants down, they seem to attempt a cover-up.

Also see http://www.cleveland.com/lakewood/index ... troke.html

Lakewood Fire Chief Scott Gilman said the addition of the mobile stroke unit in Lakewood would benefit his department.
"We can get more definitive treatment to patients faster by having them respond with us," Gilman said

This was said over nine years after Mr. Gilman's license to practice as a paramedic expired.

[mjkuhns]

Yes, basically.

As one Lakewood family recently found out, surface travel between Lakewood and the Clinic main campus is a long trip at the wrong time of day.

So, yeah, the mobile stroke unit is basically just a prop, at any rate as far as Lakewood healthcare is concerned.

[tom monahan]

Two days ago I saw the Mobile Stroke Unit pulling Marc's Plaza. It wasn't until I reminded David Anderson in late October that the Clinic might be breaching the new Master Agreement by not deploying that unit at the Lakewood ER. That's when the dog and pony show at City Hall had the unit on display before the Council meeting.

That was 10 months after Council approved the closing of the hospital and 10 months too late for Mrs. Harris to receive immediate stroke intervention at the ER that is supposed to be capable of handling such emergencies. Mr. Harris' account how he was told by the Lakewood ER not bring his wife there, but rather take her to Fairview Hospital--a designated primary stroke center-was a futile battle for her and her family. When they arrived by Lakewood EMS there was no neurosurgeon on hand to provide the critical procedure needed to ensure full recovery and, potentially, simply to save her life. Left with no other option, Mrs. Harris was forced to be flown by helicopter to the Clinic's main campus on Cleveland,s far east side.

Meanwhile her husband had to battle with morning rush-hour traffic for an hour to get to the Clinic where doctors were waiting for him to sign the surgical consent form so that they could operate on his wife. Why did the ER staff at Fairview not have Mr. Harris sign a surgical consent form there and have it faxed to the Main Campus without waiting another hour before his arrival.

According to Mr. Harris, his wife's stroke symptoms began around 6:30 A.M. and he estimates that his wife went into surgery at 10:30 A.M.

So critical time according medical professionals was a major factor in Mrs. Harris' case. Her life was saved, but recovery for her has been compromised.

When Lakewood Hospital was open, the critical care that Mrs. Harris needed was less than five minutes from her home.The hospital had several neurosurgeons on staff who could have helped. I personally can vouch for their services because I was a patient at Lakewood and my roommate suffered a massive stroke while we were talking. He was rushed into the neurosurgical unit and his life was saved.

Also, a close friend of mine suffered a massive head injury in a fall and doctors told him is it wasn't for the closeness of Lakewood Hospital, he would not have made it.

This won't be the last sad tale from the lousy deal that was engineered by Mike Summers and his Council pals.

The events that followed the onset of Mrs. Harris' stroke make it painfully obvious: the "Quality Healthcare" that city officials and the Clinic assured residents when Lakewood Hospital was closed, is just another broken promise.

A vote AGAINST Issue 64 will repeal the ordinance that closed Lakewood Hospital.

It looks like Mr. Anderson and his cohorts really didn't get us such a great deal as they have been bragging about..

[m buckley]

Yes, basically.

As one Lakewood family recently found out, surface travel between Lakewood and the Clinic main campus is a long trip at the wrong time of day.

So, yeah, the mobile stroke unit is basically just a prop, at any rate as far as Lakewood healthcare is concerned.

The Mobile Stroke Unit has all the credibility /reliability of a floating craps game . Feeling lucky? I mean your life in the balance, lucky. Then roll the dice.
But understand the stakes. Time is tissue.
Getting bounced from Lakewood's glorified Urgent-Care to an overwhelmed Fairlawn and then helicoptered to The Cleveland Clinic. There's a price to pay for that.
There's a price to pay for that, Mr. Summers.

[Brian Essi]

The Mobile Stroke Unit has all the credibility /reliability of a floating craps game . Feeling lucky? I mean your life in the balance, lucky.
There's a price to pay for that, Mr. Summers.

Mike "Casino" Summers is is standing by the roulette table with the welcoming smile of a con-man and says:

"When life is on the line, let's make sure we know the truth."

Do you trust "Casino" Mike with your life on the line?

Do you feel lucky?



Oh my!

[Lori Allen _]

If the mobile stroke unit is so great, let's see the documentation that shows that it has saved Lakewood lives. Perhaps City Hall could post the documentation to prove the success rate of the unit by posting documentation here by end of business tomorrow.

[Lori Allen _]

If the mobile stroke unit is so great, let's see the documentation that shows that it has saved Lakewood lives. Perhaps City Hall could post the documentation to prove the success rate of the unit by posting documentation here by end of business tomorrow.

[mjkuhns]

Glad to contribute.

I must allow that b—s— falls into something of a unique category, probably. I think of it as cursing, or whatever else we call "bad language." But I think it's also a very important concept, for which our language may not have truly effective synonyms. Most other bad words can probably be substituted with some other term, and in practice only provide emphasis.

Whereas, at least in the abstract, it's an important right to call b—s— at times, perhaps even a duty. And I'm not sure that any other word works nearly as well.

So I guess it may not always be clear when it's needed, but when one feels that it is, I couldn't object on grounds that "no no, you should never use that word at all in a public discussion."

(Apologies for thread-drift. It's a weekend, though, right? Eh?)

[Brian Essi]

The Mobile Stroke Unit has all the credibility /reliability of a floating craps game . Feeling lucky? I mean your life in the balance, lucky.
There's a price to pay for that, Mr. Summers.

Mike "Casino" Summers is is standing by the roulette table with the welcoming smile of a con-man and says:

"When life is on the line, let's make sure we know the truth."

Do you trust "Casino" Mike with your life on the line?

Do you feel lucky?



Oh my!

Public records show Bulllock, with the approval of Marx and Nowlin, promoted Gilman as City Hall's healthcare sock puppet to spread lies selling the Master Agreement.

When life is on the line, Bullock, Marx and Nowlin turn blind eyes on Lakewoodites in need of quality healthcare and allow the Clinic to breach the flimsy Master Agreement.

Instead, they tout street art among the the reasons they should be re-elected.

Their agreement means nothing.

Their word means even less.

[Brian Essi]

The Mobile Stroke Unit has all the credibility /reliability of a floating craps game . Feeling lucky? I mean your life in the balance, lucky.
There's a price to pay for that, Mr. Summers.

Mike "Casino" Summers is is standing by the roulette table with the welcoming smile of a con-man and says:

"When life is on the line, let's make sure we know the truth."

Do you trust "Casino" Mike with your life on the line?

Do you feel lucky?



Oh my!

Public records show Bulllock, with the approval of Marx and Nowlin, promoted Gilman as City Hall's healthcare sock puppet to spread lies selling the Master Agreement.

When life is on the line, Bullock, Marx and Nowlin turn blind eyes on Lakewoodites in need of quality healthcare and allow the Clinic to breach the flimsy Master Agreement.

Instead, they tout street art among the the reasons they should be re-elected.

Their agreement means nothing.

Their word means even less.

[mjkuhns]

Until someone can present objective evidence, from an independent source, I have difficulty seeing how the Mobile Stroke Unit is anything besides a life-size prop for play-pretend TV skits.

I would be very interested in, e.g., analysis of how many emergency calls have actually gotten some variation of "hang tight, the Mobile Stroke Unit is on its way!" as a response.

fwiw, I have run a search online, and basically everything published about the Mobile Stroke Unit seems to dwell on what it can do, from a technical standpoint. Information on what it actually does, in aggregate, appears not to be going into the press releases.

[scott gilman]

Matt: American Heart Association, Stroke Journal, EMS World all have articles on mobile stroke units from around the country. University of Tennessee also has multiple articles on their MSU.

[Lori Allen _]

Says the fire chief who was practicing without a paramedic license for nine years as he strolled around Lakewood telling lies to the citizens.

Mr. Gilman, shouldn't you be studying?

Mr. Gilman, I hope you are responding on your time and not the tax payers dime!

[Bridget Conant]

But what about our local stroke unit?

Facts and figures?

[Lori Allen _]

As I said before, don't ask Mr. Gilman. He, along with the Mr. Summers, was telling us all lies as he strolled around Lakewood without a paramedics license! I believe that he should be studying for his paramedic exam instead of trolling the Deck.

The mobile stroke unit, per The Cleveland Clinic, is housed at the main campus, east of downtown Cleveland. By the time they reach Lakewood, especially during rush hour, you might be dead.

I have spoken with two Lakewood residents with families having strokes who told me that the mobile stroke unit never came. Lakewood EMS had to take them to Fairview. In other words, it appears to be a "feel good" lie that was spread by Mr. Summers and Mr. Gilman.

I suggest that persons should call the Ohio Department of Health and the CDC. They are both very informative and can direct you to the proper agencies to speak with.

Mr. Gilman, I hope you are posting on your time and not the tax payers dime. Open those books and get crackin!

Mr. Summers, you sure are up early this morning using your speed dial button! Glad to see that expensive fiber optic phone system that we tax payers paid for is getting some use!