ESOC 2022 | Challenges facing the widespread implementation of mobile stroke units

Karianne Larsen, MD, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway, & Norwegian Air Ambulance Foundation, shares her thoughts on the implementation of mobile stroke units (MSUs) in clinical practice and what challenges may be faced. Healthcare systems and accessibility vary substantially across the world, with different areas having different needs. While recent cost effectiveness analyses from the large-scale BEST-MSU (NCT02190500) and B_PROUD (NCT02869386) trials produced promising findings, much more data is needed regarding real-world application and performance. Dr Larsen highlights the approach under investigation in Norway, which trains pre-hospital critical care staff, rather than moving hospital specialists into the pre-hospital setting. This interview took place at the ESOC 2022 congress in Lyon, France.