Your Stroke Care Team

A stroke is a medical emergency. If you are experiencing stroke symptoms, don't wait — call 911 right away.

UPMC Stroke Centers are staffed by doctors, nurses, and staff who provide comprehensive stroke care. Our team follows the latest evidence-based guidelines to diagnose and treat strokes quickly and accurately.

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Your Care Team

Rapid response EMS stroke team

EMS (emergency medical service) workers are a key part of your stroke care team. They're ready to respond to a stroke 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Our EMS rapid response stroke team members:

Treat strokes with the same urgency as heart attacks.
Prioritize 911 calls for suspected strokes.
Have special training to detect stroke symptoms.
Call ahead to let us know when a person who is having a possible stroke is on the way.

Stroke Center care team

After you arrive at the hospital, a vascular neurologist — a doctor who treats blood vessel diseases in the brain and spinal cord — will be the leader of your stroke care team.

Other members of your in-hospital stroke care team may include:

Pastoral care providers.
Emergency doctors
Stroke program director.
Stroke coordinator.
Neurohospitalists.
Neurointerventionalists.
Neuroradiologists.
Critical care nurses
Lab technicians.
Pharmacists.
Respiratory therapists.
Neurosurgeons.
Care managers.

Stroke rehabilitation team

To help you get your life back after a stroke, our physical medicine and rehabilitation team provides expert inpatient, outpatient, and home health treatment tailored to your unique needs. Your rehabilitation treatment may include team members who specialize in:

Physical therapy.
Neuropsychology.
Occupational therapy.
Speech therapy.
Recreational therapy.