Lt. Gov. John Fetterman and Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland suffered strokes this past weekend. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 800,000 other Americans will join them this year.

Both men are on the road to full recoveries, and stroke experts say that is because they both received high-level treatment quickly after their strokes.

According to the Society of Neurointerventional Surgery, up to 2 million brain cells can die each minute as a result of the most serious type of stroke, known as emergent large vessel occlusions. A procedure known as a thrombectomy — which likely was performed on Fetterman — can reverse the blood flow in affected vessels and clear clots, minimizing damage. But that procedure is not readily available everywhere.

Pennsylvania is among states that has improved access to high-end stroke care. The Legislature passed a law in 2017 establishing four levels of stroke care. Fetterman was treated at Lancaster General Hospital, rated by the state Department of Health as a primary (Level 2) stroke care center equipped and staffed for acute stroke care. In Lackawanna County, Regional Hospital of Scranton, Moses Taylor Hospital and Geisinger Community Medical Center all are in that category. Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center in Luzerne County is a comprehensive (Level 1) stroke center, meaning that it is equipped and staffed for more complex care and endovascular surgery around the clock.

Strokes can be debilitating and deadly. Great strides have been made in treatment techniques and technology and, as the local availability of high-level care indicates, in access to treatment.

But it still comes down to timely treatment, which requires everyone to take seriously stroke-like symptoms and quickly seek help.

— The Citizens’ Voice, Wilkes-Barre via TNS