Tears streamed down Derek Crook’s face as he stared at the ceiling from the hospital gurney.  

The long-time volunteer emergency medical technician knew every nuance of a “stroke alert” when he heard it blare over the Conemaugh Memorial Hospital Emergency Room (ER) sound system.  

The alert was for him. Within seconds, he was rushed for a scan and a team of neurological specialists huddled around him. 

An hour ago, he felt fine. He was shooting target practice at a local gun range.  

“It was an ordinary day – my day off – and I felt great,” he said of that September day two years ago.  

“My two sons (ages 12 and 7) went to school and my wife (Paula, who works at Conemaugh’s Infection Prevention Department) went off to work. I was ready for some serious ‘lead therapy’ and fun on the gun range,” joked the 40-year-old tractor-trailer driver and Westmont resident.  

After shooting a round, Derek walked about 100 yards to check his target.  

“When I turned to walk back, it was like someone flipped a switch. The right side of my face was completely numb,” he said. “Because of my medical background, three things flashed through my mind: Could it be Lyme Disease? Bell’s Palsey? Or could it be a stroke?” 

His medical training kicked in as he conducted a “FAST” examination for diagnosing a stroke: Facial numbness, Arm weakness, Speech difficulties, Time to react.  

A quick call to his wife confirmed his worst fear. “You need to get to the ER immediately,” Paula told her husband.  

The emergency team was ready and waiting when he arrived at Conemaugh’s ER.  

The attending physician, Dr. Melissa Hinson, quickly evaluated him on the “NIH Stroke Scale” (used to assess the severity of neurological impairment in stroke patients) and rushed him for a CT scan. After that, the “Stroke Alert” was enacted.  

Dr. Paul Acevedo, neurologist, took Paula aside, explained that Derek was having a stroke, and to prevent it from worsening he would like to administer a new clot-busting drug – Tenecteplase (TNK). She agreed and the drug was fed into his IV as Derek was being prepped for another scan. 

“During the scan, I could feel something happening. Then I realized my facial numbness was gone. And I could smile again,” he said. “After the scan, I told Dr. Acevedo, ‘You fixed me!’” 

After conducting several tests, Dr. Acevedo completely agreed.  

“He said ‘this is what we dream of in stopping strokes,’” said Derek, a one-time emergency service technician at Conemaugh. “The ER doctors couldn’t believe their eyes.” 

Derek estimates that it took only six minutes from the moment he walked into the ER to when the TNK stopped the stroke and “basically cured me.” 

Dr. Acevedo checked on Derek later that evening, said his brain scans looked fine and that, thanks to quick action, he staved off a stroke.  

“He explained they were able to break up a clot that was just forming. The clot was just the size of a strand of hair,” he said. “But if I’d have waited, he said there’s no doubt that I would have had irreparable damage.” 

He marveled that the initial stroke symptoms occurred at about noon, and “an hour-and-a-half later, the stoke was averted and I was feeling like myself again.”  

The Conemaugh Health System is “second to none,” Derek said, in paying special homage to its stroke center. 

“In the past, people around here would talk about superior health care in Pittsburgh or Harrisburg. No more. Conemaugh is like having Pittsburgh or Harrisburg in your backyard,” he said. “It has all the technologies and great physicians who are always on the cutting edge of health care. 

“When it comes to trauma response and stroke care, they’re extremely fast, efficient and don’t mess around. Every second counts in saving a life. Just like they did with mine."