Stroke Identification

You could save a life

Received from G+CS: "During a barbecue, a friend stumbled and took a little fall. She assured everyone that she was fine (they offered to call paramedics) and that she had just tripped over a brick because of her new shoes. They got her cleaned up and gave her a new plate of food. Although she appeared a bit shaken up, Ingrid seemed to enjoy herself for the rest of the evening. Ingrid’s husband called later telling everyone that his wife had been taken to the hospital. At 6 p.m., Ingrid passed away. She had suffered a stroke at the barbecue. If they had known how to identify the signs of a stroke, perhaps Ingrid would be with us today."

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Recognizing a Stroke — A neurologist has said that if he can get to a stroke victim within three hours he can totally reverse the effects of a stroke… Totally! He said the trick was getting a stroke recognized, diagnosed and getting to the patient within three hours, which is tough.

Recognizing a stroke — Remember the three steps. Read and Learn!

Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster. The stroke victim may suffer brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke.

Now doctors say anybody can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions:

1. Ask the individual to smile.

2. Ask him or her to raise both arms.

3. Ask the person to speak a simple sentence coherently e.g. "It is sunny out today." If he or she has trouble with any of these tasks, call 9-1-1 immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.

After discovering that a group of non-medical volunteers could identify facial weakness, arm weakness and speech problems, researchers urged the general public to learn the three questions. They presented their conclusions at the American Stroke Association’s annual meeting last February.

Widespread use of this test could result in prompt diagnosis and treatment of the stroke and prevent brain damage.