Archive for the ‘stroke recognition’ Category

PostHeaderIcon Recognizing a stroke

Disclaimer: this is not medical advise; it is simply a public announcement trying to spread the word about early recognition of stroke symptoms.

Neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim within 3 hours he can reverse the effects of a certain types of strokes. They say the trick is getting a stroke recognized, diagnosed, and then getting the patient medically cared for within 3 hours.

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

RECOGNIZING A STROKE

Doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions:

Ask the individual to SMILE.
Ask the person to TALK and SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE (Coherently)
Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.
Ask him or her to STICK OUT YOUR TOUNGE

WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR IS : being crooked. A smile where the lip is droopy in one side, a sentence where the words are slurred, arms that don’t go up the same height, tongue that ends up one side or the other. You are looking for pronounced weakness in either side of the body.

If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call emergency number immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.