STROKE: Remember the 1st three letters… S.T.R.
You could save a life by remembering this simple exercise.
STROKE IDENTIFICATION: During a BBQ, a lady stumbled and fell – 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. She was cleaned up settled down with a new plate of food. She appeared to be a bit shaken up but set about enjoying herself the rest of the evening.
Later that night her husband called to let everyone know that his wife had been taken to the hospital and at 6:00pm , she passed away.
She had suffered a stroke at the BBQ. Perhaps she would be alive today if anyone at the BBQ had known how to identify the signs.
People who suffer from a stroke don’t always die, sometimes they end up in a state of severly diminished capacity.
Apparently, if a stroke victim can be treated by a neuroligist within 3 hours the effects of the stroke can be totally reversed. The trick is to recognise the symptoms of a stroke, get a quick diagnosis, and have the patient medically cared for within 3 hours. An often difficult task.
RECOGNIZING A STROKE
Remember the ‘3’ steps, S*T*R .
Read on and Learn!
It is sometimes difficult to identify the symptoms of a stroke. And it is this lack of awareness that generally spells disaster for the stoke victim who may suffer severe brain damage when people around them fail to recognize the symptoms.
You can recognise the symptoms of a stroke by asking three simple questions:
S * Ask the individual to SMILE .
T * Ask the person toTALK to SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE(Coherently) (eg ‘It’s a nice sunny day today’).
R * Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS .
NOTE: there is also another way to check if the person has had a stroke and that is to ask them to stick out their tongue. If the tongue is ‘crooked’, and falls to one side or the other that another indication of a stroke.
If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call 000 immediately!! and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.
You may just save their life or prevent them from ending up with severe brain damage.