My friend sent this to me and encouraged me to post it and spread the word. I agree. If everyone can remember something this simple, we could save some folks. Seriously.., Please read:


STROKE IDENTIFICATION:
During a BBQ, a friend stumbled and took a little fall - she assured everyone that she was fine (they offered to call paramedics) and just tripped over a brick because of her new shoes. They got her cleaned up and got her a new plate of food - while she appeared a bit shaken up, Ingrid went about enjoying herself the rest of the evening. Ingrid's husband called later telling everyone that his wife had been taken to the hospital - (at 6:00pm, Ingrid passed away.) She had suffered a stroke at the BBQ. Had they known how to identify the signs of a stroke, perhaps Ingrid would be with us today. Some don't die. They end up in a helpless, hopeless condition instead.

It only takes a minute to read this...
A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim within 3 hours he can totally reverse the effects of a stroke...totally. He said the trick was getting a stroke recognized, diagnosed, and then getting the patient medically cared for within 3 hours, which is tough.

RECOGNIZING A STROKE
Thank God for the sense to remember the "3" steps, STR . Read and Learn!
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.
Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions:


S * Ask the individual to SMILE.
T * Ask the person to TALK to SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE (Coherently) (i.e. It is sunny out today)
R * Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.

NOTE : Another 'sign' of a stroke is this: Ask the person to 'stick' out their tongue. If the tongue is 'crooked', if it goes to one side or the other that is also an indication of a stroke. If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call 911 immediately!! and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.

A cardiologist says if everyone who gets this e-mail sends it to 10 people; you can bet that at least one life will be saved.

My first ever roommate had heart surgery when he was only 18. He was on blood thinners after that and he was one of the most absent minded people I knew, so I really sort of helped take care of him in that respect, as too much or too little can be really dangerous. I had to be familiar with the signs of stroke.
It's good info to know.

Sorry to hear about your friend.

Thanks for the warning.

HamsterHuey said:

Sorry guys- this isn't about me. It's one of those "chain" emails that a friend sent this morning and I thought I'd pass it on.



But thanks for the hug!

CarrieMpls said:

TY for the heads up

Cheers for the info. Definitely a worthwhile thread.

My mother in law had a stroke and lost most of the use of one side of her body. I know she considers herself lucky, considering.

Thanks csocks.

Agreed that a heads-up is very important. And those hints are very good too.

Just one quick point - it is definitely very important to get the patient to hospital as soon as possible, but it's also important to stress that the consequences of a stroke will also depend on the nature of the stroke and the patient in question, and I hope this:



doesn't raise peoples' hopes. This is presumably referring to thrombolysis, which is a controversial treatment that won't be appropriate for all patients (and may not be available anyway).