Saturday, December 5, 2009

Remember S T R

clipped from www.bio.uci.edu


STROKE: Remember The 1st Three Letters... S.T.R.


STROKE IDENTIFICATION:

During a BarBQ, 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 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 6:00 pm, Ingrid passed away.) She had suffered a stroke at the BarBQ. 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:

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.
The tests are pass/fail, so if the person cannot smile, cannot raise his or her arms and is not coherent then this is indicative of a stroke.

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