Recognizing a Stroke - The "3 Steps" - Save a Life

[travelerjim]

Hello Sawatdee Friends,

A good friend of mine, who also is a visitor to this forum, sent me this life saving informative email.

I am pleased to share it with you in the hopes it may save a life!

:cheers: My thanks to my friend for sharing this life saving info with me!!

TravelerJim
For Affordable International Health Insurance
Please visit www.tjinsurance.com .

Subject: Re: Recognizing Signs of Stroke

Knowledge we all need to remember. You never know when it will come in handy............

This is great life saving information!

STROKE: Remember The 1st Three Letters...

S T R

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 for EMERGENCY HELP (9-1-1 in USA) or call a HOSPITAL phone number in your area immediately and describe the symptoms to the Emergency Dispatcher or Emergency Room Operator.

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.

[cottmann]

Hello Sawatdee Friends,

A good friend of mine, who also is a visitor to this forum, sent me this life saving informative email.

I am pleased to share it with you in the hopes it may save a life!

:cheers: My thanks to my friend for sharing this life saving info with me!! ...

Travelerjim, as the life it might save might be mine, many thanks for sharing this information!

DELETED

[Aunty]

With all the old fellas around here, I don't think so. Actually it's a myth to think that strokes only happen to the old. They happen to people of ALL ages! Even teenagers and people in their 20's.

Strokes caused by a clot that has plugged up an artery in the brain can be successfully treated (dissolved) if the patient gets to hospital on time (within one hour is best) and they get the appropriate treatment. And it's amazing to see patients who formerly would be dead or severally and permanently disabled get up off their bed walk out the room and go home!

Those whoes strokes are caused by a ruptured blood vessel in the brain cannot be treated this way (in fact it would make their stroke worse) and their outcomes can still be rather poor. But knowing the signs of a stroke are very important so patients can get to hospital asap so they can have the best chance of a good outcome.

[PeterUK]

Sorry for the irreverence in the face of such a well-intentioned post, but someone keels over and, while they're lying there, we are meant to 'ask the individual to SMILE'?? I take it that a punch in the mush (translation for Americans: face) from them would indicate that they were feeling fine.

A large % of strokes are not in initially recognized as anything more than "stumbling," "oh, I just feel dizzy a bit", or "I guess I'm just disoriented a bit". The S T R test works in such situations: ones where it quite easy to brush it off as "nothing" when, in fact, it was a stroke. If someone keels over and continues to lie on the ground, one would less likely to brush it off, and would be more likely to take action.

With the S & R parts of the test, you are looking for non-symmetry: a smile only on one side, one arm not being raised. The T part is testing for slurred speech.

My grandmother, when she was in her 70's, "felt dizzy" a few times while shopping with my mother, and they just thought it was just old age. It wasn't until she passed out in the bathtub and remained unconscious and was rushed to the hospital that we learned she had been having a series of strokes. The S T R test might have gotten her treatment, and avoided crippling brain damage, days (or maybe weeks) before she finally did.

Incidentally, do NOT give aspirin to a suspected stroke victim, especially if they complain of a severe headache. There are two different types of strokes, one is basically a clot flowing in the blood stream that lodges in a blood vessel in/near the brain. The other is a ruptured blood vessel in the brain. Giving aspirin "thins the blood" and makes things WORSE in the latter case (increased bleeding). If someone complains of a rather sudden blinding headache: S T R ....

[Smiles]

" ... During a BBQ . . . . She had suffered a stroke ...."

There's the REAL problem. BBQ's are killers.

Cheers ...

I wish they would make first aid lessons compulsory in schools - so many people die every year because people dont know what to do in the first few vital minutes.

TravelerJim, Aunty, and BKKGWM -- thank you -- this is very useful information!

As has been pointed out this could happen to any one of us, and it is most helpful to know how to detect if someone has suffered a mild stroke!

And, to stress a bit more: it is NOT just an OLD PERSON'S risk!

A simple blood clot floating through the circulatory system can lodge itself to deprive the brain its blood supply = STROKE

A simple blood clot floating through the circulatory system can lodge itself to deprive the heart its blood supply = HEART ATTACK

My brother had a massive heart attack at age 42. His doctors diagnosed it was a blood clot that had broken away from his lungs -- and was directly related to his smoking. Had the clot gotten stuck elsewhere, like his brain, he would have had a stroke. Food for thought...