Monday, July 2, 2007

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

Our president-elect, Betty Burke suggested that this be posted. For further reading, click on this link.

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.

*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 the person has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call 911 immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.

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