Tuesday, June 11, 2013

having a stroke? call 911!

ambulance ride
kevin's parents came for memorial day and among the great discussions that we had, they shared some advice they'd recently heard from a prominent neurosurgeon in tallahassee.

if you think you (or somebody else) are having a stroke, call 911! do not try to drive yourself to the emergency room.

it will take hours for you to be processed correctly through the system, for the neurologist to arrive, for help.

'time is brain' - the longer it takes, the less recovery.

if you call 911, an ambulance will be set up to help you and you'll be whisked right in once you get to the hospital.

call 911!

the warning signs for a stroke are: F.A.S.T.

  • FACE: Ask the person to smile. Does one side of the face droop? 
  • ARMS: Ask the person to raise both arms. Does one arm drift downward? 
  • SPEECH: Ask the person to repeat a simple phrase. Is their speech slurred or strange? 
  • TIME: If you observe any of these signs, call 9-1-1 immediately.

they also said that an absurd percentage of people who have a stroke/heart attack reports 'steak' as a meal in the previous day.

2 comments:

kid D said...

I recently used F.A.S.T. My friend's mom just kind of stopped in her tracks, wasn't talking and seemed spacey. She finally said she was dizzy. We sat her down, called 911 and I went through F.A.S.T. She was able to do everything. Paramedics said her blood pressure was high. What? High blood pressure when you're at a two-year-olds party, nah!

skippy haha said...

hahaha! was there a pinata involved? i have high blood pressure just thinking about it.

nice work, nurse JJ!