STROKE: Remember The 1st Three Letters, S.T.R.
April 7, 2008 by Living Life Abundantly
Filed under Subject: FW:
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According to studies by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
- On average, someone in the United States suffers a stroke every 45 seconds; every 3 to 4 minutes, someone dies of a stroke.
- Each year, about 700,000 people suffer a stroke. About 500,000 of these are first attacks, and 200,000 are recurrent attacks.
- Stroke remains the third leading cause of death, behind heart disease and cancer.
One of my friends is a nurse and shared the following information via an email forward to help heighten awareness about identifying a stroke. (Thanks Shonda).
Please read this and remember the steps. My husband always says “its better to have and not need, than to need and not have.” With that in mind, I hope that you will take this information and place it in your mental rolodex.
During a BBQ, a friend stumbled and took a little fall, she assured everyone that she was fine (they offered to call paramedics) ….. she said 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 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 and SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE
(Coherently) i.e. It is sunny out today)
R * Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.
If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks,
call 999/911 immediately and describe the
symptoms to the dispatcher.
New Sign of a Stroke ——- Stick out Your Tongue
NOTE: Another ’sign’ of a stroke is this: Ask the person
to ’stick’ out his tongue.. If the tongue is ‘crooked’,
if it goes to one side or the other , that is also an
indication of a stroke.
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.
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