Stroke

What is a Stroke?

  • Blood flow to the brain has been blocked
    • An artery that goes to the brain has been blocked by a clot or a plaque, damaging brain tissue
  • Can also be hemorrhagic in nature
    • An artery has burst, which leads to brain damage

Signs and Symptoms

F.A.S.T.

  • Facial Droop
    • The eyes and mouth of one side of the face hangs lower than the other

 Taken from: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stroke-facial-droop.jpg

  • Arm Drift
    • When the patient’s arms are raised, the arm on the side of the facial droop will drift from the other arm
    • The patient will not be able to hold the affected arm as high
  • Slurred Speech
    • The patient will not be able to speak coherently and will begin to slur their speech
  • Time
    • What time did the symptoms begin?
    • Important for emergency services; time is of the essence. Time lost is brain lost!

Call 911 if a patient is experiencing these symptoms!