Recognising signs of a stroke

[Gar]

I just got forwarded this in an e-mail and thought it was worth sharing, there was a bit of a preamble about a woman who had a stroke at a party and died because nobody spotted it, so I've cut that out to get to the important bit:
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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

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:

remember the 3 steps, STR. 

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 emergency number 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.

[Cary]

The tongue thing assumes the person isn't already neurologically compromised from a previous injury or malady. Decompression sickness type 2 (or the bends) often causes this as well and the folks that have permanent damage show this as a sign on neurological exams.

[Gibson]

This is a weird thing to post, I feel that needs to be said.

STR, huh? How bad is it that I want three more signs, OKE?

[Gar]

Yeah, they only got as far as STR in the e-mail. I know it's kind of an odd post, I just thought it worth sharing in case it ever comes in useful.

[Miluette]

Well, if someone was having a stroke at a party you'd think their inability to speak coherently or raise their arms would be due to other things...

This would be insanely hard to spot. (Also, if you're wrong you get stuck with a huge hospital bill for no reason...mm, healthcare. Antithesis of "better safe than sorry" as things were.)

[Gar]

Well, if someone was having a stroke at a party you'd think their inability to speak coherently or raise their arms would be due to other things...

This would be insanely hard to spot. (Also, if you're wrong you get stuck with a huge hospital bill for no reason...mm, healthcare. Antithesis of "better safe than sorry" as things were.)

You mean you actually get charged for calling an ambulance for someone if the person you called the ambulance for isn't actually having a severe medical episode? Wow...your society actively discourages helping people. That's fucked up.

Also stroke-smile and drunk-smile do look pretty different, so that'd probably be the first thing you'd spot at a party if someone was only smiling with one half of their face

[Gibson]

(Also, if you're wrong you get stuck with a huge hospital bill for no reason...mm, healthcare. Antithesis of "better safe than sorry" as things were.)

You mean you actually get charged for calling an ambulance for someone if the person you called the ambulance for isn't actually having a severe medical episode? Wow...your society actively discourages helping people. That's fucked up.

You're reading what she said wrong. She said hospital, not ambulance, and in the US there is a charge for anything medical. While I agree that it's fucked up, it's the overall hospital cost that she means. It's not about discouraging help, it's just the system and it would be the same if someone walked into a hospital thinking they were having a stroke but weren't.

[Miluette]

Actually, you get charged a shit ton just for the ambulance being dispatched, too. I found out last year. Sucked, would have driven to the hospital myself if I had known that and had the ability at the time (nothing was wrong with ME but I won't go into it).

I hope that changes soon, or something.

[Gar]

Maybe that wildly unpopular medical bill the Obama administration is pushing through will help?