Long time participant Joseph aka Joschka Fisher is pointing out in a post on the Future Salon Yahoo group that everyone can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions:
Ask the individual to smile
Ask him or her to raise both arms
Ask the person to speak a simple sentence coherently.
The American Heart Association says, that it was a very small study and is not endorsing the simple test. Here is the list of their stroke warning signs:
- Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body
- Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding
- Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes
- Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination
- Sudden, severe headache with no known cause
I don’t understand this. The three questions cover most of the symptoms: With the smile questions numbness of the face is checked. You can see if the smile is only on one side. All questions address confusion and trouble in speaking and understanding. Raising both arms gives away if someone is dizzy or has trouble keeping his/her balance. So yes, go ahead and use these.
My father didn’t die from a stroke but from cardiac arrest. Only a defibrillator right then and there would have helped him. He was talking to his jogging friends, and in the middle of the conversation took a last breath and collapsed.
Having a loved one suddenly die has made me a bit more aware of these things, and perhaps one day I can use this new knowledge. Time is of the essence, as your chances of survival go down by 7-10% every minute. Same is true for a stroke, the earlier someone gets medical attention the better for the patient.
Since cell phone ownership and reception are getting ubiquitous, the emergency call stations are getting less and less important. We could put them to good use by placing automatic defibrillator in them. I think from watching all these doctor shows the average person knows how to use one. If only they have power lines and not only phone lines going to them, it could be an easy upgrade.