Blood Clots/Stroke - They Now Ha

STROKE: Remember the 1st Three Letters..... S T. R.

STROKE IDENTIFICATION:

During a BBQ, a woman 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, Jane went about enjoying herself the rest of the evening.

Jane's husband called later telling everyone that his wife had been taken to the hospital - (at 6:00 pm Jane passed away.) She had suffered a stroke at the BBQ. Had they known how to identify the signs of a stroke, perhaps Jane 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 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.

A lifesaving idea below?

In one of our features http://www.blueeyedcurse.com/sudden%20death%20denied.htm we recommend a procedure that can be taken when in doubt. Doubt being whether to bring a patient to a medical facility in the case of signs of a threatening health issue such as a stroke.

There are many that will not consent to call an ambulance (They don't want to wake up their neighbors, they don't want the terrifying red lights blaring through their windows etc.) and in fact there are some that refuse to go to a hospital. There are clinic facilities but they are not always open. Nights, weekends etc. As far as your Doctor catching him in is a shot in the dark, we all know that.

I myself have a game plan in case of a threat. Rather than wait for an ambulance, my plan (depending on the circumstances) is to go to the ambulance. Do you know where your closest emergency fire station is? You should. In fact it wouldn't be a bad idea to get in the car some day and chart a path to it, the quickest safest route.

These fire stations have state of the art equipment, they have ambulances that would be the best transport to the hospital if needed and ambulances get priority, when pulling into an emergency room, did you know that? rather than driving to a hospital yourself.

The personnel at these facilities are top draw EMS trained and would be able to accurately diagnose, temporarily treat the patient and make an accurate judgment as to what to do. (My guess is EMS facilities have meds to temporarily serve a potential stroke victim)

Now again it may be difficult getting the patient to agree to a transport anywhere. This is the major problem you will have in this dangerous issue and one you had better prepare yourself to deal with. Just think of the woman in the above narrative that died because she thought she was o.k. and convinced her husband that she was o.k. You have any indications of a heart attack or a stroke you must seek medical attention A.S.A.P.

What I would tell the possible victim even after the administering of a low dose aspirin, that you have someone that has medications and could check them out real quick, no sweat. You would have to drive them there. Tell a white lie, tell them it is a friend. You don't have to tell them it is the fire station if you don't want to, as they will find out soon enough when you pull into the station. When you pull in just tell them to sit tight and you go into the station and alert one of the staff. I am sure they will come out to your vehicle and make a judgment to some degree. It most likely would involve vital signs etc. From there it is their call and an ambulance would be real handy.

You will read in our sudden death denied feature http://www.blueeyedcurse.com/sudden%20death%20denied.htm that aspirin can be used in clear cut heart attack victims. In fact the recommendation can be as much as 1-325 mg's.

Aspirin therapy increases the risk of hemorrhagic stroke. There is no on the spot indication especially from a laymen as to what type of a stroke a victim may have had. Serious medical tests are the only barometer.

However, the overall benefit of aspirin use on myocardial infarction and ischemic stroke may outweigh its adverse effects on risk of hemorrhagic stroke in most populations.

In the case of a clear cut heart attack and a fairly good sized victim (over a 150 lbs a 325 mg. aspirin may be appropriate and we would suggest on your next visit to your personal Doctor that you ask him/her what dosage they would recommend for you personally in the case of a clear cut heart attack, shortness of breath, pain in the arm etc. In my particular case with a very low platelet count aspirin taken on a regular basis and in an emergency may not be appropriate. Your Doctor has your latest blood readings. This is his call.

Of course if you are dealing with a pedestrian you don't have his/her information although it may not be a bad idea to ask him/her whether they are on blood thinners in case you have to make a risky decision.

Rather than to deal with the problems of a dosage that could be too high, a small woman, a child, a victim that could be on coumadin (a blood thinner)and vulnerable to a hemorrhagic stroke I personally would be very conservative and instead of carrying 325 mg aspirin in my tote bag, I would carry the 81 mg like the St. Joes and be prepared to administer more than 1 pill. In fact with our new thinking we will be purchasing 4 bottles of the 81 mgs aspirin, one for each of our sports bags and one for each of our vehicles.

Now aspirin will go down hill in an open bottle. It will lose its pop. We stress to keep the bottles that you have on hand for an emergency sealed. Even then I would rotate them every so often, once a year perhaps.

If I personally was faced with a victim and the victim could be me, and there was symptoms of a clear cut cardiovascular event, being 175 lbs I would take either a 325 or if I just had 81s I would take 2 of them because I know because of my lifestyle my blood is running thin.

In fact I would chew them to make them immediately available.

Now how you would act with a victim of either a heart attack or a stroke will be up to you. We are not in the position to advise you. Emergencies happen. Ambulances are not always prompt, the closest EMS facility and their vehicles may be out on calls and they have to send an ambulance from a distant station.

Having dosage information on hand to the EMS station or arriving ambulance is critical and they may have a means to check for the possibility of a heart attack, a hemorrhagic strokes or even a ischemic stroke where aspirin could be recommended.

This information is intended to heighten awareness of potential health care alternatives and should not be considered as medical advice. See your qualified health-care professional for medical attention, advice, diagnosis, and treatments.