A recent USA Today article http://www.usatoday.com * noted “Hospitals that make an all-out push for faster stroke care get a clot-busting medication to patients more quickly, prevent more in-hospital deaths and are able to send more survivors straight home, rather than to a nursing facility….”
“ It provides some of the best evidence that hospitals can hasten stroke care and get better results by adopting several key strategies. Those include getting alerts from ambulance workers when stroke patients are en route and speeding up brain scans, lab tests and medication mixing once patients arrive.”
“… the study suggests such efforts can be for naught if patients show up too late to benefit from the medication – called tissue plasminogen activator (tPA). Guidelines call for use within 4.5 hours of the first symptoms and within an hour of arrival at a hospital.” “
The stroke association suggests remembering stroke signs with the word FAST, for:
•Face drooping – One side may droop or feel numb; smiles may be uneven.
•Arm weakness – One arm may be weak or numb.
•Speech difficulty – Speech may be slurred, and the person may have trouble repeating a simple sentence.
•Time to call 911 – if you see such signs. Also: check the time, so you know when the first symptoms appeared.
* to read the full USA Today article “Hospitals pushing faster stroke care get better results” by Kim Painter, highlight and click on open hyperlink http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/04/22/hospital-stroke-study/8010493/