Today I’d like to talk to about a subject close to home. Many of us have had a family member who has suffered a debilitating stroke. I am no different as my sister in law has had a debilitating stroke and has lived with the results for many years. She has had multiple strokes since her first one.
Strokes are very time sensitive. There is a 3 hour window from the beginning of symptoms and the hospital may be able to help the patient recover whatever debilitating effects of the stroke.
I am a cpr instructor and one of the questions I get asked on a regular basis is how to tell if a loved one is having a stroke. Here are 3 signs from the Cincinnati pre-hospital stroke scale that when present have a 75% likelihood that you or your loved one is having a stroke. Teach these to your family members as they may be having to do this test on you. Knowing these important health tips just may save your life.
3 Signs That Someone is Having a Stroke
1. Facial Droop
Most signs of stroke usually affect only one side of the body, although there are times when the stroke will affect both sides. What we are looking for is called a “facial droop”. This is where one part of your face sags compared to the other.
One good way to check for this is to ask whoever is having the symptoms to smile. If they can only lift one side of their mouth, then they are said to have facial droop.
2. Slurred Speech
The second part of the test involves checking for slurred speech. Ask the person to say something in a sentence. Do they have slurred speech? Can they speak at all? If they are not able to speak, this is a condition known as aphasia. This is very strong possible sign of a stroke.
3. Arm Drift
The last part of the test is to check for arm drift. Arm drift is a condition where one arm is weaker than the other arm. How you test for this is to ask the person to place both arms out in front of them. Can they hold both arms up at the same time? Does one arm sag below the other? If so, they are said to have arm drift.
When someone you suspect may be having a stroke or a health crisis moment, and you test for these three things, if two of the three are occurring, according to the cincinnati prehospital stroke scale, there is a 75% chance the person is having a stroke.
Of course, there are more signs and symptoms of stroke, including headache, sudden onset of blindness, incontinence, inability to walk, and others, but these three will show you how to quickly spot if someone is having a stroke.
AThomas
[...] 30, 2008 by andiethomas In our last post on How to tell if someone is having a stroke, we discussed signs and symptoms of identifying a stroke with very high accuracy. Today’s [...]