Sent to me by a cousin, I felt this was worth of passing on. I would also suggest to anybody that reads it, they copy past it into an email and forward to friends.
New Sign of a Stroke -- Stick out Your Tongue
STROKE: Remember The 1st Three Letters.... S.T.R.
My nurse friend sent this and encouraged me to post it and spread the word.
I agree. If everyone can remember something this simple, we could save some
folks. Seriously.. Please read:
STROKE IDENTIFICATION:
During a BBQ, a friend 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, Ingrid
went about enjoying herself the rest of the evening. Ingrid's husband called
later telling everyone that his wife had been taken to the hospital - (at 6:00
pm Ingrid passed away.) She had suffered a stroke at the BBQ. Had they known
how to identify the signs of a stroke, perhaps Ingrid 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.
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.
If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call 911 immediately
and describe thesymptoms to the dispatcher.
A cardiologist says if everyone who gets this e-mail sends it to 10
people; you can bet that at least one life will be saved.