Emergency Medical Training 2016 – Part 1 – Stroke

It’s Roni and it’s that time of year again, and 2016 has come upon us like a bad rash, and so has our Medical Emergency Training which Dr Seymour and I attend every January.

This year we did a little focusing on recognising the warning signs and symptoms of stroke and heart attack and fainting.

Stroke

Stroke is caused by a blocked blood vessel or bleeding in the brain. The signs of a stroke include severe headache, weakness or numbness or paralysis of the face, arm or leg on either or both sides of the body. It could also reveal itself with difficulty in speaking or understanding, dizziness, loss of balance, an unexplained fall, loss of vision, sudden blurring or decreased vision in one or both eyes. If any of these symptoms occur it is important that you call emergency services straight away as the quicker you receive a diagnosis and treatment, can make the difference in how fast, and how well, you rebound

The National Stroke Foundation recommends the F.A.S.T. test as an easy way to remember the most common signs of stroke.

Using the F.A.S.T. test involves asking these simple questions:

• Face – Check their face. Has their mouth drooped?
• Arms – Can they lift both arms?
• Speech – Is their speech slurred? Do they understand you?
• Time – Is critical. If you see any of these signs call 000 straight away.

The quicker you or someone else acts, the more of YOU survives!

Next week: Emergency Medical Training 2016 – Part 2 – Heart Attack