Code Stroke Alert: FAST

FAST is an acronym for Face, Arm, Speech, and Time; warning signs of a TREATABLE stroke. Modern emergency departments are set up to administer TPA, a clot busting drug, that can resolve a Facial weakness, a paralyzed ARM, or loss of SPEECH-- if there is TIME. The time in most cases is just three hours, and it takes an hour to get the the emergency department and get an emergency CT scan to rule out a brain bleed.

You see, a few strokes are caused by a brain bleed, an absolute contraindication to TPA. That is why the CT scan is necessary.

Therefore, even though Wellness.com is about health and growth (prevention), it is critical that modern medicine gets recognition for its ability to intervene in such a crisis. There is no more serious crises than to survive a stroke with permanent paralysis or inability to talk.  Minutes count, just like in a heart attack.

I have written this article after a review committee in the hospital I work at surmised that many treatable strokes failed to get the option of TPA because the time window closed. The window closed because people are uneducated, in denial, or are just hoping the problem will go away on its own. Denial can be part of a stroke, so it is important that family and caregivers are just as educated.

So, Education is the weakest link in this chain. If in doubt, call 911 and trigger something good about the modern medical system: reversing a potentially devastating stroke.