May is National Stroke Awareness Month
Bloomington, Ind. (May 17, 2010) – It’s the leading cause of adult disability, the third leading cause of death in the U.S., and twice as many women die from this than breast cancer each year. We’re talking about stroke.
Stroke, sometimes called a brain attack, occurs when blood flow to the brain is stopped because of a blood clot or because a blood vessel in the brain breaks causing bleeding. Almost instantly, brain cells begin to die without the normal flow of oxygen supplied by the blood. Most often, this affects speech, movement and memory. The severity of the loss depends on where in the brain the stroke occurs and how much of the brain is damaged. The effects of a stroke can be devastating and the need for quick medical attention is very important.
“The American Stroke Association found that more than 75 percent of Americans cannot identify stroke’s most common symptom – sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body,” says Myron Lewis, executive director of Bloomington Hospital’s Regional Neuroscience Institute. “With stroke occurring in the U.S. every 45 seconds, this lack of knowledge can be fatal.”
Recognizing the signs and symptoms of a stroke and seeking immediate care are key to preserving as much of the brain as possible, Lewis says.
Stroke symptoms include sudden:
- Numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body.
- Confusion, trouble speaking or understanding.
- Trouble seeing in one or both eyes.
- Trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination.
- Severe headache with no known cause.
“If just one of these symptoms exist, there is a 70 percent chance the person is suffering a stroke. You can use the FAST method to check for these signs of stroke – Facial droop, Arm drift, Speech, and Time of onset,” Lewis explains. “Ask the person to smile, and look for facial droop on one side. Ask the person to hold their arms out and look to see if one drifts back down. Ask the person to repeat a simple sentence to test their speech and comprehension. And, notice what time the symptoms began or the last time the person appeared ‘normal.’”
Stroke is a medical emergency, and the sooner the person receives medical attention, the better the chance for a positive outcome. Calling 911 if you notice signs of stroke in yourself or a loved one is an important first step in the treatment process. After calling 911, the American Stroke Association recommends making sure you are taken to a hospital certified as a Primary Stroke Center.
Bloomington Hospital is the only Primary Stroke Center certified by the Joint Commission in south central Indiana and has put a focus on ensuring it offers comprehensive and coordinated stroke care.
“One of the most important aspects of caring for stroke patients is ensuring we have one standard of care. This means that no matter when a patient comes into the hospital experiencing a stroke, whether is at 2 in the afternoon or 2 in the morning, that person receives the same quality of care,” says Lewis. “We have worked diligently to ensure areas within Bloomington Hospital, from the Emergency Department to Radiology to our Ambulance Service, are all coordinated when it comes to providing care for a stroke patient.”
When patients are brought to the Emergency Department at Bloomington Hospital with signs and symptoms of stroke, they are assessed by a nurse and physician who draw blood for lab tests. Patients are then sent for a CT scan to determine if and what type of stroke they are experiencing. The CT scan is often done within 25 minutes of the physician’s order; an amount of time much shorter than the national recommendation of 45 minutes.
The CT is not only helpful in diagnosing a stroke, but also in defining treatment options for the patient. If it is determined a patient is having an ischemic stroke (one caused by a blood clot in the brain), the patient is assessed to see if he or she is a candidate for a “clot-busting” medication called Tissue Plasminogen Activator, or tPA. Along with other medical-history based criteria, one of the main criteria for being eligible to receive tPA is that the onset of symptoms was no more than three hours prior. If the patient is eligible for tPA, a neurologist will administer the medication and stabilize the patient in the Emergency Department. From there, the patient will likely be taken to Critical Care to be monitored.
“The main takeaway in stroke education is knowing stroke’s signs and symptoms, and calling 911 immediately,” Lewis says. “We have the teams and processes in place at Bloomington Hospital to provide high quality stroke care, but it all starts with someone recognizing the stroke and calling 911 to get the person to us for care.”
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Bloomington Hospital, a Clarian Health Partner, has been innovative in providing quality care to south central Indiana communities for more than a century. Offering a comprehensive continuum of care, Bloomington Hospital is a not-for-profit organization and has a patient base of 413,000 in 10 counties (Brown, Daviess, Greene, Jackson, Lawrence, Martin, Monroe, Orange, Owen and Washington). Bloomington Hospital currently operates two hospital campuses (Bloomington and Orange County) with regional specialty offerings for Heart and Vascular, Cancer, Women and Children, Neurology and Orthopedic services. As a leading hospital in Indiana, Bloomington Hospital enhances health by advancing the art and science of medicine through the use of new technologies, procedures and care.
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