United States
Stroke
Use at your own risk. For education and research only, not medical advice. Check the numbers and rules for the country you are in. They change. Before you rely on these cards, have a medical professional or a fire safety specialist review them. Disclaimer
Do this first
Call 911 the moment you suspect a stroke. Say the word stroke and say when the symptoms started.
A stroke is a blocked or burst blood vessel in the brain, and roughly two million brain cells die every minute it goes untreated. The treatments that can reverse it work only in the first few hours, so every minute counts.
Step by step
- Do the FAST check. Face: ask them to smile, and one side droops. Arms: ask them to raise both, and one drifts down. Speech: ask them to say a simple sentence, and it comes out slurred or wrong. Time: if you see any one sign, call 911 now.
- Tell the dispatcher it is a stroke and give the exact time the symptoms started, or the last time the person was seen well. Hospitals base treatment on that time.
- Sit or lay the person down with head and shoulders slightly raised, and keep them still and calm.
- Loosen anything tight around the neck. Take out loose dentures.
- Give nothing to eat, drink or swallow. A stroke often paralyzes swallowing, and anything in the mouth can end up in the lungs.
- If they become unresponsive but are breathing normally, put them in the recovery position with the weak side down, and watch their breathing.
- If the symptoms fade after a few minutes, call anyway. A passing episode is often a warning that a full stroke is coming.
Never do this
- Do not give aspirin. It makes a stroke caused by bleeding worse.
- Do not wait to see whether it passes, and do not let them talk you into lying down for a nap first.
- Do not let them drive themselves, and do not drive them yourself. The ambulance alerts the stroke unit on the way.
Call emergency services if
- A drooping face, a weak arm or slurred speech, even if mild and even if it stops.
- A sudden severe headache unlike any before, or sudden loss of vision, balance or understanding.
- Sudden confusion or one-sided numbness in someone who was fine minutes ago.
Common questions
The symptoms went away. Do we still go?
Yes, straight away. A passing episode means a clot broke up on its own, and many full strokes follow within hours or days. It is the one warning you get.
How is this different from a heart attack?
A heart attack usually hurts and a stroke usually does not. A stroke shows as lost function: the face, an arm, speech or vision. The aspirin rule is also opposite. Give none for a stroke.
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Sources and standards
Use at your own risk. For education and research only, not medical advice. Check the numbers and rules for the country you are in. They change. Before you rely on these cards, have a medical professional or a fire safety specialist review them.