# Stroke

> Call 112 the moment you suspect a stroke. Say the word stroke, and say when the symptoms started.

A stroke is a blocked or burst vessel in the brain, and roughly two million brain cells die every minute it goes untreated. The treatments that reverse it only work in the first few hours, so the clock is the whole game.

## Passo a passo
1. Do the FAST check. Face: ask them to smile, one side droops. Arms: ask them to raise both, one drifts down. Speech: ask a simple sentence, it comes out slurred or wrong. Time: any one sign means call 112 now.
2. Say stroke to the dispatcher and give the exact time the symptoms started, or the last time the person was seen well. Hospitals decide treatment by that clock.
3. Sit or lay the person down with head and shoulders slightly raised, and keep them still and calm.
4. Loosen anything tight around the neck, and if they wear dentures that are loose, take them out.
5. Give absolutely nothing to eat, drink or swallow. A stroke often paralyses swallowing, and anything in the mouth can end up in the lungs.
6. If they become unresponsive but breathe normally, put them in the recovery position, weak side down, and watch the breathing.
7. If the symptoms fade after a few minutes, call anyway. A passing episode is often the warning shot hours before the full stroke.

## Nunca faça isto
- Do not give aspirin. A heart attack and a stroke are opposite problems here, and aspirin makes a bleeding stroke 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, or you drive them. The ambulance alerts the stroke unit on the way.

## Ligue para a emergência se
- A drooping face, a weak arm, or slurred speech, even if mild and even if it stops.
- Sudden severe headache unlike any before, sudden loss of vision, balance or understanding.
- Sudden confusion or one-sided numbness in someone who was fine minutes ago.

## Números de emergência
112 - Número europeu de emergência

## Perguntas frequentes
### The symptoms went away. Do we still go?
Yes, immediately. A transient episode means a clot broke up on its own, and a large share of full strokes follow within days or hours. It is the one warning you get.

### How is this different from a heart attack?
A heart attack usually hurts, a stroke usually does not. Stroke shows as lost function: a face, an arm, speech, vision. And the aspirin rule is opposite, none for a stroke.

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Source: https://emergency-cards.com/pt/avc/
Reviewed: 2026-07-26