Tim Smith is the Stroke Coordinator for Covenant Health System, and he explained what to look for if you think someone is having a stroke.
“A stroke can be many things,” Smith said. “Stroke usually presents itself in the classic signs that you see – the weakness or loss of movement on one side of the body or the other. Usually that’s sudden in nature.”
Smith said the keyword to remember is F.A.S.T.
The F stands for face.
“When we look at the face, we ask them to smile, we’re looking for abnormality, we’re looking for drooping on one side or inability to move,” Smith said.
Smith said to also look at the arms.
“Hold their hands up like they’re holding a pizza, and they close their eyes, and obviously they can’t do it on one side or another, that would be a positive, or if it drifts slowly down against gravity, that’s a sign,” Smith said.
The next letter, S, stands for speech.
“We ask them to say a simple sentence, like ‘the sky is blue in Lubbock today,’ and we’re looking for abnormalities, we’re looking for slurring, we’re looking for signs that they don’t know what they’re saying or can’t speak at all,” Smith said.
The last, T, stands for time.
“Time to call 9-1-1, at the onset of the symptoms of stroke,” Smith said. “We don’t want you to lay down, hoping it will go away, we want you to call 9-1-1, they bring the emergency room to your house.”
