Think you have had a stroke then act FAST and dial 999

I was at a meeting last week when we were discussing the performance of the stroke unit at Pinderfields. About 15% of people who have had a stroke have one due to a clot and these can be potentially cured by drugs that will dissolve the clot - 'clot busters'. But they only work if patients present quickly after they have had symptoms of a stroke. Patients needs to start the drugs as soon as possible and at least within 4 1/2 hours.

Nationally the average time patients take from the first symptoms of a stroke appearing to arrival at a stroke unit is 2 hours 45 minutes. In Wakefield this time increases to 5 hours 5 mins. The increased length of time it takes people to arrive at the stroke unit reduces the number of people who will be able to benefit from the 'clot busters'.

The symptoms of a stroke are:

F - face weakness
A - arm weakness
S - speech slurred
T - time - ACT FAST.

Click here www.nhs.uk/actfast/Pages/stroke.aspx for the NHS Acting FAST website and more details about strokes and how to prevent them.

But the key message is that to increase the number of people with symptoms of stroke that could benefit from a 'clot buster' you need to act FAST.

So, don't dilly dally - if you think someone might have had a stroke dial 999.

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