An older couple in our church lives in their house. (Both are in their 80's) On Wednesday, the husband went out to get the mail and fell down in the driveway. He was out there for over half an hour before the wife realized that he had been gone for too long.
She found him outside, clutching his chest and barely breathing. Somehow, she managed to get him up off the ground and brought him inside. He was barely able to move his arm and his leg on the left side, so she pulled him up on the right side.
She covered him up with a blanket, and held his hand. He was trying to talk to her, but he kept slurring his words.
An hour later, she finally realized that things didn't seem right, and she called her daughter and described what had happened to her. The daughter called 911.
When the crew arrived at the house, the gentleman was having a heart attack.
At the hospital, they determined he'd had a stroke.
He is now in a nursing home. The loss of function on the left side of his body is permanent. The loss of speech is permanent. The heart attack wasn't fatal, but most likely that's only because the ambulance crew arrived when they did. He had a stint put in the night he was admitted to the hospital. He will never live independently again.
So, in honor of Herb and Mary, I am listing the signs of a STROKE. Something every person needs to know, and should be familiar with. When treating a stroke, seconds matter. If caught early enough, the amount of permanent damage can be minimized.
STROKE WARNING SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS
IF YOU THINK YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW IS HAVING A STROKE CALL 9- 1- 1 IMMEDIATELY.
F- Face Drooping - Does one side of the face droop? Is it numb? Ask the person to smile. Is the smile uneven?
A- Arm Weakness- Is one arm weak or numb? Ask the person to raise both arms. Does one arm drift downward?
S- Speech Difficulty - Is speech slurred? Is the person unable to speak or hard to understand? Ask the person to repeat a simple sentence, like "the sky is blue". Is the sentence repeated correctly?
T- Time to Call 9-1-1 - if someone shows any of these symptoms, even if the symptoms go away, call 9-1-1 and get the person to a hospital immediately. Check the time so you'll know when the first symptoms appeared.
(source: American Heart Association, American Stroke Association, http://tinyurl.com/avozasz)
If you have elderly neighbors, keep an eye out for them. My Mom had a signal with her next door neighbors. If the front curtains weren't opened by 9 am, they were to come and bang on her door, and if there was no answer, they were to call 9-1-1. I used the same signal with an elderly couple that lived on the way out of our neighborhood up until they moved into a retirement community last year. It's easy, non-intrusive, and gives everyone some peace of mind. (With my neighbors, we also had a signal in the evening - the porch light by 9 pm.)
No comments:
Post a Comment