Act FAST- Get Relief FAST
Pune (P&V News service) : Every minute after the stroke is crucial and should be treated within few hours of its onset to avoid any further complications, any form of disability and lead a meaningful life urged experts. With every passing minute the brain cells die and the damage is permanent, so it is crucial to act FAST. For normal people, the focus should be on how to avoid strokes by identifying our personal risk factors.
World Stroke Day is observed every year on 29 October 21. Stroke is a medical emergency which occurs when blood supply to the brain is blocked either by a clot or a burst. This can have a damaging and disabling effect on the body depending on the extent and location of the damage as different areas of brain are responsible for controlling different functions. The ruptured blood vessels can cause even severe damage like brain hemorrhage.
“Time is crucial while treating stroke patients and we need more stroke-ready hospitals,” said Dr Nasli Icchaporia, Director – Neurology at Sahyadri Super Speciality Hospital. We can minimize the disability by early recognition and treatment. Interventional techniques like administering clot bursting injections within 4.5 hours and if required Mechanical Thrombectomy (Stent Retrievers with which large vessels can be opened up),) which has to be done within 6 hours of the stroke onset have significantly improved the outcomes if the patient is brought to the hospital in time.The new acronym B.E.F.A.S.T which stands for balance, eyes, face, arm, speech and time will be helpful to encourage people to recognize warning signs of a stroke and get help soon.
It is not only important for a patient to be brought to the hospital fast, but it is also important for the emergency departments to have a streamlined process to deal with strokes. “The emergency departments should be designed to do streamlined choreography with their own stroke codes. The entire staff should be educated with signs and symptoms, blood sugar should be done in the ambulance on the way and emergency department should be sounded off so they keep the entire infrastructure ready. The role of telemedicine can prove beneficial,” said Dr Icchaporia adding that Sahyadri Hospital recently launched Rapid Action Stroke Care Centre at Deccan, Nagar Road and Hadapsar Units, which is a specialised centre dedicated to advanced diagnosis and treatment of stroke. In effect there is a need to design emergency departments to overcome delays and minimise the door to needle time.
Dr Icchaporia said that from a common person’s perspective regular exercise, healthy diet, doing away with smoking can help eliminate or reduce the risk factors.
