How to Identify a Stroke – 4 Things to Check

How to Identify a Stroke – 4 Things to Check

How can you tell if someone has had a stroke? It can be very difficult to tell just by looking at them unless you know what to look for, because many times they may seem to have just had a dizzy spell or tripped and fallen and immediately afterward seem just fine.

5 years ago my wife and I owned a small appliance and vacuum store, one day one of our regular customers came in to do business and chit chat a bit. As she was leaving she turned around to say one more thing, and without any warning whatsoever fell straight back and hit her head on the floor as if she had simply fainted.

My wife immediately called for an ambulance, while I insisted that the customer stay down until the paramedics arrived.

Although at the time our customer felt fine and wanted to get up and go home, and was a bit upset that we had called an ambulance, she came in a few days later to thank us for what we had done.

As it turned out, by the time the paramedics arrived at the hospital they had determined that she had suffered a stroke, and because she received medical attention so quickly, there were no lasting effects.

Although some stroke victims don’t die, they end up in a helpless, hopeless condition instead.

HOW TO RECOGNIZE A STROKE

Here are four ways a bystander can recognize a stroke:

1.) See if the person is able to smile.

2.) Ask them to speak a simple sentence such as (It is a beautiful day today.)

3.) Ask the person to ‘stick’ out their tongue.. If the tongue is ‘crooked’, if it goes to one side or the other, that is also an indication of a stroke.

4.) See if they are able to raise both arms at the same time.

If they appear to have any difficulty with one or all of these tasks, call for emergency medical help immediately.

Doctors say that if they can tend to a stroke victim within 3 hours there is a good chance they can totally reverse the effects of a stroke. They say the key is getting a stroke recognized, diagnosed, and then getting the patient medical attention as soon as possible.