The stroke team from Portiuncula Hospital, Ballinasloe is playing a leading role in a national awareness campaign launched by the Irish Heart Foundation to reduce death and disability from stroke - Ireland’s third biggest killer disease.
The campaign will be launched at Boots, Golden Island Shopping Centre in Athlone this Saturday May 29.
Portiuncula Hospital’s clinical nurse specialist, Mary Diskin, explains; “The sooner a person receives emergency treatment, the more of their brain can be saved and the better their chances of surviving and minimising long-term disability. Getting emergency treatment immediately can mean the difference between walking out of hospital - sometimes within hours.”
The FAST acronym has been developed to inform the public about the key symptoms of a stroke:
Face - has their face fallen on one side? Can they smile?
Arms - can they raise both arms and keep them there?
Speech - is their speech slurred?
Time - time to call 999 if you see any one of these signs.
The Portiuncula Hospital stroke team are promoting the campaign in the locality. Around 300 people will have a stroke this year in counties Westmeath and Galway, and it is estimated that some 120 people will die. Nationally, almost 2,200 people died in the same period from around 10,000 cases of stroke.
Boots stores are supporting the local effort by displaying FAST posters and distributing wallet cards and leaflets for the duration of the campaign. The Irish Heart Foundation has also developed a dedicated website, stroke.ie
The campaign is being mounted to tackle a frightening lack of public awareness about stroke, highlighted by Irish Heart Foundation research which reveals that less than half of Irish adults would ring 999 if they thought they were having a stroke.
The Act FAST campaign is expected to have a huge impact on outcomes from stroke by getting vastly more people to recognise key warning signs and seek emergency treatment when the disease strikes.
For more information see www.stroke.ie
