First medical and first aid for stroke

Criteria for the need for medical care for suspected stroke may be the signs shown in the table:

With hemorrhagic stroke (bleeding into the brain)

Ischemic stroke (death of brain cells)

  1. Violent headache;

  2. Sudden severe vomiting without nausea;

  3. Decreased hearing and vision;

  4. Paralysis of half of the body;

  5. Salivation;

  6. Distortion of facial expressions;

  7. Clouding of consciousness or its complete loss;

  1. Gradual development of weakness and numbness of the limbs;

  2. Violation of the pronunciation of words and speech;

  3. Distortion of the face;

  4. Dizziness;

  5. violation of coordination;

  6. Decreased visual acuity;

  7. convulsive syndrome;

First aid for stroke

First medical and first aid for stroke

Prehospital care for hemorrhagic stroke:

  1. Give the patient a horizontal position with a raised head, regardless of the degree of impaired consciousness and the severity of the condition;

  2. Free the neck from clothing or other accessories that can squeeze it;

  3. Remove all removable dentures from the oral cavity;

  4. Make free access to fresh air to the patient;

  5. If the patient is unconscious, it is necessary to turn the head slightly to one side, which will ensure the unhindered flow of saliva and mucus. This will prevent it from entering the respiratory tract;

  6. Thoroughly clean the oral cavity from vomit, if there was vomiting;

  7. Applying cold to the head (cold heating pad, ice pack, frozen or cold objects). It is desirable to expose to cold effects that half of the head, which is opposite to the side of paralysis of the limbs;

  8. Cover the patient with a blanket;

  9. Monitor breathing, heart rate and blood pressure;

  10. If there are signs of clinical death (cardiac arrest, breathing and dilated pupils), start resuscitation (indirect heart massage and artificial ventilation of the lungs)

Prehospital care for ischemic stroke

  1. Give it a horizontal position. Head and torso are allowed to be on the same level. Do not raise it too high;

  2. It is important to know that at home you should not try to bring the patient to consciousness using ammonia or other drugs, especially in the presence of seizures – the patient’s condition may worsen and neurological symptoms may progress;

  3. Monitor the condition of the oral cavity and respiratory tract, as in hemorrhagic stroke;

  4. Free your neck and provide access to fresh air;

  5. To carry out control over the main vital parameters;

  6. Rubbing paralyzed limbs with a semi-alcoholic solution, or simply massaging them;

  7. Do not allow drinking water or taking any tablet preparations.

The most important measure of care for any type of stroke, which must be performed at the pre-hospital stage, is the call of a specialized ambulance team. The patient should, as soon as possible, be hospitalized in a medical institution.

Stroke care

First medical and first aid for stroke

All patients with suspected stroke, or people with an obvious diagnosis of this, should be treated in the intensive care unit or in intensive care units of a neurological hospital under the supervision of a neuropathologist. In the conditions of a medical institution, they continue all those activities that were provided at the pre-hospital stage.

In addition, they are supplemented by:

  1. Instrumental diagnostics with determination of the exact type and localization of changes in the brain;

  2. Monitoring of vital parameters of the body using modern equipment;

  3. Spinal puncture. It is performed when it is impossible to accurately determine the nature of the stroke (ischemic or hemorrhagic);

  4. The introduction of cerebroprotectors – drugs that restore the structure of damaged brain cells (gliatilin, ceraxon, piracetam, thiocetam, actovegin);

  5. Hemostatic drugs (hemostatics): aminocaproic acid, etamsylate. Shown only with a well-established hemorrhagic stroke;

  6. Blood-thinning agents (heparin, pentoxifylline, cerebrolysin, cavinton). Categorically contraindicated in cerebral hemorrhages and hemorrhagic stroke;

  7. Proper nutrition. It is selected taking into account the consciousness of the patient and the possibility of self-swallowing. It can be represented by intravenous administration of amino acids, glucose and vitamins, tube introduction of liquid mixtures into the stomach, and ordinary nutrition as part of dietary table No. 10;

  8. Prevention of bedsores;

  9. Control of defecation and urination. If necessary, a catheter is inserted into the bladder;

  10. Hygienic care of skin, eyes and mucous membranes.

The story of a sudden stroke

A middle-aged woman, resting in nature, fell, tripping over a stone. She assured everyone that she was fine and she just stumbled as she wasn’t used to her new shoes. Despite the desire of those present to call an ambulance, she refused to do so. They helped her up, put herself in order and invited her to the table. And although she continued to enjoy being in nature, her restlessness and agitation were still noticeable.

It would seem that nothing special happened, but in the evening after the call of her husband, it became known that this woman was taken to the hospital and at 18:00 she died. As it was established by doctors, at the picnic she had a stroke, which did not immediately manifest itself in full force, but made itself felt by some symptoms. If this woman’s friends knew about them, they would have insisted on calling an ambulance, and perhaps she would have survived.

Neuropathologists argued that if the patient had been delivered to them within a 3-hour period, then they would have been able to fully restore the lost functions and the affected brain tissue. They also drew attention to how difficult it is to help such patients on their own at home, and how important this 3-hour period is, as a “golden time” for saving the functioning of all brain structures.

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