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Healthcare workers are often in the wrong place at the wrong time. And when they appear, they begin to notice how many cigarettes a person has smoked or how many are in the ashtray, as well as the amount of alcohol they have drunk, or medicines randomly taken or scattered. After such checks, as usual, morals or all kinds of advice are read. And we behave as usual in such situations. We nod our heads, agreeing with the doctors, but we do not divert due attention to what has been said. And by the way, we’re doing it wrong.
And now in more detail. The main and serious misfortune occurs just in the absence of medical workers. And at this moment, at the moment of the onset of trouble, when the life of a person close to us or a relative is in danger, our knowledge and skills become simply invaluable.
This article is relatively small and will not take much time to read, approximately 7 minutes. But these 7 minutes will make a huge contribution to your knowledge of emergency care. It will help you arm yourself with very affordable and effective means that will not let you get lost and will help you resist even such an evil enemy as a stroke.
What is a so-called brain stroke or stroke?
Stroke (brain stroke) is an acute circulatory disorder that develops in the vessels of the brain. A stroke can occur under various circumstances, such as hemorrhage, thrombosis, spasm, and so on. The result of this is that some part of the brain remains without nutrition and can maintain its viability for a rather short amount of time. From this it is worth concluding that the pre-stroke state and the stroke itself require emergency and emergency care.
At such important moments, you simply have no right to be confused or afraid. You must be confident in your actions. They must be clear and consistent. If you have competent and modern assistance skills, then the patient will have a better chance of life, and that after a stroke he will be able to rehabilitate and return to a normal full life.
Now about the first symptoms of a stroke
There is a very effective and easy test that allows you to quickly recognize the first symptoms of a stroke. As already mentioned about the simplicity of the test, it will be so easy to remember it. Each letter will tell you what to do.
USP test to identify the first symptoms of a stroke:
Y – Ask the patient to smile. At the initial stage of a stroke, the patient’s smile will be crooked or skewed. This is due to the fact that half of the face ceases to obey the patient, as a result of which one of the corners of the mouth will be lowered down. As for the tongue, it will be located asymmetrically. It will fall to one of the sides and begin to take on an irregular shape.
H – Ask the patient to talk to you. In the pre-stroke state, the patient’s speech becomes slurred. It can be compared to the speech of a very drunk person.
P – Ask the patient to simultaneously raise both hands up. Of course, if the patient is able to do so. The result will be obvious. The arm on the affected side of the body will be raised significantly lower than the other. In any case, the level of location will not be the same.
The following symptoms may also be symptoms of a stroke:
– a sharp and severe headache after any activity or without any apparent reason at all;
– partial clouding or complete loss of consciousness in the patient;
– loss of the ability to speak, as well as the loss of the ability to understand the meaning of someone else’s speech;
– severe dizziness, acute disorder of coordination and sense of balance;
If the patient has any of these symptoms, immediately call an ambulance.
7 measures of emergency first aid
And now about what kind of help you can provide to the patient before the ambulance arrives.
Immediately call an ambulance, when calling, try to describe what is happening as accurately as possible. A person suffering from a stroke needs the help of neurologists. Therefore, from your story, the dispatcher must correctly understand you and send you the team that will really help.
The patient must be placed so that his head is above the level of the surface on which he lies, by about 30 °. To do this, you can use a blanket, pillows, clothes.
Provide the patient with freedom of breathing, that is, remove from him, if any, a tight belt, tight clothes, and also ensure the flow of fresh air into the room where the patient is located.
If the patient has nausea or vomiting, his head should be carefully turned to one side, this will protect the airways from vomit. You also need to carefully substitute a plastic bag or basin near the patient. After the attack of vomiting has stopped, you need to clean the patient’s mouth as best as possible.
It is necessary to measure the patient’s blood pressure and record the readings to inform the doctor. If the pressure is high, then you need to help the patient with appropriate medications. If they are absent, then you need to put a heating pad or a bottle of hot water on the patient’s feet. To avoid burns, you need to control the temperature of the water.
In such a situation, you can’t fuss and show your anxiety to the patient, we’re not even talking about showing your fear to the patient. It is necessary to speak calmly and provide moral support to the patient in all possible ways.
Upon arrival of the ambulance, you must tell the doctors the full picture of the event. Your speech should be quick, but intelligible. Words should be short, but informative to the maximum.
And now we need to sum up what has been said.
The first minutes of the pre-stroke state determine the further course of the disease. Therefore, your help plays a huge role for the patient. Rapid and timely recognition of stroke symptoms in conjunction with high-quality first aid will help save the patient’s life and provide him with full further rehabilitation.