SAMU technician explains how to survive a stroke if you’re alone

Stroke killed 24,000 people in Spain in 2022, according to the Spanish Society of Neurology (SEN), which states that 25% of the Spanish population will experience a stroke in their lifetime.

This is a cerebrovascular disease in which one of the brain’s blood vessels ruptures or becomes blocked by a clot or other particle, causing the death of neurons and, in some cases, causing permanent damage. According to the NHS Annual Report 2020-21, these cerebrovascular diseases affect 1.5% of people, although from age 65 this can be as high as 6 in every 100, rising to 10 in every 100 by age 80.

However, not all strokes can cause permanent damage, and one way to avoid the most serious consequences is to act as early as possible, especially in the early hours.

This is difficult if it happens to one person as some symptoms may go undetected. To help identify them and give recommendations on what to do, SAMU instructor Miguel Asaal shared on his social networks what to do if you are left alone at home and what the main signs are.

“So that you never forget, the best thing to remember is the acronym FAST (an acronym that means “fast” in English),” he begins by saying in the video. These abbreviations correspond to the English abbreviation (face, hands, speech

And time to go).

The first letter refers to the face, since one of the main symptoms, according to the emergency technician, “is a sagging face.” “You can’t gesture or smile on one side of your face,” he adds.

The second abbreviation refers to weapons, namely the weakness of one of them. “While you still have strength in one hand, you won’t be able to squeeze, hold or even move anything with the other,” he clarifies.

Word speech refers to speech: “You cannot pronounce words normally and you will not be able to hold air by closing your mouth when you blow.”

“So if there is only one of the three letters, you need to go to T.” time to go“emphasizes the SAMU technician, who emphasizes that even if there is only one sign, “you must call an ambulance.”

Additionally, if you are alone and able to walk, it is recommended that you leave the door open so emergency services can reach it, or “if you are unable to move, after calling 911, tell a family member who has the keys to urgently I arrived”. “