Stroke kills 67,000 every year in UK
I AM sure that everyone will have seen the Department of Health's 'Stroke: Act FAST' awareness campaign on the national television over recent weeks.
Every year stroke kills 67,000 people across the UK. In this region, the South East Coast, just over 4,000 people a year die of stroke and it is a major cause of disability.
Around 80% of strokes are caused by a clot which can be treated by administering modern clot busting drugs – but this has to be done within three hours of the onset of symptoms for the best possible outcome for the patient.
That is why the Government's campaign aims to educate people about the signs of a stroke and the importance of seeking prompt emergency treatment to reduce the risk of death or disability.
On Tuesday 12th May 2009, Stroke Awareness Day, as part of the national campaign the South East Coast Ambulance Service (SECAmb) launched a set of special stroke ambulances. These are working emergency ambulances 'wrapped' in stroke campaign material and operational in areas where strokes are particularly prevalent.
SECAmb is the first ambulance trust in the UK to appoint a paramedic stroke lead and carried out a Stroke Care Development Programme across the region. The aim is to ensure that all patients receive the right treatment at the right time. They are working closely with our local hospitals and stroke networks to develop the region's stroke treatment and ensure that appropriate acute services are in place.
As a result, our ambulance service is being heralded as a "beacon" of good practice by the Stroke Association and I am delighted that the combination of our diverse ethnic make-up (Asia, African and Afro-Caribbean communities are traditionally at higher risk from stroke) and the fact that more stroke related 999 calls are made from Crawley than from many other areas means that we will have one of these special stroke ambulances.
Over the coming months, Stroke Champions from SECAmb will be working with various community groups such as Age Concern, MIND as well as ethnic minority groups to raise awareness of stroke in our communities.
We are already feeling the benefit in Crawley from local stroke champion and paramedic, David Davis who is doing some really excellent work with voluntary groups and members of our ethnic minority community.
I want to encourage community groups in Crawley that would like to hear from these front line ambulance staff to get in touch with SECAmb by emailing felice.ayling@secamb.nhs.uk
This is a fantastic new service and we are lucky to have such an excellent ambulance trust serving us locally, so I really hope people in Crawley will heed the warnings, take up the offer of education and information from our ambulance staff and make sure that by working together we really improve the outcomes for people across the town.
Because remember; the quicker that someone recognises the symptoms of stroke and calls 999 – the greater the patient's chance of survival and reduced risk of long term disability.
When a stroke strikes act F.A.S.TF acial weakness - can the person smile? Has their mouth or eye drooped?A rm weakness - can the person raise both arms?S peech problems - can the person speak clearly and understand what you say?T ime to call 999 for an ambulance if you spot any one of these signs
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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