5 Things to Remember When Stroke Happens to Your Loved One by Habiba
Seeing a loved one having a stroke in front of you can be a devastating and traumatic experience. There are very few things that can prepare you emotionally for this. However, you and your loved one can certainly benefit from your knowledge about strokes. It’s essential that you educate yourself about some basic things you can do to help. If you remember these things during a stroke, your loved one will be very grateful for it. Since time is of the essence when someone is having a stroke, you need to make sure you prepare yourself beforehand.
1. Remember the symptoms.
The easiest way to remember all of the most critical symptoms of stroke is by remembering the acronym “BEFAST”. You need to check if your loved one is having trouble balancing. Then ask them if their vision is becoming worse. Take a look at your loved one; does their face look uneven? Are their hands becoming weaker? Can your loved one speak properly, is their speech slurred and do they look confused? The letter “T” in the acronym stands for time. When you notice some of these symptoms, you need to act fast and call 911.
The easiest way to remember all of the most critical symptoms of stroke is by remembering the acronym “BEFAST” (tweet this)
2. Remember what similar medical issues look like.
Many people confuse the symptoms of stroke with other medical complications. Some stroke victims may look like they’re having a mild seizure, even though they’re not having it. Some stroke victims might confuse having a strong migraine with having a stroke. Even though the amount of pain and the duration of it are similar, there are differences between stroke and heart attack. Most importantly, when someone has a heart attack, you should act quickly. But, when someone is having a stroke, time is the number one focus! The faster you react, the less damage there will be!
3. Remember ways in which you can take basic care of them.
While you’re waiting for the ambulance to come, you can ease some of your loved one’s pain and prevent some of the damage. You should remember that it’s best for a conscious stroke victim to be laid down, and then you can raise their head and support it. If their limbs are becoming weaker, support them as well. Also, remember that your loved one shouldn’t be eating or drinking anything. If the person is unconscious, then you need to make sure they’re breathing and that their pulse is regular. If you notice problems with these two, you need to start CPR immediately! If you don’t know CPR, the ambulance can give you instructions over the phone.
4. Remember to keep some notes about the event.
It will be very helpful for doctors if they know the details of the even when the stroke happened. Since your primary focus should be on your loved one, you’ll probably forget the details of the event. This is why taking some notes is so important. The main information you need to write down is the time when stroke began to happen. Apart from that, write down the medications that your loved one regularly takes and the ones they took in the past 24h. When the doctor comes, he won’t have to lose time by gathering this information.
5. Remember to stay calm.
Nobody is saying that taking care of a loved one while the stroke is happening is easy. However, you need to stay calm because of your loved one. Your actions may save their life, so you should concentrate as much as you can on their needs. They need to see and know that you’re there and that you’re able to help them.
Because stroke usually happens out of nowhere and the symptoms develop really fast, many people panic and don’t know how to help their loved ones. Luckily, there are certain things you can remember to be a more efficient helper.
Habiba is a content strategist at differencecamp.com blog.