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- Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body
- Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding
- Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes
- Sudden trouble walkin, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination
- Sudden sever headache with no known cause
Not all of these symptoms occur in every stroke. If some start to occur, don't wait, call 9-1-1 immediately
For more information on stroke, visit the American Stroke Association, part of the American Heart Association.
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A stroke occurs when the blood flow to the brain is interrupted, similar to what happens to the heart during a heart attack. Early symptoms of a stroke may include dizziness, slurred speech or an inability to speak, confusion, weakness, loss of coordination or motor skills.
Often, stroke patients need to relearn simple tasks that are taken for granted, such as eating, walking, dressing, talking and writing. It's frustrating emotionally and physically. Our goal is to assist patient and their families to cope on both the emotional and the physical level.
Lutheran Hospital is a primary stroke center (a national designation by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO)). According to JCAHO, Primary Stroke Certification is considered the Gold Seal of ApprovalTM for quality and safety.
The advanced disease-specific certification program was designed in collaboration with the American Stroke Association and JCAHO to standardize the care provided to stroke patients. The standards focus on 10 perform-ance measures that include:
• providing deep-vein thrombosis (DVT) prophylaxis with 48 hours.
• treating atrial fibrillation patients with anti-coagulation.
• having thrombolytic available and ready for treatment if criteria are met.
• assessing swallowing prior to oral intake.
• considering a plan for rehabilitation.
To earn this “Gold Standard” distinction, the hospital underwent a voluntary, extensive evaluation of stroke services in early April. Lutheran demonstrated that the stroke program follows national standards and guidelines recommended by the American Stroke Association and the Brain Attack Coalition. These guidelines address the needs of stroke patients from the minute they arrive in the emergency department until their discharge and include:
- Around-the-clock call coverage by neurologists and neurosurgeons.
- Access 24/7 to CT scans, the lab and medications.
- A Stroke Alert process for quickly diagnosing and treating stroke patients arriving within six hours of stroke symptom onset.
- Order sets that encompass best practice recommendations.
- Neuroscience nursing staff that receive additional stroke training.
- Continual analysis of data to track quality of care and outcomes.
The multidisciplinary team that cares for stroke patients at Lutheran includes physicians from emergency medicine, neurology and neurosurgery, as well as nursing, rehabilitation, radiology, social work, pharmacy and dietary staff.
Lutheran Hospital has been recognized nationally for outstanding care of stroke patients. From our emergency department through the lab and medical imaging to the physicians and nurses, we provide care and treatment that saves lives and quality of life.
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