First Medical And First Aid For Stroke

2024 Author: Josephine Shorter | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 21:43

First medical and first aid for stroke

The criteria for the need for medical care if a stroke is suspected may be the signs shown in the table:

For hemorrhagic stroke (cerebral hemorrhage)	With ischemic stroke (brain cell death)
Severe headache; Sudden, violent vomiting without nausea; Decreased hearing and vision; Half body paralysis; Salivation; Distortion of facial expressions; Clouding of consciousness or its complete loss;	The gradual development of weakness and numbness of the limbs; Impaired pronunciation of words and speech; Skewed face; Dizziness; Impaired coordination; Decreased visual acuity; Convulsive syndrome;

Content:

• First aid for stroke
• Stroke care
• The story of a sudden stroke

First aid for stroke

Prehospital care for hemorrhagic stroke:

1. Give the patient a horizontal position with his head elevated, regardless of the degree of impairment of consciousness and the severity of the condition;

2. Free the neck from clothing or other accessories that may squeeze it;
3. Remove all removable dentures from the oral cavity;
4. Make free access of fresh air to the patient;
5. If the patient is unconscious, it is necessary to turn the head slightly to the side, which will ensure the unhindered flow of saliva and mucus. This will prevent it from entering the respiratory tract;
6. Thoroughly cleanse the oral cavity from vomit if there was vomiting;
7. Applying cold to the head (cold heating pad, ice pack, frozen or cold objects). It is advisable to expose to cold effects that half of the head that is opposite to the side of the paralysis of the limbs;
8. Cover the patient with a blanket;
9. Monitor the parameters of breathing, heart rate and blood pressure;
10. If there are signs of clinical death (cardiac arrest, respiratory arrest and dilated pupils), proceed with resuscitation measures (chest compressions and artificial ventilation)

Prehospital care for ischemic stroke

1. Give a horizontal position. The location of the head and body at the same level is allowed. Do not raise it too high;
2. It is important to know that at home you should not try to bring the patient to consciousness using ammonia or other medications, especially in the presence of seizures - the patient's condition may worsen and the neurological symptoms may progress;
3. Monitor the condition of the oral cavity and respiratory tract, as in a hemorrhagic stroke;
4. Free the neck and provide fresh air;
5. Monitor the basic vital parameters;
6. Rub the paralyzed limbs with a semi-alcoholic solution, or simply massage them;

7. Do not allow drinking water or taking any pills.

The most important intervention for any type of stroke, which must be performed at the prehospital stage, is to call a specialized ambulance team. The patient should, as early as possible, be hospitalized in a medical institution.

Stroke care

All patients with suspected stroke, or people with an obvious diagnosis of this should be treated in the intensive care unit or in the intensive care unit of a neurological hospital under the supervision of a neurologist. In the conditions of a medical institution, all the activities that were provided at the pre-hospital stage are continued.

In addition, they are complemented by:

1. Instrumental diagnostics with the definition of the exact type and localization of changes in the brain;

2. Monitoring the parameters of the body's vital activity using modern equipment;
3. Spinal puncture. Performed when it is impossible to accurately determine the nature of the stroke (ischemic or hemorrhagic);
4. Administration of cerebroprotectors - drugs that restore the structure of damaged brain cells (ceraxon, piracetam, thiocetam, actovegin);
5. Hemostatic drugs (hemostatics): aminocaproic acid, ethamsylate. Shown only with well-established hemorrhagic stroke;
6. Blood-thinning agents (heparin, pentoxifylline, cerebrolysin, cavinton). Are categorically contraindicated in cerebral hemorrhages and hemorrhagic stroke;
7. Proper nutrition. It is selected taking into account the patient's consciousness and the possibility of independent swallowing. It can be represented by intravenous administration of amino acids, glucose and vitamins, by tube administration of liquid mixtures into the stomach, and regular meals within the framework of dietary table No. 10;
8. Prevention of bedsores;
9. Control of bowel movements and urination. If necessary, a catheter is inserted into the bladder;
10. Hygienic care for skin, eyes and mucous membranes.

The story of a sudden stroke

A middle-aged woman, resting in nature, fell, stumbling over a stone. She assured everyone that she was fine and she just stumbled as she was not used to her new shoes. Despite the desire of those present to call an ambulance, she refused it. They helped her up, put herself in order and invited her to the table. And although she continued to enjoy being in nature, her anxiety and agitation was still noticeable.

It would seem that nothing special happened, but in the evening after the call from her husband it became known that this woman was taken to the hospital and she died at 18:00. As it was established by doctors, at a picnic she had a stroke, which did not appear immediately in full force, but made itself felt with some symptoms. If this woman's friends knew about them, they would insist on calling an ambulance, and perhaps she would have survived.

Neuropathologists argued that if the patient was delivered to them within 3 hours, they would have the opportunity to completely restore the lost functions and affected brain tissue. They also drew attention to how difficult it is to help such patients on their own at home, and how important this particular - 3-hour period, as a "golden time" for the salvation of the functioning of all structures of the brain.

Author of the article: Sokov Andrey Vladimirovich | Neurologist

Education: In 2005 completed an internship at the IM Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University and received a diploma in Neurology. In 2009, completed postgraduate studies in the specialty "Nervous diseases".