KCTV: New Stroke Awareness - BE FAST

One of our patients experienced strange flashes in her eye - like seeing the flash of a camera - that lasted almost a minute. She intended to make an appointment with her eye doctor, but forgot. Then she suffered a stroke. The flashes were warning signs. The American Stroke Association has added BE to its acronym FAST to include this symptom. 

The American Stroke Association has added “BE” to its stroke acronym: BE FAST. It stands for:

B - balance, sudden loss of coordination
E - eyesight, flashes or sudden loss of vision
F - face, look for the droop on one side
A - arms, hold both out - does one drift down?
S - speech, slurring or speaking incoherently
T - time to call 9-1-1
 

Dr. Coleman Martin, interventionist at Saint Luke's Marion Bloch Neuroscience Institute, talked to KCTV5 about the new changes and how they could have helped this patient get help sooner.