There was one time just recently, when someone called me on the phone to ask for me help, and ask about what he was having. Normally, the proper way to diagnose a patient would be to do a history (i.e. inteview) and examine him/her fully....and get only necessary labs to confirm the diagnosis. This would be impossible to do over the phone, so after getting an over-all assessment from a brief interview, it would be best to guide the patient as to what steps to take next...
Strokes are pretty common occurrences, and they can happen to anyone within a susceptible demographic, so if in case you are placed in a situation where you need to decide whether a person needs medical help, the cut card below would come really handy. It's a simple way to assess.
There is a disclaimer, of course, because medical expertise could not be substituted with online articles, but I think that this would be a very useful way to assess. Every second counts. The sooner you can identify, the faster the person can be treated, the better the outcome will be.
Is step#2 really important? Siguro matataranta ako pag nastroke ang isang tao tapos papangitiin ko muna.
ReplyDeleteThis one's useful. It's always best to be aware.
ReplyDelete@ LA: Nah...you don't have to think about it like that...the "smile" thing is usually done to get him to show you his teeth (you're testing if it is equal for both sides of the face), stroke patients usually will have a lopsided smile, i.e.one corner of the smile won't lift... that's also important.
ReplyDelete@ russ: Thanks, I had someone call me kc, and I didn't get to see the patient. This could be useful for other people who might be on the scene..
ReplyDelete