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Stroke is a medical emergency – just like a heart attack. Nearly two million brain cells die every minute following a stroke, so the sooner treatment begins, the more likely you are to protect yourself from serious disability.
The most advanced interventions are available at Sarasota Memorial Hospital – the region’s only nationally recognized, state-certified Comprehensive Stroke Center. Our stroke program has been certified “with distinction” by the Joint Commission and given its “Gold Seal of Approval” – recognition that Sarasota Memorial has the specialized skills and technology in place to care for people facing the greatest challenges in stroke care.
As of May 2008, Sarasota Memorial was the only hospital in Southwest Florida to earn Florida’s “Comprehensive” status.
Emergency Care
About 80 percent of strokes are caused by a blockage that prevents blood flow to the brain. If treated within three hours of the first symptoms, doctors can give a clot-busting drug (t-PA) to help dissolve the clot. Fortunately, many local hospitals have been designated Primary Stroke Centers and are equipped to administer that medication in their ERs.
Think stroke? Think F-A-S-T
Call 911 immediately if you suddenly experience any of these symptoms on one side of your face or body:
F
facial numbness or weakness
A
arm numbness or weakness
S
slurred speech/scrambled thoughts
T
time; call 911 – “Time is Brain”
Think Sarasota Memorial
When Advanced Treatments Are Needed
As the region’s only “Comprehensive Stroke Center,” Sarasota Memorial offers stroke patients more advanced options, including neurointerventional radiology procedures. Using microcatheters, stents, balloons and other endovascular devices, neurointerventional radiologists can dissolve clots at the source and/or use specialized tools to extract them.
Sarasota Memorial’s Neuroscience Center of Excellence provides a full continuum of services for stroke patients, including inpatient rehabilitation, customized physical, occupational, speech and rehabilitative outpatient therapy, nutritional and psychological counseling, among a variety of other services to support our patients’ physical and emotional needs.
