HJAR Mar/Apr 2023

HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF ARKANSAS I  MAR / APR 2023 49 Ali Krisht, MD Director CHI St. Vincent Arkansas Neuroscience Institute like masking for patients and staff who are providing direct patient care, limited visitation policies, and even limiting the number of people in common areas to allow for social distancing. We have always invested in infection control and prevention. If a patient suffers a stroke, the greatest threat to them is not receiving care at all. Our goal with each and every stroke patient is that they can wake up with absolutely zero functional deficits. This is absolutely possible today, but only if patients come to us in time. Don’t allow a loved one to talk themselves out of receiving care when it is clear they have suffered a stroke. RECOGNIZING A STROKE AND KNOWING WHEN TO SEEK CARE Understanding the time sensitivity in- volved in stroke care also means recogniz- ing when we or someone we love has suf- fered a stroke. Common symptoms or signs of a stroke include numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body. Confusion, trouble speak- ing or understanding, problems seeing in one or both eyes, and trouble walking are all also common symptoms. Patients may even sometimes describe having the worst headache in their life strike them like a clap of thunder. Once you recognize those signs, it’s time to get to the emergency room im- mediately. Don’t wait until a later time to see if things get better. Remember, Time = Brain ... and the clock is ticking. n As hospitals and the healthcare community are operating more normally since the initial response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we see a new and disturbing trend unfolding. MANY patients, even those who may have suffered traumatic injuries, are continuing to delay care. Avoiding the hospital and de- laying care does more than simply extend the time needed to recover from an injury. It often means allowing a treatable condition to become a life-threatening emergency. In the case of a stroke, it could also mean the difference between a full recovery or living with severe functional deficits the rest of their lives. Think of a stroke as a “brain attack.” A clot or bleeding blood vessel begins to starve the brain of oxygen. To help ensure the best possible outcome, patients require care within three hours of the first signs of a stroke. Without that oxygen, brain cells begin to die within minutes. Once they die, they cannot be replaced. Time = Brain. THE DANGER OF DELAYING CARE DURING A PANDEMIC Strokes did not take a hiatus during the height of the pandemic. In fact, healthcare systems are increasingly encountering more severe cases throughout the past couple of years for the simple fact that patients are still avoiding coming to the hospital in time to receive optimal care. One of the reasonsmany individuals have delayed care is out of fear of contracting COVID-19 or other communicable viruses. However, hospitals have worked hard to minimize the possibility of exposure and have enacted a string of precautions to ensure the safety of patients and healthcare staff alike. Those precautions include things