I am an EMT who is often the first person on the scene in a county where over 30 percent of our people are 65 and older, I live in fear of doing exactly what was done to you.
In addition to the Cincinnati Stroke Scale, another test I run on all my patients . . . unless their problem is something obvious . . . is this. I put two of my fingers in the palm of the patient's hand and tell them to squeeze as hard as they can. I do this to first one hand then the other. They should squeeze evenly. Then, I grab the patient's toes and push their foot upward while telling them to push down, resisting my push. They should be able to push back evenly. If either of these tests fails, that is, if one hand or one foot is weaker than the other, I initiate stroke protocol and put the patient on a helicopter to our nearest stroke center, 30 minutes flight time away.
In five years, I have had three patients who did fine on the Cincinnati Scale but who showed obvious weakness in one hand or one foot. Every one them was helicoptered out and all three were found by CT scan to be in early stages of ischemic stroke.
I am so very sorry for your experience. I hope you tell others what happened to you and educate them on the early signs of a stroke.
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