Your ally in the fight against stroke
Stroke. It’s a scary thought. The very word strikes a chord in us that immediately we think of helpless, paralyzed and worse--death.
The brain is vital to our emotions, our movements, our senses, our intelligence. Any loss of these, is hard to even imagine. Yet, strokes strike more than 780,000 Americans each year.
Southern Illinois Healthcare is proud to bring you southern Illinois’ newest ally in the fight against stroke: the Stroke Center at Memorial Hospital of Carbondale.
A strong stand against stroke, takes powerful collaboration and training. It takes the right physicians, a stroke neurologist and neurosurgeons specifically, the right technology and an emergency department staff carefully trained in national stroke protocols.
Your leader in battling stroke, Memorial Hospital of Carbondale’s Stroke Center put all the pieces in place to become Southern Illinois’ first and only Joint Commission designated Primary Stroke Center.
Stroke: It’s not a “Wait and See” Event
- The Fact:
- People who have had a stroke have dramatically better outcomes if the stroke is treated as an emergency.
- The Problem:
- People are not recognizing the stroke symptoms and taking emergency action.
- The Fact:
- Some people make a full recovery, some people suffer disabilities, some people die.
- The Problem:
- The differences in outcomes are not always due to the severity of the stroke. They can be due to failing to respond to the signs and treat it as an emergency.
- The Fact:
- Emergency Medical Services must get stroke victims to the nearest Primary Stroke Center, ideally within a 3 hour window. The center must have the right doctors and the right technology to care for stroke victims. Statistically patients experience better outcomes at Primary Stroke Centers.
- The Solution:
- The Stroke Center at Memorial Hospital of Carbondale is your designated Primary Stroke Center where lifesaving treatments can be administered faster.
What’s Happening During a Stroke
A stroke is actually a blood flow (vascular) issue. It happens when blood flow is cut off to the brain whether by a clot (ischemic) or by a break in the blood vessel (hemorrhagic).
Some people are known to have mini-strokes (or TIAs). These, too, should be treated as a medical emergency.
With the onset of any stroke symptom, the longer you wait, the longer vital blood cells may not be reaching the brain. Time lost could equal brain lost.