Symptom check FAST
How do I recognize a stroke and what should I do immediately? Most strokes can be recognized within a few seconds using the FAST symptom check.
Depending on the severity, signs of a stroke can be one symptom or several symptoms occurring at the same time, for example:
- Sudden weakness, paralysis or loss of sensation, usually only on one side of the body
- Sudden visual impairment, such as blindness in one half of the visual field or in one eye, as well as double vision
- Sudden speech disorders or difficulty understanding what is being said
- Sudden severe dizziness that makes walking impossible, sometimes accompanied by nausea and vomiting
- Sudden gait disturbance, balance or coordination disorder
- Sudden, unusually severe headache
- Sudden clouding of consciousness or unconsciousness
Sometimes a stroke announces itself with transient circulatory disorders of the brain (transient ischemic attack, TIA), also known as a stroke or streak. The stroke symptoms then only last a few minutes and disappear again. In this case, too, it is important to go to a hospital with stroke specialists immediately. This is because there is a high probability that a real stroke will follow shortly after a TIA.
FAST
F – A – S – T stands for Face (face), Arms (arms), Speech (speech) and Time (time).
- Face: Ask the person to smile.
Is the face distorted on one side? - Arms: Ask the person to stretch their arms forward and turn their palms upwards.
Can the arms be raised? Do they sink or do the palms turn inwards? - Speech: Have the person repeat a simple sentence.
Is she unable to do this or does her voice sound washed out? - Time: Call 144 immediately and describe the symptoms and onset of symptoms.
