“We want to improve community awareness of the importance of recognizing stroke symptoms and calling 911 immediately,” said Andrea Sekura, registered nurse and administrative clinical director of Winter Haven Hospital’s stroke and neurosurgery unit.

“We don’t want people to wait to see if the symptoms go away.”

TPA, the clot-busting drug most commonly given to stroke victims whose stroke comes from blockage of vital blood vessels to the brain, needs to be given within three hours.

Patients can be treated a little further out in time if they get to Lakeland Regional Medical Center and other hospitals with interventional radiologists using advanced tools to get into the vessel and remove the clots. Even then, the deadline only extends a couple of hours… (more…)