Campaign reminding people of stroke warning signs launches in Portsmouth

Public Health England is launching its Act FAST stroke campaign in Portsmouth and surrounding areas as 1,151 people died from the condition in Hampshire in 2016.

The campaign promotes the FAST message of:

n Face – has their face fallen on one side? Can they smile?

n Arms – can they raise both their arms and keep them there?

n Speech – is their speech slurred?

n Time – time to call 999

Current figures show there are 38,701 people on GP registers in Hampshire who have had a stroke.

Dr Mohit Sharma, consultant for Public Health England in the south east, said: ‘Speed saves lives when it comes to strokes – the more people we can make aware of the symptoms the better.

‘More than 5,000 died from stroke across the south east region in 2016, and who knows how many of these lives could have been saved had people around them been able to spot symptoms quicker.

‘It is not just about saving lives though – acting as soon as you see a single sign of a stroke means you can get treatment earlier and this limits the long-term effects of these potentially catastrophic attacks.’

The FAST acronym has featured in advertising for stroke for a number of years and is a simple test to help people identify the most common signs of a stroke.