Neurology/Stroke Services header

Neurology/Stroke Services Program

Beebe Medical Center, as a certified Advanced Primary Stroke Center, is recognized by emergency medical personnel as a hospital of choice in a stroke emergency.

Beebe Medical Center has a multidisciplinary team of medical professionals involved in the care and treatment of stroke sufferers. Beebe Medical Center has implemented stroke care and treatment procedures and practices that meet national guidelines and are based on best practices and evidence-based outcomes.

As a Joint Commission–certified Advanced Primary Stroke Center, Beebe Medical Center provides a nationally recognized standard of care that fosters the best possible outcomes for stroke patients.

Emergency care within the first four and a half hours of the onset of a stroke, if it is an ischemic stroke, can mean the difference between life and death, recovery or permanent disability.

If an ischemic stroke is diagnosed within the four-and-a-half-hour time period, blood-thinning medications as well as a clot-busting medication called tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), which may open up the clogged artery, can be administered by a trained physician.

Rehabilitation

Rehabilitation is a major component of stroke treatment. Rehab Services personnel are involved in the process as soon as a stroke is suspected.

Because a stroke interferes with the supply of oxygen to the brain, damage may occur that impacts the body’s ability to function as it did before. The patient’s subsequent disability depends upon where the stroke occurred in the brain, what kind of stroke it was, how serious it was, and whether aggressive medication was given within the four-and-a-half-hour time window. Diagnostic tools such as a carotid duplex scan or a magnetic resonance angiogram or image (MRA or MRI) will show where the stroke occurred. The Rehab Team of occupational therapists, physical therapists, and speech language pathologists is able to take that information, combined with their own unique assessments, to develop a rehabilitation treatment regimen.

Is it a stroke? Act FAST!
Graphic for FAST
Face:
Does the face look uneven?
Arms:
Does one arm drift down?
Speech:
Does their speech sound strange?
Time:
Time is brain! IMMEDIATELY CALL 911!
Risks
  • High Blood Pressure
  • Heart Disease
  • Diabetes
  • Atrial Fibrillation
  • Lifestyles
    • Smoking
    • Obesity
    • Sedentary
    • Alcohol consumption
  • Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA)
Symptoms of Stroke
  • Sudden numbness or weakness of face, arm, or leg—especially on one side of the body
  • Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding
  • Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes
  • Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination
  • Sudden severe headache with no known cause

Source: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke & National Stroke Association

Additional Stroke Information

Download a PDF of our April 2011 issue of Beebe’s Beacon for more information about stroke and our Neurology/Stroke Services program.

Thumbnail of the Act FAST cardDownload a printable PDF of the “Act FAST!” card for quick reference in the event of a stroke.