Isle of Man Guide

Staff from the Department of Health’s Isle of Man Ambulance Service and Noble’s Hospital, in partnership with the Manx Stroke Foundation, have been on hand around the Isle of Man to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of a stroke, as well as giving people the opportunity to have their blood pressure checked.

When the road show visited Port Erin, the day was a great success with over 150 people visiting the Ambulance Mobile Treatment Unit in the Shoprite car park.

Sharon Craine, Chair of the Manx Stroke Foundation said:

The Manx Stroke Foundation is committed to raising awareness of the FAST (Face, Arms, Speech, Time) campaign to help prevent further strokes. People may be aware of the campaign from recent hard hitting television adverts voiced by actress Sue Johnston. Monitoring blood pressure is one way of reducing the risk of a stroke and we want to provide this opportunity to as many people as possible.

Chief Ambulance Officer, Steve Sieling added:

I’m delighted that my team and colleagues from Noble’s Hospital have been able to support the local Stroke Foundation team in their efforts to promote the FAST campaign.

FAST undoubtedly speeds up the ambulance response to someone who may be suffering a stroke and early recognition and treatment is the key to good outcomes.

Minister for Health Mr David Anderson MHK commented:

This is exactly the sort of work we envisaged being able to carry out with our Ambulance Mobile Treatment Unit.

I’m delighted that staff have been willing and able to so successfully support the valuable work of the Manx Stroke Foundation and I look forward to further initiatives with other organisations on the Island.

The road show will visit Peel on Saturday, 25th September, with the Ambulance Mobile Treatment Unit located in the Shoprite car park.

Members of the public are invited to attend to have their blood pressure taken and find out more information about strokes.

Ambulance Vehicle

FAST requires an assessment of three specific symptoms of stroke.

• Facial weakness - can the person smile? Has their mouth or eye drooped?

• Arm weakness - can the person raise both arms?

• Speech problems - can the person speak clearly and understand what you say?

• Time to call 999 FAST is a simple test that can be used by anyone, early recognition and response can be key to patient outcome.

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