I know it’s “just” a comic but I feel obligated to let every reader know that the burnt toast thing is a weird myth.
FAST: Face, Arms, Speech, Time. Check their smile, check if they can hold up both arms, check if they have slurred speech or can speak at all, and call emergency services asap because every second matters. Have them rest peacefully while you wait for help.
There is potentially life saving medication that can even reverse some effects of a stroke, but it is time sensitive.
I never saw burnt toast as an EMT. But I have seen people exhibit lots of aphasia, (expressive/receptive). People say some weird shit when they get water in their ipod. Frankly it’s a pretty scary symptom because the patient KNOWS they are receiving or emitting incorrectly, but can’t do anything about it. I bet the burnt toast meme came from aphasia
Your description of what to look for is great. Time really matters, don’t “wait it out”. I’m looking at you 55+yo men that refuse to “make a fuss”.
Strokes are one of the most “oh shit let’s go” calls we ever ran. (Obviously massive trauma and heart attacks too)
Thank you for your service to the public.
I’m guessing the toast thing came around from the possibility of damage to or disturbing the olfactory nerves if there’s increased pressure on them like from the brain swelling (possibly from a concussion) or from bleeding inside the braincase.
It makes sense on paper, but I doubt there would be many times a patient would be conscious at that point.
The burnt toast is likely a mistaken reference to a Canadian Heritage Minute about an epileptic woman who smelled burnt toast when she had seizures. A pioneering neurosurgeon kept his patients awake while probing their exposed brain to find and burn out malfunctioning nerves. It is actually epilepsy not a stroke that the burnt toast thing is associated with, not that everyone with epilepsy smells burnt toast, that was just the famous one that most Canadians of a certain age will know.
Here it is for anyone curious. https://youtu.be/pUOG2g4hj8s
Edit: tracking bit removed from link.
What a wild experiment! Thanks for sharing
That’s good to know. So everything after and including the ? is not needed?
Exactly, that’s their tracking parameter. I like to remove them because, for whatever reason, I find it odd for Google to know that you are the one sharing a video with me.
I like sharing that info with you! 😉
Yep, not a myth just a misremembering/misassocation.
How soon does it need to be administered and do ambulances keep it on hand?
I am not qualified to answer those questions, but I know that if you tell emergency services that you think someone is having a stroke that’s one of the times an ambulance is going to be siren on, lights on, speeding through the streets.
