Heart & Stroke celebrates 10 years of encouraging FAST response

New data suggests a campaign encouraging Canadians to become familiar with the signs and symptoms of strokes is helping save lives.

Canada's Heart & Stroke Foundation is celebrating 10 years of its FAST campaign, an acronym, that stands for Face, Arms, Speech and Time:

• Face – is it drooping?
• Arms – can you raise both?
• Speech – Is it slurred or jumbled?
• Time to call 9-1-1 right away.

Heart & Stroke says recognizing the signs of stroke and acting quickly can mean the difference between life and death, or the difference between a better recovery and a lasting disability.

Based on a study the non-profit funded, there are approximately 108,707 strokes each year in Canada, including roughly 9,000 in Alberta.

The organization says though stroke numbers continue to rise in Canada due to the nation's aging population, awareness has increased significantly since the campaign was launched.  

More awareness needed

Despite improvements over the last 10 years, still not enough Canadians recognize the FAST signs and know to call 911 right away if they witness someone having a stroke, says Heart & Stroke.

Across Canada, just three in 10 people (32 per cent) know one or more signs of stroke and just 44 per cent can name at least two.

In Alberta, 45 per cent of respondents to a Heart and Stroke survey were able to name two signs, but still 28 per cent weren’t aware of any stroke symptoms.

"Of course, we can do more and do better, but this campaign is leading to more Albertans knowing what to do in that emergency," said Jennifer Michaud, Heart & Stroke Alberta director of health policy and systems. 

"This campaign is so important, and when it comes to stroke, time is the most important piece.

"You need to seek help as quickly as possible. When you're having a stroke, you're seeing your brain cells getting damaged at an alarming rate due to either a blood flow blockage or bleeding in your brain."

Calgary couple share experience 

Jennifer and Mike Tuff. (Supplied) Time was of the essence for Calgary couple Jennifer and Mike Tuff back in 2021.

Jennifer experienced a stroke at the age of 46-years-old. She had been experiencing a headache the day before, a common occurrence due to her history of migraines.

Although she started to feel better and decided to take a nap, her husband Mike had soon noticed some alarming signs that he had recognized from a FAST magnet he had seen prior.

"From the time she went to lay down until an hour later, I could tell something was wrong," he said.

"All the signs of stroke, she was displaying them. I asked her to raise her arm, she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t speak very well or wave her eyebrow so I called 911 pretty quickly."

"I think it’s just so important for everybody to have an idea of what FAST means, because strokes can happen to anyone.

"It’s not just seniors or an elderly person’s health issue, so don’t be afraid to act. Reach out to 911 if you think there’s something wrong, because time is of the essence." 

Jennifer was thankful her husband acted fast and received treatment for a carotid artery dissection.

Despite the challenging prognosis, she has made progress in regaining mobility with a slight limp and her vision problems are showing signs of improvement. 

"Having my husband there that day meant everything to me, he is the most important person I’ve ever had," said Jennifer through tears.

"I know I’m getting better, and I think if there’s anything bothering other people that have strokes who are feeling depressed, I want them to know how important it is that it can change every day.

"Every single day it gets more positive, you have to be positive."  

Alberta commits $500K for FAST 

The Alberta government has announced it will provide $500,000 in funding to Heart & Stroke to launch a FAST campaign in the province.

"The campaign will help raise awareness of strokes and their early warning signs, resulting in Albertans getting the care they need, when and where they need it," said Alberta Health Minister Adriana LaGrange.

Stroke neurologist at the University of Calgary and Foothills Medical Centre Dr. Michael Hill says the most common risk factors for stroke include high blood pressure or hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes and a lack of exercise 

"The most common heart condition which leads to stroke is a heart rhythm problem called atrial fibrillation," Hill added.

"It's the most common rhythm abnormality that occurs as people get older in the population, everywhere in the world. So those are important things just to be aware of."

Hill notes that a stroke occurs when a sudden dysfunction of one region of the brain has an issue with blood flow or bleeding which can cause permanent damage.

"There are two types of strokes. One occurs when you block an artery, so either an artery in the neck leading to the brain, or an artery in the brain itself where that region of brain was served by that blood vessel is no longer getting enough blood and it starts to malfunction," Hill said.

"The other type is a bleeding type of stroke or hemorrhagic stroke, where you bleed inside the skull and then the blood is irritating and causes injury to the brain. That’s less common and the ratio is about six to one, so 85 per cent of all stroke events are ischemic and about 15 per cent are the bleeding type."

Heart & Stroke has been a key contributor to stroke advancements by funding research, raising awareness, driving change throughout stroke systems of care across the country and advocating for improvements to health policy.

For more information you can visit the Heart & Stroke Foundation's website