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Stroke: FAST Video
Training on recognising the signs and symptoms and then the correct treatment of a stroke can sometimes be a bit of a challenge despite the fact that the FAST test (Facial weakness, Arm weakness,
Speech difficulty, Time) is a really simple tool for recognition. Perhaps you've tried using scenarios to do this? This can be helpful,
particularly when trying to get the first aider to recognise a stroke when there may be a number of factors hiding the real cause of illness (e.g. if the
patient has been drinking before having the stroke) - but acting as if you have had a stroke when you haven't actually had one is really hard! This means
that the students sometimes struggle to realise what is going on.
Another issue that students sometimes have is to remember the FAST test - there are certainly a lot of acronyms and mnemonics for people to remember in first aid! To help people remember the fast test, we suggest that you could use the FAST video found on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHzz2cXBlGk. It's a great video that is annoyingly catchy and is so hard to get out of your head!
Screenshot of FAST video
Admittedly, its an American video
so uses 911 as the emergency number rather than 999 or 112 but the students can probably cope with that! It's probably one of those love-hate videos that you love because you will never forget
the FAST test, but hate because you'll never get it out of your head!
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Have you tried this idea out? Let us know how it went or give us your top tips to make it work well! If you are logged in, your usename will be assigned to the comment.