West Jeff to Host Stroke Awareness Day with Giant Inflatable Brain & Offer FREE Screenings

In observance of May as National Stroke Awareness Month, West Jefferson Medical Center (WJMC) will host a Stroke Awareness Day to raise public awareness about Stroke prevention.

• What:     Stroke Awareness Day
• When:    Thursday, May 9 • 7‐10am & 3‐6:30pm
• Where:   West Jefferson Medical Center 1101 Medical Center Blvd. Marrero, LA 70072

West Jefferson’s event will feature a giant, inflatable walk‐through exhibit of the brain. This will help the public better understand how strokes can occur and what symptoms they should look for. In addition, WJMC will be offering FREE blood pressure and glucose screenings, as well as empathy experience exercises. What does it feel like to have a stroke? Have one side of your body “paralyzed”? These exercises will allow people to perform tasks to see how difficult activities of daily living are for someone who’s suffered a stroke. 

Stroke is the third leading cause of death and a leading cause of disability in America, but many people do not realize how educating themselves and others could help reduce the incidence of stroke. About 795,000 people in the U.S. will have a stroke this year. Yet most people cannot identify stroke warning signs or risk factors and most of those strokes are preventable‐‐some studies indicate that up to 80 percent of strokes can be prevented.

Stroke is an emergency! It’s important to learn stroke warning signs and how to respond to them. If given within three hours of the first symptom, there is an FDA‐approved clot‐buster medication that may reduce long‐term disability for the most common type of stroke.

Use FAST to remember the warning signs of stroke:

• Face: Ask the person to smile. Does one side of the face droop?
• Arms: Ask the person to raise both arms. Does one arm drift downward?
• Speech:Ask the person to repeat a simple phrase. Is their speech slurred or strange?
• Time: If you observe any of these signs, call 9‐1‐1 immediately.

At West Jeff, we are proud to have an award‐winning Stroke Center with skilled inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation teams that provide neurological rehab for our community