Amador County – May is Stroke Awareness Month and Sutter Amador Hospital hosted an educational lecture on Thursday, May 17, to get the word out to help people know the signs of stroke so they can get immediate help.

Timely treatment for someone experiencing signs of a stroke is crucial for survival, and that is why Jackson neurologist Doctor Donald Van Fossan with Sutter Amador Hospital wanted to get the word out about how to recognize and treat a stroke.

Common stroke symptoms are usually sudden, including onset weakness on one side of the body, severe headache, and difficulty with vision, balance or speaking. Van Fossan said it is important for people to know the signs of a stroke and get help as fast as possible if they or someone else are experiencing these symptoms.

“It is imperative that they call 9-1-1 and have them brought to Sutter Amador Hospital,” Van Fossan said. “We have emergency treatments available that can limit the extent of the damage to the brain and those can only be beneficial within the first three hours.”

If patients are brought to the hospital in a timely manner, Van Fossan said they can be treated with a procedure called tissue plasminogen activators. “It’s a clot-busting medicine,” he said. “We can dissolve this clot to the brain and restore the circulation. This medicine can limit any potential damage to the brain from the stroke.”

In order to educate the public on strokes, their causes, their symptoms and new treatment options – as well as what can be done to help reduce the long-term effects – Van Fossan and Sutter Amador’s Emergency Department Stroke Champion, Doctor Ron Hood, led a community lecture on Thursday, May 17.

Doctor Richard Atkinson, a nationally recognized stroke specialist with the Sutter Neuroscience Institute who is based in Sacramento, joined them for the lecture. More than 70 community members attended the educational event, which was held in the Sutter Amador Outpatient Services Center at 100 Mission Boulevard in Jackson.

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