Stroke Awareness

Overview

Stroke is the third leading cause of death in America. Someone suffers a stroke every 40 seconds and there are 795,000 new or recurrent strokes annually. Tragically, African Americans are almost twice as likely to suffer a first-ever stroke as compared with white Americans.

Stroke is also a leading cause of long-term disability, but immediate emergency medical treatment may greatly reduce the chances of such an outcome.

This campaign, which began in April 2003, aims to inform the public of the sudden signs of stroke and inforce the message that calling 9-1-1 at these first signs is critical in potentially lessening the devastating results of a stroke.

The latest PSAs (African American target, radio) emphasize the 5 signs of a stroke and underscore the importance of calling 9-1-1 at the first possible symptom through the "Time lost is brain lost" message. Individuals are directed to www.powertoendstroke.org to learn more about the consequences and warning signs of stroke.