Heart & Stroke FAST Program gets funding boost
KAMLOOPS — For every minute of delay in treating a stroke, the victim loses 1.9 million brain cells, which is why BC Health Minister Terry Lake partnered with the BC Ambulance Service, and the Heart and Stroke Foundation to make a funding announcement today, at Royal Inland Hospital.
Lake was joined by the BC Ambulance honour guard, as well as neurologist Dr. Todd Collier, and the Hamer-Jackson family for the announcement – $600,000 to help fund the F.A.S.T. program, which spreads awareness about the importance of acting quickly if you suspect someone you’re with is having a stroke.
“When they understand the acronym [F.A.S.T.] and what it means, I think [stroke patients and their families] will give themselves license to call 911,” Lake said, at the announcement. “In the first year of the campaign, we saw an increase of 14 per cent in the number of 911 calls related to stroke. That means potentially hundreds of people were saved.”