Stroke Care

Seek medical attention right away if you or a loved one has signs of a stroke—a medical emergency. Timely care at AnMed improves outcomes and saves lives.

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Stroke Symptoms

Follow the BE FAST guidelines to help you identify stroke symptoms:

Balance – Sudden loss of balance or coordination

Eyes – Trouble seeing, sudden blurred or double vision

Face – Drooping face or numbness

Arm – Weakness or numbness of the arms or legs on one side of the body

Speech – Slurred speech or difficulty speaking

Time – Any symptoms mean it’s time to call 911

Call 911 Right Away

Emergency medical technicians can begin lifesaving stroke treatment in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. They’ll alert emergency room (ER) staff that you’re on the way, so doctors and nurses will be ready to respond as soon as you arrive.

What’s a Stroke?

A stroke happens when blood stops flowing to the brain because an artery:

  • Becomes blocked by a clot (ischemic stroke)
  • Bursts or ruptures (hemorrhagic stroke)
  • Develops a temporary clot (transient ischemic attack, or TIA)

Find Out More About AnMed's Stroke Care

This booklet will help you and your family understand what a stroke is, what the stroke patient might experience and how a stroke can be treated and prevented. We hope this will serve as a source of useful information and will provide you with answers to questions you may have throughout your hospital stay and recovery. We encourage both you and your family to be involved in the care and rehabilitation process and to ask questions at any time.

AnMed's Stroke Booklet

Emergency Stroke Assessment

When you arrive at AnMed Medical Center’s ER in Anderson, you can expect:

  • Rapid physical exam by an emergency medicine specialist and an onsite neurologist or teleneurologist (a brain specialist who sees and talks to you by video)
  • CT (computed tomography) scan of the brain within about 20 minutes of your arrival to see if you’re having a stroke and determine the type of stroke
  • Other imaging tests to detect damage to your brain or find the source of a blood clot

Ischemic Stroke Treatment

If you have an ischemic stroke, you may get one of these treatments to restore the flow of blood to your brain:

  • Clot-busting medicine that breaks up or dissolves blood clots. You must arrive at the hospital within 3.5 hours of the first symptom and receive the medicine within 4.5 hours of the first symptom.
  • Thrombectomy (emergency surgery) to remove a large blood clot inside your artery

Hemorrhagic Stroke Treatment

If you have a hemorrhagic stroke, your doctor wants to stop the bleeding. Your treatment depends on the cause of the stroke. Treatment options include surgery or a minimally invasive procedure to seal a blood vessel rupture.

Certified Primary Stroke Center

Count on the Primary Stroke Center team at AnMed Medical Center for high-quality stroke care. Stroke outcomes depend largely on when and how you get treatment. Our consistently high standards of care can make a difference.

Primary Stroke Center certification by DNV Healthcare and the American Stroke Association means your AnMed care team:

  • Uses the most trusted and up-to-date stroke treatments
  • Responds quickly to reduce the time between ER arrival and treatment of ischemic stroke
  • Focuses on giving you the best possible follow-up care
  • Meets your specific needs

Quality Achievement Award

Get With The Guidelines® – Stroke Gold Plus recognition from the American Heart & American Stroke Associations highlights AnMed's excellence in treating stroke patients. Feel confident that you or a loved one will get the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized guidelines.

Hospital Care After Stroke Treatment

Different levels of neurologic care at AnMed Medical Center allow you to get customized care after a stroke. Depending on your stroke type and treatment, you may go to a neurosciences intensive care unit (ICU) or a slightly lower level of neurologic care at AnMed.

In the ICU, you’ll receive very close critical care monitoring from specially trained nurses. As your recovery progresses, you may go to our neurosciences step-down unit.

On average, patients stay in the hospital for about three days after a stroke.

Regaining Your Abilities

Stroke rehabilitation begins in the hospital. Count on your therapists to take an active role in educating you and your family about recovery. Based on your needs, we’ll recommend the best setting for therapy after you leave AnMed Medical Center:

Preventing Another Stroke

By treating the cause of your stroke, your doctors can help prevent another one. They may recommend lifestyle changes, medications, and possibly surgery or other treatments to reduce your future risk of stroke. These treatments may include transcarotid artery revascularization (TCAR) or a cardiac catheterization procedure to prevent blockages in your brain’s supply of blood and oxygen.