Recognize the Signs of Stroke with Help from Morristown-Hamblen Healthcare System
Knowing the Risks for and Symptoms of Stroke Can Save Your Life or the Life of Someone You Love
A stroke, or brain attack, happens when blood flow to your brain is interrupted. It is an emergency situation. Your brain needs a constant supply of oxygen and nutrients in order to function.
If the brain’s blood supply is stopped even for a short time, it can cause major problems. Brain cells (neurons) begin to die after just a few minutes without blood or oxygen.
When brain cells die, the functions they control are impacted. If you suffer a stroke, it may affect your ability to move, speak, eat, think, control your bowel and bladder, regulate your emotions, or perform other vital body functions.
The effects of a stroke depend on the area of the brain that’s damaged, the severity of the damage, and the timing of the stroke to the start of treatment.
A stroke can happen to anyone at any time. However, if the proper treatment is administered quickly, damage to the brain can be minimized, allowing you to get back to your everyday life.
Why Trust Morristown-Hamblen with Your Stroke Care Needs?
When someone has a stroke, receiving the right care, right away can make all the difference in survival and quality of life. When you call Eastern Tennessee your home, it’s important to know you have easy access to the best healthcare and medical services, in the event you or someone you love experiences a stroke.
Morristown-Hamblen Healthcare System in Morristown, TN is a proud member of the Covenant Health family of top-quality healthcare facilities. What does this partnership mean for Tennesseans like you?
Covenant Health is distinguished as the Eastern Tennessee region’s only stroke hospital network.
Morristown-Hamblen and Covenant Health hold the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Heart Check Mark for Advanced Certification for Primary Stroke Centers.
The Advanced Primary Stroke Center Certification recognizes hospitals that have demonstrated the greatest level of commitment to the care of stroke patients.
Each hospital in the Covenant Health network offers the Tennessee communities we serve access to the advanced diagnostics needed to diagnose a stroke, and the ability to administer thrombolytics, a medicine that breaks down stroke-causing blood clots.
Our hospital emergency department staff and emergency medical services (EMS) personnel know how to work together to diagnose and provide treatment within a narrow window of time.
We have the infrastructure, staff, and training to treat the most complex patients. Covenant Health is on the cutting edge of stroke medicine, performing clinical trials and procedures not available anywhere else in East Tennessee.
Across Covenant Health’s stroke network, more than 83% of patients who come to the emergency department with stroke symptoms are seen in less than 15 minutes.
Learn how we created East Tennessee’s stroke care network to best serve your healthcare needs.
Learn More about Stroke Risks, Symptoms, and Rehabilitation through Morristown-Hamblen and Covenant Health
At Morristown-Hamblen Healthcare System, we’re committed to enhancing the health and safety of the Tennessee communities we’re honored to serve. That’s why we want to share our stroke resources with you, in the hopes they can help you or those you love if you’re ever in need.
Because we believe knowledge is power when it comes to making the best healthcare decisions for yourself and your loved ones.
What are the Warning Signs of a Stroke?
It’s important to be aware of the warning signs and symptoms of a stroke.
Although not everyone experiencing a stroke will exhibit these signs and symptoms, most people report at least one of these during a stroke event.
At Morristown-Hamblen, we like to keep things simple by using the acronym—BE FAST. This simple strategy will help you pinpoint the common signs of stroke when you see them.
Balance: Sudden loss of balance
Eyes: Sudden loss of vision in one or both eyes
Face: Does the face look uneven?
Arms: Does one arm drift down and can’t be raised?
Speech: Does speech sound strange?
Time: Time is brain! Every second, brain cells die during a stroke. Get help immediately!
If you or a loved one is experiencing any of the symptoms above, call 911 and seek immediate medical attention. Every second counts.
What are the Risk Factors for Stroke?
Anyone can have a stroke at any age. But your chances of suffering a stroke increase if you have certain risk factors. Some risk factors can be changed or managed, while others can’t.
Stroke risk factors that can be changed, treated, or medically managed include—
- High blood pressure
- Heart disease
- Diabetes
- Smoking
- Taking some types of birth control pills (oral contraceptives)
- History of TIAs (mini-strokes)
- High red blood cell count
- High blood cholesterol and lipids
- Lack of exercise
- Obesity
- Excessive alcohol use
- Illegal drug use
- Abnormal heart rhythm
- Cardiac structural abnormalities
How Do You Recover from a Stroke?
Stroke is the fourth leading cause of death and a leading cause of serious, long-term adult disability. If you experience a stroke and survive the event, your recovery process will likely involve medical care and rehabilitative therapy.
Covenant Health’s Patricia Neal Rehabilitation Center in Harriman, TN can help you and your loved one overcome disability and rediscover a satisfactory, productive lifestyle following a stroke.
Our patients are treated with a holistic team approach, which involves the patient and their family members.
Our skilled team of physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists, rehab psychologists (behavioral medicine), nursing staff, case managers, recreation therapists, and physiatrists (rehab physician) make up the comprehensive treatment team.
Our staff has extensive experience and training in the treatment of stroke.
Learn more about our signature approach to holistic stroke recovery.
Take Our Stroke Self Assessment
Are you ready to put your stroke awareness knowledge to the test?
Take our stroke self assessment quiz to find out how much you know about stroke.
Hear from a Real Morristown-Hamblen Stroke Care Patient
Jim Bunch was driving his wife, Renee, to a doctor’s appointment in Morristown when his head began to feel cloudy.
“I woke up that morning feeling perfectly fine,” he said. “I remember suddenly feeling very drained and tired at some point during the trip.”
After recognizing the symptoms of a stroke, emergency responders were able to provide life-saving intervention.
Morristown-Hamblen Healthcare System is a proud member of Covenant Health, our region’s top-performing healthcare network. To learn more about stroke care, treatment, and resources near you, view our complete network of Covenant Health stroke care providers.
