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In the event you think there is a stroke victim

Posted by Erin on February 20, 2015, 12:50 pm
187.148.135.222

I am passing this along as it may be life saving

If someone close is having a stroke…

You might want to note that the closest hospital with the most effective medicine is in the city of Colima.

The warning signs of a stroke include the sudden occurrence of one or more of these:

Numbness or weakness in face, arm, or leg, especially on one side.
Confusion or trouble understanding other people.
Trouble speaking.
Trouble seeing with one or both eyes.

Strokes are most often caused by a blockage of a blood vessel in the brain. But sometimes they are the result of a rupture of a blood vessel. A CT scan is required to tell the difference. If the cause is a blockage, then a very effective treatment is injection of a drug known as tPA, tissue plasminogen activator. The brand name in Mexico is “Actilyse”. It should be given within 4 ˝ hours of onset.

However, my survey of hospitals in Manzanillo reveals that none has tPA in their farmacias. This includes Euchari Clinic, Hospital Manzanillo (near the Holiday Inn Express), Hospital General de Manzanillo (on Elias Zamora), and Hospital Ramirez (near Soriana). Only Euchari and Hospital Manzanillo even have CT scanners.

On the recommendation of Manzanillo cardiologist Dr. Martin Toscano, I checked at the Centro Medico de Colima, and indeed they do carry tPA. So you could drive or taxi your patient there for treatment. However, a better idea might be to go to the Euchari Clinic for a CT scan. If that reveals a blockage, then they could order the tPA kit from Centro Medico de Colima. What I am not sure about is the procedure for this. As the kit costs 16,500 pesos, it might be that Centro Medico de Colima would require your credit card number before dispatching the medicine in a taxi. In any case, having a credit card along would be a good idea.

Timing is, as they say, everything. If you are in a car or taxi within a half hour of the appearance of symptoms, then you are probably in Euchari Clinic within 1 ˝ hours of onset. A CT scan might take a half hour, and the trip from Colima to Manzanillo is about an hour. So all told the drug could be administered within the recommended limit of 4 ˝ hours if all goes well. Given the inevitable chances for screw-ups and delays, it might be prudent to ask the Euchari people to order the tPA from Colima as soon as you get there – i.e. do not wait for the results of the CT scan.
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