Turning the Tide is a series of 26 mini-films from 24 countries, presenting the bold actions being carried out by communities and organisations to take on the world’s biggest killers – non-communicable diseases, like cancer, diabetes and lung disease – and bring better health for all.
Time is everything when dealing with stroke patients, but many hospitals are not “stroke ready”. Every 30 minutes a stroke patient who could have been saved, dies or is permanently disabled, because they were treated in the wrong hospital.
The Angels Initiative is building a global community of stroke centres and stroke-ready hospitals, working every day to improve the quality of treatment for every stroke patient. The story in this video would have been very different if it wasn’t for a joint effort of the Angels Community.
The man who can be seen in the video is one of the lucky ones. Both he and his wife are medics, so, when he collapsed from a stroke in his home in Sofia, Bulgaria, his wife instantly recognised what happened and knew that she had to act quickly. He was swiftly taken to the nearest stroke-ready hospital and was treated immediately by the responding doctors. Thanks to a swift reaction from their colleagues, medics who work in the stroke-ready hospital and to the timely received treatment, the man was able to recover. “I started to go shopping. I started driving. I started to feel like a normal human being again. These days I realise how blessed I was to have fully recovered to be with my family, my children and my grandchildren” he said.
Please watch the video and see how having stroke-ready hospitals helps #TurningTheTide.
The video was produced by the NCD Alliance and BBC StoryWorks
The Angels Initiative, launched by Boehringer Ingelheim in partnership with the European Stroke Organisation (ESO), and the World Stroke Organisation (WSO), the Stroke Alliance for Europe (SAFE) and others is set to improve acute stroke care, by increasing the number of patients treated in stroke ready hospitals and optimising the quality of treatment in all existing stroke centres. For more information about Angels Initiative, please visit www.angels-initiative.com
Image source: The video print screen
