FAST for English speaking people
FAST is an acronym used as a mnemonic to help detect and enhance responsiveness of health systems to the needs of a person having a stroke. The acronym stands for Facial drooping, Arm weakness, Speech difficulties and Time to call emergency services.
Stroke 120 for China
Stroke 120 is designed specifically for China using the specific medical emergency phone number 1-2-0 for China as a convenient memory tool. where 1 represents “First, look for an uneven face,” 2 represents “Second, examine for arm weakness”, and 0 represents “Zero (absence of) clear speech”. In the Chinese version the pronunciation of zero is “ling”, which has the same meaning of “ting” (hearing). If stroke is suspected or identified through this three-step observation, the emergency number 120 must be called.
Stroke 112 for countries and regions where 112 is used as an emergency phone number
Stroke 112 is designed for countries and regions where 112 is used as an emergency phone number, where 1 uneven face (crooked mouth); 1 weak arm (arm weakness); 2 incoherent lips (slurred speech), if any of these are observed, 112 should be called. The use of Stroke 120 and Stroke 112 as a mnemonic tool links stroke identification with the emergency service telephone number, and can be easily remembered even by those with minimal education. Stroke 112 can be translated to any of the languages without losing its original key messages and its easiness to remember.