Stroke Smart Faith Based Organizations

Faith based organizations, i.e., churches, temples, mosques, etc. can save lives by becoming Stroke Smart when their members are educated about the signs and symptoms of a stroke and when they know to call 9-1-1 without hesitation when the do spot a stroke.

Norfolk's Second Calvary Baptist Church became the FIRST Stroke Smart church in Viriginia to adopt the Stroke Smart Virginia program. Their leadership distributed Stroke Smart memory aids to the congregation with the Stroke Smart training (pictures below) and created this video to showcase the event. While not every faith-based group will have the resources to put together such a fantastic video, a simple talk accompanied by the memory aid distribution is more than enough! 

St. Mary's Episcopal Church in Rhode Island became the first Stroke Smart Church in the country, launching its educational outreach efforts with a pronouncement of its intentions that included the simple Stroke Smart education.

The efforts to make a faith-based organization begins by contacting the organization's leader (i.e., pastor, rabbi, imam, etc.). Ask for a 10-minute meeting to present the idea of making the group Stroke Smart, emphasizing the reality that 1 in 6 of us will suffer a stroke within our lifetimes, that the symptoms often go unrecognized which can lead to a lifetime of disability that is so easily avoided if treatment is received with 3 hours after symptoms begin. Action items for those wishing to make their faith-based organization Stroke Smart may be found document here (35 KB) .