Power to End Stroke

" In 2006, the National Pharmaceutical Association (NPhA) established a partnership with the American Stroke Association (ASA) and the ASA Power to End Stroke (PTES) campaign. The purpose of the partnership is for members of NPhA to serve as ambassadors for the Power to End Stroke Initiative and promote stroke awareness throughout the community. During a series of meetings, members of NPhA felt the PTES initiative would also be an excellent opportunity for SNPhA members. 2007-2008 marked the first year SNPhA had adopted Power to End Stroke as a nationwide initiative in collaboration with NPhA and the ASA. Since then, the Power to End Stroke campaign has started a new movement, EmPowered to Serve, which is more focus an impacting live long outreach activities in our communities.

High blood pressure can be a warning sign for chronic hypertension, which could lead to many outcomes, including stroke. This is why the Power to End Stroke (PTES) initiative uses blood pressure checks as a screening tool in our communities. The PTES Soup Kitchen Event is an momentous event in which chapters provide educational material as well as blood pressure screenings in areas of the community that area traditionally underserved (i.e. food pantry, food bank, homeless shelter). Furthermore, events and campaigns such as the American Heart Association Heart Walk, Takes 2 to Save 2, Go Red for Women, National Stroke Month, and World Stroke Day help to raise awareness about the risk factors and symptoms of stroke.

Smoking cessation is an important part of stroke prevention and cardiovascular health. Racial and ethnic minorities are disproportionately affected by tobacco-related morbidities and mortalities. The Power To End Stroke (PTES) Initiative promotes events such as the Great American Smoke Out every third Thursday in November. This event encourages current smokers to set this day as their quit date. During PTES Smoking Cessation events, we encourage the use of Clinical Practice Guidelines which include the 5 R’s (relevance, risks, rewards, roadblocks, and repetition) and 5 A’s (Ask, Advice, Assess, Assist, Arrange) of smoking cessation."

-SNPhA Official Website

"Every four minutes, someone dies from a stroke making it the 5th leading cause of death in the United States. About 87% of all strokes are due to blood flow not being perfused to the brain which is known as Ischemic stroke. Those statistics substantiate that anyone around you can have a stroke during any time of their life, thus it is important to raise awareness and spread information about stoke prevention.

The acronym F.A.S.T is an easy way to identify the signs of a stroke. It stands for Face Arm Speech Time. When someone is experience a stroke, one side of their face and arm tends to be uneven and drifts downward. In addition, slurred speech is also present when they try speaking. Recognition of stroke is very important in saving a patient’s life. The F for fast is obvious since stroke is an emergency situation and every second counts, you should always call 911 or for help when any of the signs mentioned above are observed. Getting to the hospital rapidly can improve the chance of better recovery.

There are many risk factors leading to a stroke and one of the major modifiable ones are cigarette smoking. Using the five R’s (relevance, risks, rewards, roadblocks, and repetition) along with the five A’s (Ask, Advice, Assess, Assist, and Arrange), we hope to raise awareness regarding the importance of smoking cessation.

Stroke is one of the most prevalent disease, yet it is one of the most preventable disease. We can all work together to make changes to our community by motivating others to achieve the goal of Power to End Stroke! "

- A message from the PTES Co-Chairs Andy Tsang and Izumi Hamada