Stroke Communications Toolkit

At a glance

The kit contains messages and graphics public health professionals can share with their audiences, including information about stroke signs, symptoms, treatment, and F.A.S.T. response.

The kit contains messages and graphics public health professionals can share with their audiences, including information about stroke signs, symptoms, treatment, and F.A.S.T. response.

About this toolkit

With the support of public health and health care professionals like you, the Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention (DHDSP) is better able to educate the public about the basics of stroke.

These selected messages and tools include information about stroke signs and symptoms, the importance of a F.A.S.T. response during a stroke, and stroke treatment.

Help DHDSP spread stroke awareness by sharing the tools found on these webpages. Non-Hispanic Black people have the highest rates of stroke mortality in the United States.1 We urge our partners in public health and health care to help DHDSP decrease disparities.

How to use this toolkit

  • Read and incorporate evidence-based policy tools and guides into your program.
  • Link to resources that highlight stroke facts, signs of stroke, and ways to prevent stroke.
  • Share messages and graphics with colleagues and people in your social networks.
  • Use the additional stroke resources (such as stroke maps, data, the Stroke Systems of Care Framework) to improve patient care in your state.

What's included

Stroke resources for individuals and patients

Pulse Check: Live to the Beat: Learn how people can manage their conditions, move more, eat healthier, stress less, and work with their health care team to help reduce cardiovascular disease (CVD), heart disease, and stroke.

Women and Stroke: Women have unique risk factors for stroke. Here is what they can do to reduce their risk.

Men and Stroke: Learn what puts men at risk for stroke and what steps they can take to prevent stroke.

Pregnancy and Stroke: Are You at Risk?: Read about the connection between pregnancy and stroke and what you can do to keep yourself and your baby healthy.

Spread the word

Share these social media messages with your followers. Don't forget to tag @CDCHeart_Stroke in your posts and follow us on social media.

Facebook/LinkedIn
  • Don’t delay; call 9-1-1 right away if you spot the signs of stroke in yourself or someone else. Here are the 5 symptoms to look for. https://bit.ly/3LdeIQV
  • Not all women are equally affected by stroke; Black women are more likely to have a stroke than any other racial or ethnic group of women in the US. Try these lifestyle changes to lower your risk. https://bit.ly/3HlUymC
  • Do you know the signs and symptoms of stroke? F.A.S.T. is an easy acronym to help you remember them—and perhaps save a life. https://bit.ly/3LdeIQV
  • Every minute counts when a stroke happens. Calling 9-1-1 right away can help you or a loved one get the lifesaving treatment needed to reduce the risk of death and serious disability from stroke. Learn more. https://bit.ly/3LjXTnk
X (Twitter)
  • Don’t delay! Call 9-1-1 right away if you spot the signs of #stroke in yourself or someone else. @CDCHeart_Stroke shares the 5 symptoms to look for. https://bit.ly/3LaAuVo
  • Not all women are equally affected by #stroke; Black women are more likely to die from a stroke than any other racial or ethnic group of women in the US. Try these lifestyle changes to lower your risk. https://bit.ly/3LD8evW
  • Recognizing the signs and symptoms of a #stroke F.A.S.T. can help save lives. Here’s how. https://bit.ly/3nkGhzE
  • Every 40 seconds, someone in the US has a #stroke. Learn how you can prevent a stroke or lower your risk of having one with tips from @CDCHeart_Stroke. https://bit.ly/3oSydH3
Instagram
  • Every minute counts when a stroke happens. Calling 9-1-1 right away can help you or a loved one get the lifesaving treatment needed to reduce the risk of brain damage. Learn more.
  • Do you know the signs of #stroke? Common symptoms can include dizziness, vision trouble, and severe headache. If a stroke happens, act F.A.S.T. and call 9-1-1 right away.

Raise awareness for these health observances

Observance

Date

Hashtag

National Stroke Awareness Month

May 2024

#StrokeMonth

National EMS Week

May 19–25, 2024

#EMSWeek

World Stroke Day

October 29, 2024

#WorldStrokeDay

Stroke graphics in English and Spanish

Share these stroke graphics on your social media accounts.

F.A.S.T.

Learn the signs of stroke. Face. Arms. Speech. Time to call 911.
Learn the signs of stroke to call 9-1-1 as soon as possible.
Act F.A.S.T. Look for signs in the face (drooping), arms (one cannot stay raised), speech (slurred). Time: call 9-1-1 right away.
Learn the signs of stroke and when to call 9-1-1.
La guía de acción F.A.S.T. (RÁPIDO) es clave para sobrevivir al accidente cerebrovascular. F-Face (cara): ¿Un lado de la cara está caído al sonreír? A-Arms (brazos): ¿Un brazo se desvía hacia abajo al levantar los dos brazos? S-Speech (habla): ¿El habla suena arrastrada o extraña al repetir una frase sencilla? T-Time (tiempo): Si observa alguno de estos signos, llame al 9-1-1 de inmediato.
La guía de acción F.A.S.T. (RÁPIDO) es clave para sobrevivir al accidente cerebrovascular.
Act F.A.S.T. Look for signs in the face (drooping), arms (one cannot stay raised), speech (slurred). Time: call 9-1-1 right away.
Act F.A.S.T. Look for signs in the face (drooping), arms (one cannot stay raised), speech (slurred). Time: call 9-1-1 right away.

Women and stroke

Drawing of women with text: More than half of Black women have high blood pressure, which is a risk factor for stroke.
More than half of Black women have high blood pressure, which is a risk factor for stroke.
Drawing of a woman with text: A woman can have a stroke at any age.
A woman can have a stroke at any age.
Drawing of a woman with text: Black women have unique risk factors for stroke.
Black women have unique risk factors for stroke.
Drawing of 5 women with text: One in five women will have a stroke.
One in five women will have a stroke.

Stroke signs and symptoms

Signs of stroke: numbness or weakness; severe headache; and trouble speaking, seeing, walking.
Signs of stroke in men and women.
Llame al 9-1-1 de inmediato si aparece alguno de estos signos de accidente cerebrovascular: Entumecimiento o debilidad de la cara, brazos o piernas; confusión o dificultad para hablar o comprender la comunicación oral; dificultad para ver de uno o ambos ojos; dificultad para caminar, mareos o problemas de equilibrio; dolor de cabeza intenso sin causa conocida.
Signos de accidente cerebrovascular en hombres y mujeres.

Emergency care

Call 911 at the first sign of stroke. Do not: delay going to the hospital; have someone drive you; call a taxi or rideshare.
Call 911 at the first signs of stroke. Don't delay going to the hospital; don't have someone drive you; don't call a taxi or rideshare.
If stroke occurs, act F.A.S.T. and call 911 right away. Find stroke resources at cdc.gov/stroke.
An ambulance ride could save a life.

Stroke prevention

Family playing basketball with text: A stroke can strike at any age. Make healthy lifestyle choices to lower your risk.
A stroke can strike at any age. Make healthy lifestyle choices to lower your risk.
Stroke care is a team effort. Lean how CDC helps improve care and save lives.
Stroke care is a team effort. Lean how CDC helps improve care and save lives.
A woman exercising with the text: Act early. Help prevent stroke with these behaviors. cdc.gov/stroke
Help prevent stroke with these behaviors.

Boost your network: connect with us

LinkedIn: Connect with other health care professionals and share the latest in cardiovascular health from the Million Hearts® LinkedIn page.

X (Twitter): Follow @CDCHeart_Stroke and @MillionHeartsUS on Twitter to share our stroke tweets directly on your pages.

Facebook: Share stroke posts and resources directly from Million Hearts® on Facebook.

Resources

Hypertension in Pregnancy Change Package: Outpatient clinical settings can use this guide from Million Hearts® to put systems in place to improve the care they provide for women with hypertension in pregnancy.

Community-Clinical Linkages Health Equity Guide: Practitioners can use this guide to help incorporate health equity into community-clinical linkages (CCLs). CCLs are an effective approach to preventing and managing chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease.

Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Home Rule State Law Fact Sheet: Policymakers, public health professionals, and researchers can use this resource to understand challenges of local governments in providing lifesaving EMS.

Surveillance and Evaluation Data Resource Guide: Program managers and evaluators can use this at-a-glance compilation of data sources to develop their own programs for preventing heart disease and stroke.

Stroke Systems of Care Framework: Health departments can use this framework to establish stroke systems of care in their states and communities.

Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Program: Through the Coverdell Program, CDC provides funding and support to state health departments to track and measure acute stroke care and improve the quality of care.

Heart Disease and Stroke Maps and Data: Use these tools and resources for heart disease and stroke information, including data, trends, and maps.

Stroke Systems of Care: Policy Evidence Assessment Report (PEARs): These PEARs assess the best available evidence for seven policy interventions to improve pre-hospital, hospital, and post-hospital stroke care.

Health Equity Indicators Toolkit: This toolkit presents health equity indicators (HEIs) across eight focus areas, or health equity themes, that influence inequities in cardiovascular disease prevention, care, and management as outlined in the HEI Conceptual Framework for cardiovascular disease.