By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
Shore Medical Center in Somers Point is nationally recognized as a Primary Stroke Center, including 24-hour neurology and neurosurgery care and an emergency staff specially trained in the treatment of stroke patients.
At the same time, Shore is looking to enlist other “superheroes” who can recognize the symptoms of stroke and quickly take action to have stroke victims rushed to the hospital for emergency treatment.
Surprisingly, those heroes are children.
Shore is participating this month in a groundbreaking stroke education program, primarily aimed at children, that uses a kid-friendly superhero theme.
“We found out that there is a child-friendly stroke hero program. We decided that our month of October platform would be stroke awareness for children,” explained Sherri Richmond, Shore’s director of Emergency Services.
The focus of the program is to teach children how to recognize the symptoms of stroke in their parents or grandparents and to take action by calling 911.
“We want to give you some tools to be a stroke hero – when to call 911, when your loved one’s speech is slurred or there is weakness,” Richmond said of the children.
Richmond and other members of Shore’s staff will be attending two community Halloween events to begin showing children and adults, in a friendly, fun way, how to help their mom, dad or grandparents if they are having a stroke.
The first event will be the Somers Point Police Department Trunk or Treat celebration on Saturday, Oct. 22, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. It will be held in the Shore Medical Center parking lot at the corner of Harbor Lane and Bay Avenue.
The second event will be the Ocean City Halloween Parade on Thursday, Oct. 27, from 7:15 p.m. to 8:15 p.m. The parade rolls down Asbury Avenue from Sixth Street to 11th Street.
“We are really getting more bang for our buck because we are able to educate the adults and children at one venue,” Richmond said of the two Halloween events.
Shore staffers will be dressed in “Brainiac” costumes to entertain the children. They will also hand out goodie bags filled with kid-friendly items, such as coloring books and crayons and toys shaped like miniature brains.
The Stroke Hero Packet will also include a kid-oriented stroke quiz that children will be able to take home. It will quiz them on the symptoms of stroke, what they should do if they see someone having a stroke and everyday things that can be done to prevent stroke.
The centerpiece of Shore’s display at both events will be an educational 4-foot-by-5-foot, three-dimensional simulated brain that will have about 500 lights on it. The faux brain was constructed by Edward Mossman, Shore’s supervisor of material management.
“This brain will mimic the actual human brain,” Richmond said. “We will put it in one of our vehicles and be able to disseminate the information visually in a fun teaching way. It will be something to engage the children on the functions of the brain.”
Shore is reaching out to children as another way to encourage more people to rush to the hospital if they are having symptoms of a stroke. After the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Shore is noticing that people aren’t coming to the hospital as often, said Rob Schrevelius, Shore’s stroke coordinator.
“What better way than to help get people in here with stroke recognition than to educate the kids a little bit?” Schrevelius said. “So, if momma or poppa is slurring their words or their left arm or something else isn’t working right, momma or pop-pop should call 911.”
Getting to the hospital as quickly as possible is absolutely key in the diagnosis and treatment of stroke, including administering a “clot-busting” medication that can improve patient recovery.
“Stroke is a ‘brain attack’ and mandates the same urgency as a heart attack,” Shore emphasizes on its website Stroke Center | Shore Medical Center.
Shore’s designation as a Primary Stroke Center includes 24-hour neurological physician care, an in-house stroke unit, and rehabilitation and physical therapy for stroke patients. Shore is also affiliated with Penn Medicine for stroke care.
Common symptoms of stroke include slurred speech, difficulty understanding speech, dizziness, loss of balance, blurry vision and sudden numbness or weakness in the face, arm, or leg, especially on one side of the body.
Elevated risk factors for stroke include obesity, hypertension and diabetes.
“The sad reality is that one in four of us will have a stroke in our lifetime. And worldwide, stroke is the second leading cause of death and the third leading cause of disability,” according to an April 2021 article by the World Stroke Organization, or WSO.
The WSO is sponsoring its annual World Stroke Day on Oct. 29 to raise global awareness of strokes.
In the 2021 article, the WSO fully embraced the idea that “children can be heroes in the fight against stroke.”
“We believe that children can help make a real difference here, acting as a catalyst to spark interest amongst the wider family,” the article says.
Richmond and Schrevelius believe that by connecting with more children, it will help Shore Medical Center to educate a broader audience about the dangers of stroke and the importance of quickly getting to the hospital.
“We really wanted to educate the public about what we were seeing here in the ER, which is an increase in people having strokes and delaying to get here,” Richmond said.
“It prompted Rob and I to do further research,” she continued. “What are we missing? What population are we not reaching out to that we should be? How do we make it fun and educational at the same time and tie it into October?”
The answer, they decided, was to enlist more children as anti-stroke superheroes.
For more information about Shore Medical Center, visit shoremedicalcenter.org.
