F.A.S.T.
The F.A.S.T criteria for identifying stroke was developed in the United Kingdom in 1998 by doctors and emergency services personnel as an integral part of ambulance staff training and protocol to make assessments of patients faster. This is to make the administration of I.V. medications quicker, ensuring that tissue plasminogen activator (used to dissolve blood clots which block the brain blood vessels) is given within 3 hours of the sudden onset of the stroke symptoms.
