Students competed in Munson Medical Center stroke awareness video contest
Students from Traverse Bay Area Career Tech Center and Manistee Area Schools earned money for their schools in a northwest Michigan competition to create a stroke awareness video.
Participants were asked to create a 60-second public service video that would help the public easily recall stroke symptoms and know what to do. The Munson Medical Center-sponsored competition received more than 50 entries from northern Michigan schools.
The top prize of $1,000 went to Jonelle Sickles at the TBA Career Tech Center. The second place $500 prize went to Florian Nowak and Sophie Schjerven of Manistee Area Schools. Both Nowak and Schjerven are foreign exchange students. Nowak is from Magdeburg, Germany and Schjerven is from Oslo, Norway. TBA Career Tech Center student Bailey Frank claimed the third place $300 prize. Munson Healthcare Foundations supplied a grant to fund the prizes.
“We really want to congratulate the winners for their creativity in communicating a life-saving message and reminding us all about the importance of recognizing the signs of stroke,” said Kersti Bruining, M.D., medical director for the stroke program at Munson Medical Center.
Stroke is the fifth leading cause of death in the United States and the leading cause of disability. The F.A.S.T. acronym has been proven to be a useful tool for people to spot the signs of stroke and seek immediate help. Patients or their families should call 911 at the onset of symptoms. Important medication can be given if they arrive within a three hours of symptoms onset. Treatment starts in an ambulance. The F.A.S.T. message is:
Face – Ask the person to smile. Does one side of the face droop?
Arms – Ask the person to raise both arms. Does one arm drift downward?
Speech – Ask the person to repeat a simple phrase. Is their speech slurred or strange?
Time – Any of these symptoms should result in a call to 911 immediately.
The public may view the winning submissions at YouTube/munsonhealthcare.org.