FAST (stroke) FAST (stroke) FAST is an acronym used as a mnemonic to help detect and enhance responsiveness to the needs of a person having a stroke. The acronym stands for Facial drooping, Arm weakness, Speech difficulties and Time to call emergency services. The FAST was developed in the UK in 1998 by a group of stroke physicians, ambulance personnel, and an emergency department physician and was designed to be an integral part of a training package for ambulance staff. The FAST was created to expedite administration of intravenous tissue plasminogen activator to patients within 3 hours of acute stroke symptom onset.
Emergency Medical Services for Children rates improved dramatically when patients were stabilized in the field and transported immediately to a well-equipped emergency facility. During the 1960s, civilian medical and surgical communities recognized the possibility of applying this principle to an EMS system. In 1973, Congress passed the Emergency Medical Services Systems Act of 1973. Managed by the HRSA, it provided funding for more comprehensive state and local government EMS systems. Between 1975 and 1979, state EMS systems dramatically improved outcomes of adult patients but not those of pediatric patients. In 1979, Calvin C.J. Sia, MD, then-president of the Hawaii Medical Association, requested that the members