FASTer identification means faster treatment

Stroke 2004; 35: 1355-1359

Results from a study funded by The Stroke Association indicate that ambulance paramedics can accurately identify a stroke patient before they arrive in hospital.

It is well known that the sooner a patient is diagnosed and treated after experiencing an acute stroke the better the outcome is likely to be. However, it is often difficult for a non-stroke specialist to recognise and diagnose stroke.

The Face Arm Speech Test (FAST) has been developed as a stroke identification instrument. The test assesses 3 neurological signs of stroke:

  • facial weakness
  • arm weakness
  • speech disturbance


FAST has been incorporated as an integral component of ambulance paramedics training module, and is included in the rapid ambulance protocol.

Funded by The Stroke Association, Professor Gary Ford and others at the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne conducted the first and largest clinical practice study, in which the ability of ambulance paramedics to detect specific neurological signs in acute stroke patients was compared with that of stroke physicians or neurologists. The researchers demonstrated good inter-observer reliability of FAST when used in a routine clinical setting across a large number of paramedic crews. This lends further support for the use of FAST in clinical and research practice.


Further details of the project and its results are outlined in the Winter 2004 Stroke News research article (425 kb) [pdf]