Baptist Health Paducah to host Spokes for Strokes bike tour July 15

Registration options include $25 for individuals, $40 for couples and $50 for a family of four.

(PADUCAH, KY) - April 17 - Baptist Health Paducah will host its 12th annual Spokes for Strokes bike tour on Saturday, July 15, to raise stroke awareness, along with funds for life-saving technologies and expanded stroke care services. Registration is now live at this link: Spokes for Strokes 2023 (runsignup.com)

Spokes for Strokes will begin at 7 a.m. with registration at Baptist Health Imaging Center on the west end of campus at 2705 Kentucky Ave., and the tour will begin at 8 a.m.

Registration options include $25 for individuals, $40 for couples and $50 for a family of four. Individuals can then choose which bike tour they would like to participate in: 10, 20, 35 or 65-mile rides through southern McCracken, Marshall and Graves counties. See maps of these bike routes at this website. Support vehicles will follow all rides and helmets are required.

“We will continue to focus on public education, so people of all ages know they should call 9-1-1 immediately if they see anyone experiencing signs of a stroke,” said Joseph Ashburn, MD, stroke center director. “Time saved is brain saved, so if they seek immediate treatment, the effects of stroke may be reduced or even reversed.”

Last year, Baptist Health Paducah celebrated 12 years as a leader in stroke care. The hospital became the region’s first certified primary stroke center in 2010, and the Baptist Health Paducah stroke program received The Get With the Guidelines^® Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award three years in a row for meeting national guidelines for stroke care, as defined by the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association.

According to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, stroke is the No. 5 cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability in the U.S. On average, someone in the U.S. suffers a stroke every 40 seconds and nearly 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.

The acronym B.E.F.A.S.T. is a good way to learn stroke symptoms.

• B – Balance: Is balance off, or are they experiencing dizziness or headache?
• E – Eyes: Is vision blurry?
• F - Face Drooping: Does one side of the face droop or is it numb? Ask the person to smile.
• A - Arm Weakness: Is one arm weak or numb? Ask the person to raise both arms. Does one arm drift downward?
• S - Speech Difficulty: Is speech slurred, are they unable to speak, or are they hard to understand?
• T - Time to call 9-1-1: If the person shows any of these symptoms, even if the symptoms go away, call 9-1-1 and get them to the hospital immediately.

Additional stroke signs include sudden severe headache with no known cause, sudden confusion, trouble understanding, or numbness to the face, arm or leg.