I believe that there is an 85% chance of complete recovery if a stroke is diagnosed and dealt within 3 hours of the onset of symptoms.
It depends on weather or not it is hemorrhagic or ischemic.
Approved ACLS courses can be found at....
http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3011972
Exactly. An ischemic stroke (caused by a clot...a lot of times in people with high cholesterol) can take some time to manifest. Can be painless and the person doesn’t even realize it’s happening.
An hemorrhagic stroke (caused many times by hypertension) can go very fast...can cause death almost instantly. It’s basically an arterial blowout. It is marked by a sudden excruciating headache.