RÁPIDO: Houston-born stroke awareness acronym for Spanish speakers adopted nationwide

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Hispanics are twice as likely as Caucasians to suffer a stroke and less likely to recognize the symptoms, experts say.

The American Stroke Association recently adopted a tool created by Houstonians intended to help solve this problem.

For 25 years, the acronym FAST has helped English speakers quickly identify stroke symptoms -- facial drooping, arm weakness, speech difficulties and time to act.

"Unfortunately, it was only in English," said Dr. Jennifer Beauchamp, an Associate Professor at the UT Health Cizik School of Nursing and a director at the UTHealth Houston Institute for Stroke and Cerebrovascular Diseases.

Dr. Beauchamp and two Hispanic undergraduate honors nursing students, Andrea Ancer Leal and Alejandra Castro, got to work on what became RÁPIDO, an acronym that means "fast" in English, and which effectively describes stroke symptoms and how to respond.

• Rostro caído = Drooping face

• Alteración del Equilibrio = Balance issues

• Pérdida de fuerza = Loss of strength in an arm or leg

• Impedimento visual = Blurry vision

• Dificultad para hablar = Trouble speaking

• Obtenga ayuda RAPIDO, llame emergencias = Get help fast, call 911

Glenda Torres, a young, healthy research coordinator from El Salvador currently studying stroke victims at UT Health understands the need for more awareness better than most.

Two years ago, Torres felt dizzy after her nightly run and collapsed, becoming a patient in her own unit.

"You have to pay really close attention. I still have a little bit of a droop on my left side," she told us, pointing to her face. "I really do not feel anything on my left side."

Her first responder was her father, who did not recognize the symptoms.

"When I finally was able to get up on my knees, my father noticed that my face was drooping to the side and so he called my mother and said, 'This is not normal,'" Torres recalled.

"Once you see a sign, every minute you lose approximately two million brain cells," Dr. Beauchamp said. "So, it's very crucial to get help quickly."

UT Health tested out the acronym, and so did the American Stroke Association. In September, the nonprofit announced it would adopt RÁPIDO nationwide.

"I'm so proud of the nursing students that were a part of it," Dr. Beauchamp said. "We're really excited. We've already heard of lives that have been saved. So we just expect more and more of that."