NHS

Stroke : F.A.S.T.

Stroke is the UK's fourth leading cause of death and the leading cause of complex disability.

Despite the original Act FAST campaign's success, attitudinal data revealed that more than half of adults believed they needed two or three symptoms before calling 999 — a potentially fatal misconception.

To close this gap, we developed a 'hero' film using real audio retrieved from the 999 calls of three stroke survivors. With their permission, this was woven together with present‑day interviews with the callers and emergency responders. The film captured each survivor's reaction to hearing their own call played back for the first time — bringing the human cost of hesitation, and the life‑saving power of acting on just one symptom, into sharp focus.

Survey data underpinning the campaign found that 59% of adults in England were unaware that stroke is among the leading causes of death in the UK, and two in five did not recognise stroke as a medical emergency requiring urgent attention.

The campaign launch generated 280 pieces of earned media coverage spanning national and regional broadcast, print and online.