Group Heroes:
Stamp Out Stroke

New Haven, Connecticut
“We are immensely grateful for the AHA recognizing the efforts of Stamp Out Stroke. We hope that by sharing our group’s story that others will be moved to act in their own communities to spread this critical and life-saving knowledge!” – Rachel Forman, MD

If Stamp Out Stroke (SOS) leaders have their way, Connecticut will one day become stroke-free.

A community outreach initiative of Yale School of Medicine and Yale New Haven Hospital, SOS was established in 2005 to spread awareness about stroke risk factors, warning signs and the importance of receiving prompt care.

Nearly two decades later, SOS provides more than 15 outreach events a year that focus mostly on people in under-resourced areas who don’t primarily speak English. SOS analyzed patient demographic data, including age, race and ethnicity, to identify areas with gaps in stroke awareness.

SOS volunteers include nurses, nurse navigators, physicians, neuropsychologists, neurology residents, rehab professionals and students studying to become doctors, physician assistants and nurses. Some volunteers speak Spanish, facilitating work with organizations such as Junta for Progressive Action, New Haven’s oldest Latino nonprofit.

The SOS board includes six medical students and two neurology residents who are leading volunteers to make a difference in New Haven and throughout Connecticut.

Among their activities, SOS volunteers:

  • Host engagement booths at health and wellness fairs, community festivals and sporting events.
  • Visit senior and community centers, service clubs, schools, places of worship and immigrant and refugee education programs.
  • Put on an annual Stroke Awareness Town Hall that more than 100 Yale employees and New Haven residents typically attend.

In summer 2022, the group hosted a one-week lecture series, Stroke Busters, for high school students at Yale’s Pathways Summer Scholars science camp, which was highlighted at the American Stroke Association’s 2023 International Stroke Conference. (Students watched a thrombectomy demonstration and stroke code simulation.)

In the past two years, SOS’s 50-plus volunteers have reached more than 1,100 people in New Haven and surrounding communities and hosted over 40 events. To increase its reach, SOS collaborates with numerous local groups and agencies, including the New Haven Health Department, New Haven Police Department and Greater New Haven NAACP. And it has built relationships with stroke teams across the state to spread its message beyond the Yale campus.