A week ago, when his father had a stroke, Md Rafiq was frantically looking for a healthcare facility to admit him, as he had no idea where to go.

"We first took him to a local doctor at Chattogram city's Pahartali area, and the doctor advised us to admit my father at a hospital. After going from one place to another, we finally ended up at CMCH, but this took a lot of time," Rafiq said.

Rafiq's father is now lying unconscious at the hospital. "Doctors said if treatment had started within three hours after he had the stroke, the damage could have been prevented," he said.

Like Rafiq, many don't know what to do or where to go when a close one has a stroke -- a condition for which time is of essence. Amid this situation, Chattogram Medical College Hospital (CMCH) launched a stroke unit at its neurology ward yesterday, to provide comprehensive treatment for stroke patients.

The 12-bed unit would be run under the neurology ward, said Dr Farhana Moslehuddin, assistant professor of neurology at CMCH, adding that trained doctors, nurses and physiotherapists will provide services.

Stroke patients can be saved from being paralysed, if treatment starts within three hours of the stroke's onset, she said, adding that the new unit could save many patients from paralysis.

Before the launch, stroke patients received treatment either at the hospital's neuromedicine or neurosurgery ward with other patients, said CMCH Director Brig Gen SM Humayun Kabir. "Each of the wards have 45 beds but treat over 150 patients a day. So, it is difficult for doctors and staffers to give their full attention to only stroke patients."

"We have launched the unit so that stroke patients get the highest attention there," he said. "We have provided all logistic facilities and deployed additional manpower to properly run the unit."

It is the second such unit dedicated for stroke patients in the country, he said, adding that before this, the facility was only available at National Institute of Neurosciences and Hospital at Dhaka's Agargaon.

Prof Shahena Akter, principal of Chattogram Medical College, said the unit would hugely benefit stroke patients not only coming from Chattogram, but also from adjacent districts, including Cox's Bazar, Feni, Noakhali, Rangamati, Khagrachhari and Bandarban. As CMCH is the only tertiary hospital in the region, critical patients from the seven districts go there.

Prof Hasanuzzaman Chowdhury, head of CMCH's neurosurgery department, said thrombolytic treatment, the process by which blood clots in blood vessels are broken down, would be introduced at the unit, which will help save lives.

Contacted, Prof Noman Khaled Chowdhury, head of CMCH's neurosurgery ward, said because of his ward always operating beyond capacity, there is no scope to pay special attention to only stroke patients.

For example, he said, 165 patients were receiving treatment at the ward on Monday.

"So, I think the unit will be of great use," he added.

"If a person feels vertigo with vision problems all of a sudden, in association with feeling weak in hands or legs on one side of the body, they may be having a stroke and should be taken to the hospital immediately," he explained.