How to Identify if Someone Had A Stroke

I feel it is important to copy and paste this wikiHow with the above title here:

1. Know the symptoms of a stroke:
   
   • Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body
   • Sudden inability to talk or understand what is being spoken to you
   • Sudden confusion or disorientation
   • Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes
   • Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination
   • Sudden, severe headache with no known cause (only in case of hemorrhagic stroke). Most of the times stroke is not associated with a headache.
2. Find out if the symptoms are new. Any of these symptoms can be caused by other conditions, but what makes them characteristic of a stroke is that they appear suddenly. For example, a person may have had an injury in their childhood that prevents a part of their mouth from moving. In such a case, it is not caused by a stroke and does not require emergency treatment.
3. Seek immediate emergency treatment if any of the above symptoms are suddenly present. Call your local emergency number and tell the dispatcher that you believe this person has had a stroke. You may be asked by the emergency operator or dispatcher to ask the person some questions, which are outlined in the next step, if the person cannot be reached by emergency staff quickly enough. When the person is picked up by the ambulance or admitted to the hospital, let the staff know that he or she may have had a stroke.
4. Prevent the person from eating or drinking until they can be tested and treated by trained medical personnel. Over one third of people affected by a stroke have subsequent swallowing problems which can lead to choking or aspiration.
   

Tips
Anyone can have a stroke. Don't assume that because someone is young and fit that they are not having a stroke. If you see any of the stroke symptoms, act fast, without exception.

Warnings
Avoid wasting time with the "smile test" which has been made popular through e-mail. It is a simplified version of the Cincinnati Prehospital Stroke Scale (CPSS), used by paramedics or emergency medical technicians (EMTs) to determine if a person is a victim of a stroke. While research suggests that most people can administer this test under the direction of a professional (i.e. over the phone) there is no evidence that it is effective without such guidance. The "smile test" involves asking the person to smile, speak a sentence, and raise both arms, but it does not cover all the symptoms of a stroke and it does not indicate specifically what to look for when the person is answering (e.g. raise arms pointing up? forwards? to the side? for how long?).