Using a modified blood pressure cuff to prevent cell death for rural people suffering a heart attack or stroke.

Stroke and heart attacks (HA) are caused by blocked brain or heart blood vessels. The impact of stroke or HA depends in part on time taken to unblock occluded blood vessels. Rural people with stroke or HA receive treatment to unblock vessels later than city folk. The delay to re-perfusion causes damage and worse outcomes for country people experiencing stroke or HA. Late re-perfusion is associated with increased brain or heart injury. A treatment called "remote-ischaemic-conditioning" (RIC) involves a modified blood-pressure cuff that occludes limb blood flow for short periods, is known to protect against re-perfusion injury. The aims of this study are: investigate the feasibility, safety and efficacy of RIC in preventing re-perfusion injury for rural people experiencing a stroke or HA. The expected outcomes of RIC include: lower levels of brain or heart damage and disability following a stroke or HA amongst rural people.