Chestermere Fire Services (CFS) has started to offer blood pressure clinics at the fire hall Tuesdays and Thursdays.
“They can come by the hall, get their blood pressure taken by a firefighter,” said Firefighter Jeremy Vitale.
The new clinics are an added service that CFS is providing to help out Chestermere’s residents.
The clinics, CFS hopes, will provide some preventative care by allowing residents to monitor their blood pressure over time.
“One of the firefighters will take their blood pressure and then they’ll get a little tracker card of what their numbers were on that day,” he said.
A healthy average blood pressure reading is generally considered to be 120/80mmhg.
While the fire department is providing the blood pressure readings, they aren’t trained or able to provide any diagnosis based on the readings.
The purpose of the clinics is not to diagnose a problem but to give residents the tools to track what their normal blood pressure is and to be able to provide that record to their doctor should a person have any concerns.
To help ensure accurate and readings, Vitale recommends that people come by the hall on clinic days about an hour after eating and avoid coffee, working out or stressful activities prior to coming since all of these can affect a person’s blood pressure.
“Usually when you’re feeling calm and rested is the best time,” said Vitale.
The clinics are being offered after CFS received several questions about whether they offered this service over the last year.
