Piedmont Macon holds free heart screening event

The Piedmont Macon Medical Center held its Healthy Heart Screening event Friday morning as part of American Heart Month.

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – The Piedmont Macon Medical Center held its Healthy Heart Screening event Friday morning as part of American Heart Month.

The free event included blood pressure screenings, weight and BMI checks, hip-to-waist ratio checks and a blood test to check cholesterol, triglyceride, and glucose levels.

Director of Cardiovascular Services, Debbie Bryan, explained why it is important for people to get regular heart screenings.

“It actually can prevent a heart attack,” she said. “It could prevent cardiac arrest, or it could prevent, I mean actually it could save your life,” she said.

According to Bryan, some of the methods for lowering risk of heart disease include exercise, healthy eating, and getting enough sleep. She said the best way for someone to test for heart disease is to talk with their doctor about heart health, discuss family history, and request an EKG or additional lab-work.

Event staff also provided information about healthy nutrition and stroke prevention. Monica Cook, Stroke Coordinator at Piedmont Macon, urged the importance of acting fast when experiencing stroke symptoms.

“The most important thing I want you to take away from today is that our community needs to respond by calling 9-1-1,” Cook said. “We don’t want patients to drive themselves. We don’t want them to drive family members or friends. We want them to call 9-1-1 so they can expedite that care to make sure their brain is getting the attention that it deserves if they’re having a stroke, and then coming in the window of time for medical treatment.”

Cook explained the appropriate time-frame for treating a stroke is within three hours of experiencing symptoms, with the first hour being the most ideal time for treatment.

Piedmont Macon has held these screenings in the past, but this was their first screening event since the pandemic began.