New volunteer Stroke Scheme group commencing in Dundalk

The Redeemer Centre in Dundalk

A new volunteer Stroke Scheme group is commencing in Dundalk.

The group welcomes anyone who has suffered from a stroke to come along to the Redeemer Resource Centre on Wednesday mornings from 11am to 1pm.

It will be a social group with a cup of tea and a chat, as well as some group physio and games. Most importantly it gives you the chance to meet others who understand the effects of stroke.

Anyone who is interested can contact coordinator Sinead Crawley on 0861300238, or email sinead_crawley@yahoo.com

Stroke awareness event coming to the Marshes

The Marshes

A free stroke awareness event will take place on Wednesday March 25^th in the Marshes Shopping Centre.

The event will run from 4pm to 6pm and coincides with the Irish Heart Foundation’s National Stroke Awareness Week, which runs from March 23^rd to 28^th.

Staff from the HSE’s health promotion department and stroke rehabilitation teams will be present at the event to provide general health information and discuss stroke-related issues.

Free blood pressure checks in the Marshes Shopping Centre today

The Irish Heart Foundation are in the Marshes Shopping Centre today to hand out information to mark World Stroke Day.

As well as providing you tips on how to improve your diet, you will also be able to get your blood pressure checked for free.

Representatives of the Irish Heart Foundation will be in the centre until 6pm and all are invited to pop in and talk to them.

Volunteers sought in Blackrock and Haggardstown for defibrillator support group

An appeal has been issued to residents in the Blackrock and Haggardstown area to become volunteers in the Community Cardiac Responder scheme.

Spokesperson Joan McAdam stressed the importance of the scheme.

She said: We are a linked group with the National Ambulance Scheme and we are trained to respond to heart attack, stroke, choking and cardiac arrest.

“Training is free if you agree to go on a rota to be free to respond maybe once a week for a day or a night. Otherwise training is €40pp.”

Anyone who wishes to get involved is asked to contact Joan by emailing pjemcadam@gmail.com

 

New stroke support group to launch in Dundalk tomorrow

The launch will take place in the Crowne Plaza

A new stroke support group will meet in the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Dundalk this Friday.

The venture, which is being setup by the Irish Heart Foundation and the HSE, will launch at 2pm and will include an information session for parents, relatives and health care workers with key note presentations from Dr Martin Mulroy of the Irish Heart Foundation and local stroke survivor David Taaffe and his wife Ruth.

Monthly meetings are scheduled to begin from November 14^th.

Admission is free and all are welcome to attend.

For further details call Emma-Jane on 01 634 6925 or email emorrissey@irishheart.ie

Meeting tomorrow to expand community cardiac first responder scheme countywide

A voluntary community cardiac first responder scheme has been achieving life saving results in the months since being established in the Blackrock/Haggardstown area.

The scheme supplies help within minutes to a person in the area who has called 999 with symptoms of choking, heart attack or stroke. In the 10 months it has been in operation there have been 12 call outs.

Now the group behind the scheme are attempting to roll it out to the rest of the county. Ideally, they would like to see each group cover an area of between 6km-8km.

A general meeting to set up a Louth committee will take place tomorrow night (Thursday) at 7.30pm in the Dundalk Gaels hall at the back of the new Tesco superstore, on the site of the old Dundalk Shopping Centre.

For further details email 1barryhennessy@eircom.net

Dundalk company invents ‘Cool Brain’ device that could save lives

The ‘Cool Brain’ device

A Dundalk-based firm, in collaboration with researchers from Trinity College Dublin, has invented a ‘Cool Brain’ device designed to cool the brain in the event of a stroke, heart attack or brain trauma and thus save lives.

Local company Eurolec Instrumentation – who are based on the St Alphonsus Road – is looking to commercialise a technology it has patented called ‘Cool Brain’.

The device is designed to cool the brain at the earliest possibility in the event of a stroke, heart attack or brain trauma to effect the best possible prognosis. Following the recent tragic accident that befell racing driver Michael Schumacher when skiing, the device is topical and relevant.

The device was developed in collaboration with researchers from Trinity College Dublin’s neuroscience department.

Eurolec Instrumentation’s managing director Tom Mears said the device, a kind of cooling cap, can be charged for one-hour via mains or a 12v paramedic vehicle battery.

“My company has been examining methods of modifying the device to improve the performance. We’re endeavouring to liaise with medical consultants to use the technology for other applications, such as transporting harvested human organs with strict temperature limits or accelerating soft tissue healing in sports and veterinary applications with pads that can heat or cool.”

Mears said the plan is to commercialise the product through a spin-out company called Oriel Medical Devices and is open to discussing the technology with medical consultants and investors.

“Traditionally, our experience has not been in the area of medical devices but this has really opened our eyes to a whole new range of opportunities and we’re interested in working with entrepreneurs who can help us to bring this further.

“We’re convinced there are global opportunities for this technology,” Mears said.

National Blood Pressure Day screenings in Dundalk next Thursday

Operation Transformation’s National Blood Pressure Day will take place on Thursday 23 January with test centres being set up in shopping centres across the country.

In Dundalk, the team from the Irish Heart Foundation and Irish Medical Organisation are coming to the Long Walk Shopping Centre to test people’s blood pressure free of charge.

To make an appointment for one of the Operation Transformation Blood Pressure Screenings simply email ot@rte.ie with the following information:

1. Name
2. Age
3. Contact Telephone Number
4. Preferred Shopping centre:
5. Preferred time between 9am and 11.45am
6. If you have had your blood pressure tested before. And if so when?
7. Do you have any concerns regarding your current blood pressure?

A member of the Operation Transformation Team will contact you with an appointment. They will also send you a registration form that you need to bring with you to your screening.

Blood pressure is the pressure of the blood in the arteries. A certain amount of pressure is needed to keep the blood flowing around the body. A blood pressure reading consists of two numbers usually shown as one on top of the other and measured in mmHg (millimetres of mercury). If the blood pressure reading is 120 / 80mmHg the doctor or nurse may refer to it as “120 over 80”.

High blood pressure – or hypertension – means that blood pressure is constantly higher than the recommended level. Blood pressure should be below 140/ 90. For those who have heart and circulatory disease (such as coronary heart disease or stroke) or diabetes or kidney disease, then blood pressure should be below 130 / 80.

High blood pressure is a major risk factor for coronary heart disease, stroke, heart failure and atrial fibrillation. People with uncontrolled high blood pressure are at risk of cardiovascular disease, which is the number one cause of death in Ireland. People with high blood pressure are more likely to have other risk factors for cardiovascular disease such as diabetes and high cholesterol, than those with normal blood pressure. These additional risk factors interact with each other, increasing cardiovascular risk much more, even if blood pressure is only slightly raised. High blood pressure increases with age. High blood pressure rarely causes any signs and symptoms until the damage affects your health. For this reason it is often dubbed the ‘silent killer’.

For more details on National Blood Pressure Day visit here.