National Wear Red Day

Today is the 15th National Wear Red Day, a day that brings awareness to heart disease especially in women. News 25’s Kendra Turley gives us a look at how people along the Coast raised awareness about the wide spread disease.
In the United States, cardiovascular diseases kill approximately one woman every 80 seconds. The good news is that 80 percent of cardiac events can be prevented with education and lifestyle changes. Garden Park Medical Center CEO Brenda Waltz said, “Typically we think of the men having the big beating chest pains and those type of things, but women are just as prone. Usually it’s in the older women, but not always.”
Dozens of Garden Park Medical Center employees, as well as thousands of people across the nation, wore red today in an effort to draw attention to the signs and symptoms of heart disease. Associated Director of Emergency Services Nik Bollmeyer said, “If you are experience any shoulder pain, neck pain, jaw pain, lower back pain, shortness of breath, anything of that nature, we definitely want you to come to the hospital.”
In the medical field they say ‘time is muscle.’ For every second blood flow to the heart is blocked, heart muscle is being deprived of oxygen. The Go Red for Women movement advocates for more research regarding women’s heart health. Garden Park employees observed the day by praying for the many women who struggle with the disease day-to-day. “We wanted to raise awareness, not only for the health care providers, but for the women in this community to make them realize if something is going on take care of it. Don’t wait until it gets to a tragic situation,” said Waltz.