Heart health and public health topped the agenda at Rotary Monday.
February is Heart Month and we welcomed Lima Memorial cardiologist Dr. Pamela Gardner for her annual visit to talk about heart health. Dr. Gardner told us that it's very important for those who have heart failure or a heart attack to get help immediately. She says with the proper medicine and care, the heart can frequently begin functioning properly again. Dr. Gardner also encouraged us know know our numbers such as blood pressure, A1C, cholesterol and heart rate and work to keep them within healthy range with a proper diet, exercise and medicines. Lima Memorial offers two low cost cardiac screenings that can help determine heart health. There are available to anyone without referral from a physician.
Also on Monday's agenda, we met Allen County's new Health Commissioner, Brandon Fischer. The goal of Allen County Public Health is prevention of disease, injury, disability, and premature death. Brandon told us that he concentrates on education and prevention, because the most successful public health programs are the ones that prevent problems and keep the community healthy. Some of the many things that fall under the health department's purview are septic systems, water systems, food safety, STDs, health education, birth records, death records, public health statistics, and much more. But the things that get the most attention are disease outbreaks. Brandon told us that Allen County Public Health actively plans and prepares for things like the COVID pandemic. Their staff is trained in emergency response and they work with other community agencies on plans to deal with pandemics. Again, he says community education is a strong component of their emergency response plan, and they also helped organize the distribution of vaccines in the community. Brandon told us that fortunately the COVID numbers are beginning to go down and we are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
