The LOW Lions Club's free blood-pressure screenings, offered for lo these many years in the Clubhouse foyer two Wednesday evenings a month, have entered a new era. It features:
- New locations plus a change in day and time for one screening.
- Screeners with vastly more training using more sophisticated equipment.
One monthly screening is still being held on the first Wednesday in the Clubhouse, at the same time, 5:30 to 6:30 PM. It has moved from the foyer, hower, to the Presidential Room, just off the entrance to the foyer. The second screening is now being held in Room 216 at the LOW Church, on the third Sunday, from 9:30 AM to 11.
Doing the screening now are members of a group of retired nurses, the NUNs--Nurses United Networks--and they are reading blood pressure the way it is done in doctor's offices and hospitals. The Lions who conducted the screenings before did so with electronic home-use monitors, which can give erratic readings if used again and again in a short period.
Lions still play an important role in the screenings, steering people to them and helping out in other ways as needed. The NUNS, led by Lioness Zoila Ortega, were formed among LOW Lioness Club members and have been joined by other retired nurses who are not Lionesses. They are providing cards on which 12 monthly readings can be recorded, for sharing with doctors.
Their offer to partner with the Lions in the screenings was enthusiastically accepted. Peter Williams, who co-chairs the Lions' blood pressure committee, says the club is grateful not only to them, but to the LOW Church. Its location can be reached without a significant drawback that the Clubhouse location has: Climbing steps from the parking lots before taking the test can elevate readings. Also, some people who frequently attend the church might only rarely visit the Clubhouse.
Williams says he hopes the changes will encourage many more LOW residents to take tests that will help protect them against the "Silent Killer'', as high blood pressure has been called.