Blood Pressure Awareness Day

Blood Pressure Awareness Day – Wellington Free Ambulance call to action

Wellington Free Ambulance will be stationed at supermarkets around the Wellington, Kapiti and Wairarapa regions to give people free blood pressure checks during the Stroke Foundation’s fifth annual blood pressure awareness day on Saturday 5 October.

Selected New World and Pak n Save supermarkets around New Zealand will be taking part on Saturday in an attempt to beat last year’s record of 20,000 shoppers tested or given information.

Wellington Free Ambulance Chief Executive Diana Crossan says it is a great initiative and Wellington Free is proud to be involved.

“A simple blood pressure check can save lives. High blood pressure can cause strokes and heart attacks yet many people don’t even know they have it. ”

The free tests are available between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.

Last year almost 50 per cent of shoppers showed blood pressure readings above the normal range and almost 2000 shoppers were referred to a GP or nurse as a result of a high blood pressure reading.

Wellington Free paramedics and event medics will be assisting Rotary and the Stroke Foundation at the following stores on October 5 between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.

PaknSave: Upper Hutt, Kapiti and Hutt City.

New World: Miramar, Newlands, Newtown, Paremata, Porirua City, Railway Metro, Stokes Valley, Tawa, Thorndon, Whitby, Willis Street Metro and Masterton.

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