NI Chest Heart & Stroke say a blood pressure check takes seconds and could help save your life
The Northern Ireland Chest Heart & Stroke Health (NICHS) promotion team will be visiting MACE Ballinderry, Cookstown, on Tuesday, June 2 from 10am to 1pm to provide a free pop-up blood pressure checks to the local community.
They say they want to provide people with a convenient opportunity to get their blood pressure checked.
Fidelma Carter, Head of Public Health at NICHS said: “A blood pressure check is simple and only takes a few minutes, but it really could help save your life.”
“If you can’t make it to the pop-up checks there are several other ways you can get your blood pressure checked. You can make an appointment with your GP practice, where a practice nurse may be able to take your blood pressure, or you can visit your local pharmacy, many of which offer blood pressure monitoring services.
"We recognise that it can be difficult for some people to get a GP appointment, so we are also encouraging people to consider buying a home blood pressure monitoring machine if possible.”
The NICHS is currently running a blood pressure awareness campaign due to the charity’s concern around the number of people living with undetected high blood pressure and the fact 1 in 2 heart attacks and strokes are linked to the condition.
As part of the campaign, NICHS will be offering free blood pressure checks at selected MACE stores, and they are urging the public to come along and have their blood pressure measured.
Diane Anthony, from MACE, said they are delighted to play their part in supporting the awareness campaign and welcome their charity partner to their stores to deliver blood pressure checks.