Health checks at the Championships

by Leith Hillard, CFA Public Affairs

The State Rural Championships were held at Wodonga Showgrounds on 5 & 6 April 5. The event is an excellent opportunity for members to increase and maintain a level of health and physical fitness both through the competition and the free medical check-ups on offer.

Jeff Green, Peter Langridge and Audrey Bermingham from CFA’s Occupational Health and Safety team were kept busy both days in the corporate tent, with people prepared to wait more than 20 minutes for the free check up. Blood glucose testing, weight, blood pressure and heart rate checks are all included.

CFA’s Wellbeing Officer Peter Langridge checks out Captain Koala’s health

“We’ve been doing this for five years now,” Peter says, “but still the numbers over the weekend surprised us. We saw about 400-450 people. Some of them are regulars who come back every year but word of mouth also increases the numbers. It’s obviously a convenient service and available to anyone who attends the champs, not just brigade members.

“We got a return visit from someone we met last year as a 19-year-old. He had very high blood pressure last year for someone his age and we recommended to both him and his mother that he see a doctor as soon as possible to find out why. He told us that he made an appointment not long after he got home and was diagnosed with a benign lymphoma in the neck. He was just very thankful he saw us and got an alert and that’s what we’re about; helping people get treated early.

“We saw a woman who we had also previously recommended visit a doctor. Her doctor subsequently told her that she would have been dead within 12-18 months if her condition hadn’t been caught and treated with medication.

“Anecdotally, we’ve heard of 20 people who’ve followed up with a visit to the doctor after our check up and are now being treated with medication. That’s a great result. This year we recommended that four people make a follow-up appointment with their doctor.”

A blood pressure test cannot diagnose medical conditions but it can indicate there’s a problem that needs follow-up. The blood glucose test may indicate the early stages of diabetes.

The health check-up point also held information on cardiovascular diseases, cancer awareness and general fireground health. The two CFA health websites were also connected and available for anyone who wanted to browse through the issues.