While Vermillion County is known for its rich cultural heritage and natural beauty, it also faces serious health challenges, ranking among the highest in Indiana for heart disease mortality and holding the second-highest rate of stroke mortality in the state.
The Pulse Program, offered through Union Health Clinton and supported by the Union Health Foundation and Duke Energy, aims to provide essential screenings and vital education to participants, focusing on early identification and risk assessment for heart attacks and strokes.
Since its inception in February, Cale Stewart, RN, CEN, the Clinical Educator at Union Hospital Clinton and Pulse Program Coordinator, has screened and counseled approximately 160 individuals from various organizations throughout Vermillion County, including first responders.
“The Union Health and Duke Energy Pulse Program continues to impact lives in Vermillion County, Stewart said. “Having previously found numbers that skewed higher in screening local fire department personnel, I’ve spent time screening other emergency and first responding emergency personnel. Years spent alongside these individuals—police, fire, EMS and their kindred spirits—had solidified a long-held personal hypothesis: those who dedicate their lives, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, to the care of others, often neglect their own well-being. The elevated numbers that I’ve been seeing in this population of volunteer fire departments and police lend an element of credence to my theory and make that group a continued focus of my efforts.”
Clinton City Fire Chief Chris Strohm says the Pulse Program is invaluable, as it gave his department access to medical screenings they may not have otherwise had.
“Get screened. You need to find out. You need to know. Knowledge is everything. Education is everything,” Strohm said. “The leading causes of firefighter fatalities are cardiovascular events, strokes, diabetes and these are all things that can be found in that screening to give you the knowledge you need to be here to serve your community a lot longer.”
Dakota Wilson, Chief of the Black Diamond Fire Department, says early health detection is key, and the Pulse Program made that possible for his crew.
“I cannot thank Cale and Union enough for it. It was a tremendous thing for my firefighters,” Wilson said. “Keeping my firefighters healthy and safe was a top priority. We found some shortfalls in some of our firefighters and have since been addressed, so I can’t thank Union Health enough for that. That’s a great, great thing. Everyone who was included with it, in a timely fashion – it was a great thing.”
With a population of roughly 15,000, including an estimated additional 220 first responders throughout Vermillion County, Stewart says he still has a lot of work ahead of him.
“There is more reticence and reluctance from individuals to be screened than I had anticipated, but getting out there and being present is the best weapon currently in our arsenal,” Stewart said. “More importantly—and the entire reason we’re doing this—is that some of those I am screening are finding some staggering numbers. These neighbors are then gifted a Heart Scan at Clinton that assesses calcium calcifications in their coronary arteries, and I’ve handed out many. These are potentially life-saving screenings.”
For more information about the Pulse Program, contact Cale Stewart at 765-832-1310.