HUNTERS GET THEIR HEALTH CHECKED
JERSEY SHORE - With major fall hunting seasons just around
the corner, many area residents are scouting hunting locations, sighting in
their weapons, practicing shooting skills and checking their equipment to make
sure it's serviceable.
Eighty-five hunters went an extra step with their
preparations on Tuesday. At the sixth annual Hunters' Health Screening at
Jersey Shore Hospital, they got checked out literally from head to toe to make
sure their internal equipment is up to the demands of hiking mountainous
territory in cold weather in pursuit of deer, turkeys and other game.
Each participant underwent a series of tests, including
vision screening, risk-factor evaluation, blood-pressure and cholesterol tests
and a foot exam. Probably the most important, though, was an electrocardiogram
(EKG) for heart stresses.
"It's important, especially for people who don't have
regular doctor visits", said Donald Kelley of Clintondale.
Kelley, 75, said he sees a doctor regularly and doesn't have
any serious health problems, but he decided to get checked out, anyway. "It
never hurts to be safe, and I haven't had an EKG in awhile."
Roy Kleckner, 72, of Loganton, said this was his third
Hunters' Health Screening. "I'm not learning anything I didn't already know
from my doctor. I just wanted to get checked out to make sure."
Kelly and Kleckner were two of the program's target
populations, said community health director Cindy Grenninger. "We try to get
the older men because they're the ones who are most likely to have problems."
The average age of Pennsylvania's one million hunters is
over 40 and climbing. Each fall and winter, dozens of them die from heart
attacks from traveling over steep terrain in cold temperatures.
Other hospitals in the region have held hunter screening
sessions for about 20 years: Jersey Shore Hospital's was just the first this
year.
The screening can be life-saving. "We discovered a lot of
abnormal heart rhythms and ischemia (poor oxygen supply to the heart) that can
lead to heart attacks when they're out in the woods", Grenninger said.
"One 80-year-old man had such a bad ticker that he was
admitted for treatment right out of screening two years ago", Grenninger said.
"He comes to visit all the time and tells us we saved his life."
"He hasn't stopped hunting", she said, "but he lets others
chase the deer to him now."
Dr. Asif Javed was reading the EKGs for the screening
participates. Despite their high average age, most are in pretty good shape, he
said.
More than 90 percent of them have absolutely normal hearts.
" That is about what we would expect from people who spend a lot of time
outdoors",he said. "In a regular doctor's office, more than 90 percent of the
people don't have normal hearts."
Dean Younkin of Jersey Shore RR was, at 52, one of the
younger participates. He said he has been attending the screenings since they
began six years ago.
"It's a good way to make sure everything is working
correctly", he said. "I have high blood pressure and high cholesterol,
anyway."
He said he's been hunting for 40 years and doesn't want
anything to interfere with his favorite pastime, especially preventable health
problems.
"Sometimes, the best health care is preventive", said Jason
Shade, the hospitals marketing director. "It's part of the hospital's mission
to promote community wellness."
The only requirement for screening is that a person have a
current hunting license.
Gender is not an issue, but Debbie Neyhart of Rauchtown was
one of a handful of women who showed up.
A hunter for close to 20 years, Neyhart said she got a flier
about the screening in the mail and decided it would be reassuring to have
health professionals certify that she is fit.
Asked what she had learned, she joked, "I've learned that
men are impatient . . . but I already knew that."
Grenninger said few women seem interested in the hunter
screening, partly because the hospital offers many other women's health
programs throughout the year.
The turnout Wednesday was about average, compared with
previous years, Grenninger said.
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