Lions schedule free health-care day
The Lions Health Screening Unit will again be rolling into Rathdrum to take part in a Health Care Day for area residents on June 18.
Sponsored by the Rathdrum Lions Club, the LHSU will provide free health screenings for blood pressure, glaucoma, diabetes, vision and hearing. Other health-care professionals will provide screenings for osteoporosis and skin cancer, and mammograms will be offered for women who have met the qualifications of need and are pre-registered. All screening and testing will be free.
An Inland Northwest Blood Center bloodmobile is scheduled to be on site from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and representatives from the Dirne Clinic, Susan G. Komen Clinic, Aging Connections, Adult Mental Health, Living Wills, ID-A-KID and other health-related professionals including an exercise physiologist/dietitian will be on hand to answer questions and distribute health-care information.
The Health Care Day has been organized in the hopes those in need will take advantage of the free testing and screening opportunities and the chance to learn about the medical and health-related services available in their community – like the Dirne Community Health Center. Located in Coeur d’Alene, the Dirne Center is a federally funded health-care facility designed to improve access to health care for those who cannot afford health insurance and those who are uninsurable. The facility includes a primary medical clinic with 11 exam rooms and a mental health center. Dental care is also provided through a cooperative network of local dentists.
Those attending will get a firsthand look at the 62-foot-long, 11-foot-high LHSU – a state-of-the-art, state-licensed, mobile unit. A program of the Northwest Lions Foundation for Sight and Hearing, the LHSU has been traveling throughout Washington and North Idaho since 1997, providing screening to more than 30,000 people annually, including 25,000 schoolchildren. Health professionals traveling on the diagnostic unit oversee the screenings, aided by local Lions Club members and other volunteers from the local community.
Whether it is in town for screenings for schoolchildren or the public, the local Lions have the screenings down to an art – and once the graphic-covered, easy to recognize LHSU rolls into town, a well-prepared crew takes over. With assigned jobs, organized registration and plenty of volunteers, including one who wears the Lion costume if they can find a volunteer willing to don it, screenings are handled quickly and professionally.
Last September, the Rathdrum Lions Club brought the LHSU to Rathdrum to screen local school children. During a two-day stay, the unit visited every elementary school in the district, providing vision and hearing screening to hundreds of Lakeland School District students. According to Northwest Lions Foundation information, the service they provide is vital because most schools lack the required resources to conduct vision and hearing screenings to K-1-2-3-5-7 students as required by state law.
The information indicates the LHSU also provides vital programs for the public, including testing and screenings for the following:
•Diabetes: The diabetes screen test determines a person’s risk for diabetes. A drop of blood is drawn and tested for its blood sugar content.
•Glaucoma: Testing for glaucoma is administered by a tonometer, which emits a puff of air into the air to determine eye pressure.
•Blood pressure: Blood pressure will be measured using an inflatable cuff and an automatic blood pressure machine.
•Hearing: Hearing ability is measured by computer operated audiometers in a soundproof booth.
•Vision: Distance vision is tested using a Snellen Chart, and a macular degeneration test may be administered if needed.
Visitors will also have the chance to learn about the Inland Northwest Blood Center and the important part they play in our medical community. According to information provided by the INBC, their bank is the primary blood provider to the Inland Northwest region, serving an area with a population of nearly one million residents.
The INBC bloodmobile drive receives tremendous support from the community and is nearly 95 percent booked a year in advance, and their message, “Giving blood saves lives,” reaches thousands each year, including hundreds of our local high school students who provide over 14 percent of the Inland Northwest’s blood supply through INBC’s HERO program.
The free Lions Health Care Day will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Lakeland High School Parking Lot in Rathdrum. Contact the city at 687-2399 for more information or to sign up for a mammogram.