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Smoke Alarms, Blood Pressure Checks Coming to Hayward Neighborhood

Oct 02, 2014

Smoke Alarms, Blood Pressure Checks Coming to Hayward Neighborhood

The American Red Cross, City of Sioux Falls and other partners are coming together for Growing Resilient Sioux Falls on Saturday, October 11, in the Hayward Elementary neighborhood.

This effort is a "community resiliency blitz" to install smoke alarms in homes, perform blood pressure checks, and educate individuals and families about how to be proactive with their health and home safety. Members of Sioux Falls Fire Rescue will be part of the volunteer teams that will go out into the neighborhood, installing the latest technology in smoke alarms in houses that do not currently have a working smoke alarm. These devices provide 10 years of protection without changing batteries.

More than 90% of the disasters that the American Red Cross responds to every year are fire-related. Fire is our nation's silent disaster. Each year, home fires impact more people than any other disaster, and 75% of fires are preventable. In 62% of home fire deaths across the country, there as no working smoke alarm in the house. Along with the smoke alarm installation, volunteers will educate and empower residents to prepare for many types of disasters like winter weather, tornadoes, and flooding.

In addition to knowing about the silent disaster (fire), individuals also need to be aware of the silent killer - high blood pressure.  Nationally, one in three American adults has high blood pressure, and most do not even know it. There are often no symptoms until a more serious health condition occurs, such as heart attack or stroke. In Sioux Falls, an annual screening project called The Big Squeeze has shown that as many as two-thirds of adults screened in our community falls in the "at risk" or "high" ranges of blood pressure. During Growing Resilient Sioux Falls, the teams will also provide blood pressure checks because in order to be resilient, individuals must take care of their health.

When an individual, community or business is healthy and prepared, they will be more resilient in times of emergency and will recover sooner.