To educate the women of today about the dangers of heart disease, Exempla Lutheran Medical Center in Wheat Ridge brought out the women of tomorrow.
In honor of “Go Red for Women” day, a nationwide movement sponsored by the American Heart Association, employees at Exempla collected nearly 70 red dresses for girls in the Jefferson County Head Start program. Four girls were on hand to model their new dresses at the hospital’s “Go Red for Women” celebration on Friday.
Dozens of employees and guests clad in red crowded the hospital lobby to hear guest speakers and feast on dark chocolate while the 3- and 4 year-old girls posed for pictures.
The red dress symbolizes healthy hearts of future generations, said Dawn Crawford, communications specialist at Exempla.
Women tend to ignore heart symptoms, and come to the hospital with heart attacks hours after a man would, said Mary Shepler, director of critical care cardiovascular services at Exempla Lutheran. Yet heart disease kills more women than all types of cancers, and over half of the hospitals cardiac patients are women, Shepler said. Women also account for more than six in ten stroke deaths.
Women can reduce their risk of heart attack and stroke by monitoring their blood pressure, watching their weight, exercising and avoiding tobacco and excessive alcohol, according to the American Heart Association.
Shepler said women should do a few simple things to be mindful of their hearts.
“Know your cholesterol level as well as you know your shoe size, and love your heart as much as you love your family,” she said.
The Head Start girls, who busied themselves with coloring sheets and crayons after their photo shoot, are a bit too young to understand blood pressure and cholesterol. But they still know a thing or two about their hearts.
“What does your heart say?” Ranee Cheatham asked her 3-year-old daughter, Tana.
“Pump pump, pump pump,” she said.