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Town's schools given blood pressure monitors

Lee Bottomley
BBC Radio Stoke
BBC A woman in a blue T-shirt and blue gilet stands alongside an emergency vehicle, smiling. She has glasses on the top of her head, and an NHS lanyard around her neck and some pens in her picket.BBC
Mary Dorrington, community first responder for Uttoxeter, believes the monitors may have saved a number of lives

A volunteer community first responder in Staffordshire has helped fund blood pressure monitors for 11 local schools through her fundraising.

After testing staff at Picknalls First School in Uttoxeter during a first aid training session, Mary Dorrington found 28 out of 30 had high blood pressure.

Ms Dorrington said many were shocked to see the results, and she believes rolling out the monitors to other schools around the town could already have saved a number of lives.

Untreated, high blood pressure can increase the risk of a heart attack or stroke.

Two women look at the camera and are smiling. The woman on the left is wearing a red top, and has black rimmed glasses. The woman on the right has glasses perched on her head, and is wearing a blue top with the words first responder on it.
Head teacher Anne Tapp (left) said her staff are now keeping a close eye on their blood pressure

The West Midlands Ambulance Service volunteer confirmed that one person's blood pressure was "well beyond" the high limit, and needed addressing straight away.

She said health conditions among teaching staff might not always be picked up as they are often too busy to go to the doctors, struggle as GP surgeries are not open late or over the weekend, or their ailments are put down to a bad day at work.

"I think it has shocked a lot of teachers to realise their blood pressure is far too high," said Ms Dorrington.

Alongside the monitors supplied to each school, they have also received blood pressure charts, a list of symptoms to look out for, and what to do if they get consistently high readings.

"If it can save just one life, then that's great, but the fact that within a couple of weeks it has saved potentially three to five lives is even better," stated the first responder.

Anne Tapp, head teacher of Picknalls First School, said without the checks they would have been unaware of the dangers they were posing to themselves.

"I now have some staff who are on medication for high blood pressure and some staff who are being closely monitored by their GP," she said.

"We walk into the staff room now and, instead of immediately making a cup of tea, you'll find us on the blood pressure monitor."

Ms Dorrington is also hoping to provide a small number of monitors to community spaces in the town.

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Staffordshire school shocked after routine health checks