Rocky Mountain Vein Institute (RMVI), a network of vein centers that offer total vein care, has announced it provided more than 100 vein screenings to participants in the highly educational All You Need is Heart event held in February at The Sebastian in Vail. More than 150 people attended and participated in a variety of cardiovascular screenings including EKGs, cholesterol tests, carotid and venous ultrasounds, cardiologist consultations, stress evaluations and more. After completing the heart health assessments, guests enjoyed breakfast and presentations from three keynote speakers who provided vital, perhaps life-saving, information to the attendees.
Lynn Blake, founder of Starting Hearts kicked off the session with her personal story of survival from sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) as a 27-year-old woman. She described a 5-point plan to educate the community and save more lives in Eagle County. Blake is passionate about implementing this plan because of her own history and because sudden cardiac arrest is the leading cause of unexpected death in the world. Inherent in this plan is mass education, mobilization of the community, and increased access to defibrillation. Dr. Lawrence Gaul, a local cardiologist and US Nordic Ski Team Physician, followed with a presentation about endurance athletes and the effects of high-altitude on the heart. Closing out the event, Dr. Terry Gordon shared his inspirational story about the need to intentionally implement public access to an organized defibrillator program.
The event also included the debut of a new line of fashion-forward compression wear from The Compression Center at the RMVI Vail Valley Clinic. Compression wear has been used to successfully manage or slow the progression of vein problems, and is becoming widely used in the endurance athlete community to improve performance by reducing muscle fatigue and post-exercise lactic acid buildup accumulation.
“Starting Hearts is thrilled about the overwhelming positive feedback and feels that this first year event solidified our position and need in the community,” Blake said. “Our focus was to deliver a unique and unmatched experience, and we are pleased to know that participants and suppliers alike held the event in such high regard. Veins are essential for proper heart function and we are grateful for the services of RMVI and for their support of Starting Hearts. We are excited about our relationship with RMVI and about the opportunities for future collaborations. Through this partnership, we are even better positioned to save more lives.”
Proceeds from the “All You Need is ♥ (Heart)” Expo will benefit the life-saving initiatives in the Vail Valley community and include: comprehensive public access to defibrillation strategies, free public CPR/AED education and training programs, and citizen emergency alert/response systems.
For further information about Rocky Mountain Vein Institute, contact Erin Gibbs, RMVI Services CEO, at 719-966-7684 or egibbs@rmviservices.com. Information about Rocky Mountain Vein Institute can be found at Rocky Mountain Vein Institute, or by calling the RMVI Vail Valley Clinic at 970-763-7600. For more information about Starting Hearts, contact Lynn Blake at lynn@startinghearts.org or 970-331-3983, or visit the website at Starting Hearts.