Tegan Collins, Cardiac Physiologist with one of the heart monitors funded by the 2014 Pedal Power
Bournemouth Hospital Charity is asking supporters to ‘help a heart’ by signing up to its Pedal Power event to raise money for the Royal Bournemouth Hospital’s Heart Unit.
On Sunday 27 September, cyclists are invited to take part in a sponsored 10km, 50km or 100km ride through the New Forest to help fund a much-needed replacement electrocardiograph (ECG) machine.
Last year’s popular cycling event raised more than £5,000 for cardiac monitors, and saw over 160 cyclists take to roads. These monitors work by tracking a patient’s heart rhythm over a seven-day period. The device is attached to a patient while they are in hospital and continues to track their rhythm when they go home. Without this kit, patients would need to stay in hospital to be monitored.
Dr Adrian Rozkovec, Consultant Cardiologist on the Heart Unit, said, “The additional capacity has reduced waiting times and enabled patients to collect a monitor straight after a consultant appointment rather than having to wait for one to come back from another patient”.
“This type of monitor is often the way we detect serious heart rhythm disturbances and determines the subsequent treatment.”
The replacement electrocardiograph (ECG) machine is very much needed; ECGs, an electrical trace of the heart, are a fundamental investigation for the majority of inpatients and also many outpatients. These machines are used throughout the Trust, but particularly in the Heart Unit and play an essential role in the diagnosis and treatment of heart disease. Around 60,000 ECGs are carried out each year.
For more information and to register for this event, please visit www.bournemouthhospitalcharity.org.uk and complete the sign-up form. The entry fee is £15 per person, which includes a charity T-shirt. Under 16’s are £5 (children under 12 are free). To find out more, please call the Charity Office on 01202 704060.
