The woman is telling everyone to get checked after the test saw her rushed to A&E

A woman says everyone should do it after a routine workplace health check told her to “go to A&E straight away”. Fit and healthy Justine Daly was shocked to discover she had dangerously high blood pressure during a routine health check at work.

“My employer arranged for Northern Ireland Chest Heart and Stroke (NICHS) to come to our workplace in Belfast to carry out health checks in March. I saw this as an opportunity to check things out for either peace of mind or a nudge for change. something,” she said.

“I had a similar check in 2019 and although my blood pressure was elevated, it was nowhere near a critical level. I certainly didn’t expect to find out that my blood pressure was off the Richter scale and that I would need to go to A&E straight away. .”

“My other test results were all great. I had a metabolic age of 40 and at 54 I was delighted to hear this. When it came time for the blood pressure check, Valerie (from the NICHS health promotion team) did it to my left. arm and said, “Okay, go to the beach, you’re standing on the beach,” and then he asked me again to try and relax, and then he measured my right arm, and then he said I needed to go to A&E as my blood pressure was dangerously high.”

Justine said BelfastLive : “It took a moment for the news that it was so big to sink in. I experienced nothing, no symptoms or warning signs, that would have made me concerned about my blood pressure or my health in general. I expected that. to be raised like before, but not as high, I had to go to the hospital.

“Valerie could see the look of horror on my face and must have thought another course of action might be worth trying. She said I should call my GP surgery and ask for their advice. If they felt I didn’t necessarily have to go straight. to A&E and she would arrange an urgent appointment with my doctor, then she would be happy with that advice.

“Valerie waited with me until I got a call back from my doctor, who was very reassuring and kind. My surgery prioritized me, making an appointment for the next morning and Valerie advised me to go home and do nothing but rest, which I did. She was able to make me understand that this was extremely important, but without being hard on me.

“Obviously I felt quite anxious because being told you have to go to A&E makes you realize how serious the situation is. Valerie was so calm and caring though and that really helped me too. I saw my doctor the next day and he was fantastic. He checked me out and given my history of high blood pressure, immediately prescribed medication. He explained that trying to make lifestyle changes like losing weight was not the case. reducing my salt intake.

“The nurse took my blood to get a baseline and I had to go back two weeks later for a review and an ECG. The doctor was happy with everything so I was advised to continue taking my medication as prescribed and come back in a month. for additional control.”

Justine wants to encourage others to get their blood pressure checked. She said: “At first I thought, ‘it might not be that bad because I don’t feel anything, I feel fine’, but that’s the thing that a lot of people don’t realise, no you definitely have symptoms when your blood pressure is through the roof. I felt absolutely no signs that I was worried about my blood pressure.”