Alabama

Secondhand smoke kills, but the good news is we know that comprehensive smokefree laws can help reduce heart attack rates in a given community almost immediately after they go into effect. In the absence of action by the Alabama Legislature to pass a strong statewide smokefree law, we’re taking our fight city by city until they step up. The most recent Alabama community to join the chorus of smokefree cities is Anniston, Alabama!

On April 23, the Anniston City Council passed an ordinance that covers all workplaces, including restaurants and bars. We couldn’t be more pleased that local leaders stepped up to the plate to promote a healthy and vibrant Anniston.

Email this success to state lawmakers in the Anniston area today and let them know their community is now smokefree!

For many Alabama residents with or at-risk for heart disease or stroke, access to health care coverage could mean the difference between life and death. Still, Governor Bentley has voiced his opposition to covering thousands more Alabamians through the current Medicaid program.

Luckily, Alabama lawmakers recently passed legislation restructuring the Medicaid program in our state, potentially addressing the Governor’s concerns and making expanded access to health care coverage a possibility for our friends and neighbors in need. Patients covered under Medicaid are much more likely to control their risk factors for heart disease and stroke than those who are uninsured, and thousands of Alabamians stand to benefit from expanded access to Medicaid. 

We’ve had several conversations with lawmakers and many of them are considering supporting Medicaid Expansion, but do you know what they told us? They’re simply waiting to hear from their constituents. Now is your time! Click here to let your lawmakers know you support increasing access to health care coverage for Alabamians.

Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll send you You're the Cure alerts, asking you to email your lawmakers and the Governor on this very important issue. Let’s take this small window of opportunity and make it work for the thousands of Alabamians with or at-risk for CVD and stroke who desperately need access to quality health care. 

Alabama is on the move in fighting heart disease in babies! It was recently announced the official rule to make pulse oximetry a universal screening on all newborns will be introduced to the Alabama State Board of Health on March 20, 2013. Thank you for your support on this life saving issue.

Today is the 10^th National Wear Red Day. In honor of the day, Go Red for Women asks that women Go Red across the country in new and bold ways. Go Red by wearing red, raising funds for research and standing with women in their fight against their No. 1 killer – heart disease. Let’s turn America Red to shine a spotlight on heart disease in women.

So, how are you going red today? Let us know in the comment section below.

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, we’d like to thank you, as a You’re the Cure advocate, for educating your lawmakers and others on many important heart and stroke issues. Our turkeys are holding signs for key issues that we’re thankful you supported. We did leave one sign blank just for you! Leave a comment below and tell us what your turkey is thankful for this year.

Last week we had the opportunity to vote in the national elections and several statewide posts as well here in Alabama. Our legislative and regulatory advocacy efforts are in full swing as we fight heart disease in our state.

Click here to see our public policy agenda and read about the issues we hope state decision makers will address this upcoming year. We’ll need your help to ask decision makers to make heart health a priority, as we work towards our mission to build healthier lives, free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke. Stay tuned for various ways you can help!

Alabama Public Policy Agenda 2013

Alabama’s Advocacy Subcommittee recently voted on the 2013 Public Policy Priorities. They voted, among other things:

• to continue advocacy efforts for strong local smokefree policies;
• to promote shared use of school property as a way to combat childhood obesity; and
• to require all Alabama hospitals to perform pulse oximetry screening to detect heart defects in newborns.

If any of these issues are important to you, email us today at gsa.advocacy@heart.org. We’d love to hear from you! In the meantime, stay tuned to You’re the Cure alerts about how you can support these issues.  

Welcome to You’re the Cure Alabama. Thanks for being an advocate! The American Heart Association and the American Stroke Association are hard at work, advocating for life-saving policies from Montgomery to Washington, D.C. Your fellow Alabama advocates have already accomplished some amazing things: creating smoke-free cities, protecting physical education in schools and establishing a statewide trauma system. But this is only the beginning, and your help is needed to keep fighting heart disease and stroke.

This website is full of great information and ways for you to get involved and make a difference right away. You can easily contact your elected officials to speak out on heart and stroke issues in our action center. You can also sign up to attend one of our upcoming events.

We - Melanie and Julie - are your advocacy staff in Alabama, and we want to get to know you! Share your story to let us know why fighting heart disease and stroke matter personally to you.

As part of You’re the Cure, we think you’ll truly enjoy the chance to meet fellow advocates, discuss heart and stroke policy with your legislators, and work together to come up with new ways to help our community stay heart healthy and stroke smart. If we can help in any way, you can always feel free to shoot us an email at gsa.advocacy@heart.org. Be sure to come to this site often for great opportunities to connect with other advocates in your area and stay up-to-date on the most important ways you can help promote stronger, healthier communities. And tell your friends to join us! For an Alabama that’s free of heart disease and stroke, You’re the Cure.

Ron Edwards Alabama

I’m a proud husband and father of four children.  At the age of 48, I had very few health problems until I went to work on May 3, 2012.

That morning around 7:15 am, I suffered a stroke.  I could barely speak.  Somehow, I told a co-worker I was having a stroke and to get me an ambulance.  I knew what was happening and I was scared.  I was very coherent and could hear all the chaos and everyone talking. 

The responders quickly took me to the hospital and everyone worked under my assumption that I was having a stroke.  I didn’t felt pain at any given time.  As I lied in the hospital, I could tell I was rapidly getting worse each hour.  I couldn’t remember simple things anymore.  Even my sister-in-law could tell I was getting worse.

I remember the hospital setting up a video conference with a doctor in another hospital in Huntsville, who analyzed me on TV.  He offered a treatment plan to my wife, letting her know she only had seconds to answer about something that could have killed me.  But they made it clear that there is only a 3 hour window for this medicine for stroke patients to survive the stroke.  We only had 30 minutes left before my window closed.

I clearly remember the nurse filling out the consent form after my wife approved it, asking me if I wanted to sign it.  Believe it or not, I took the clipboard from them and signed my name just as clear as any other day.  I tell my wife that took the heat off her if anything went wrong.  However by 10:15 am that morning, God answered our call!  I was administered the medicine and within 45 minutes, my speech returned to normal and I had no visible signs of having a stroke.

After an hour or so I was joking around with everyone, but as I constantly remember the whole morning I get very upset.  My mother had a stroke when I was 10 years old.  She became paralyzed and couldn’t speak for the rest of her life; I really thought that was going to happen to me.

Fortunately, that’s not how my story ends.  I returned to work eleven days after my stroke.  I enjoy life with my wife and children.  My story truly reveals the importance of recognizing the signs of a stroke, to call 9-1-1 immediately, and how important that three hour window is for stroke patients. When it comes to stroke, time is of the essence!