Understanding Cardiac Rehabilitation

Cardiac rehabilitation is a very important program that we started in the early '70s.  Once you have a heart attack, you're pretty upset about it and you're kind of scared to do anything, you don't want to get out and walk, you don't want to go out and work or do anything, because you're scared you might have another attack or something.  So, they developed an exercise program called cardiac rehabilitation and we actually do a stress test with an exercise machine, a treadmill usually, to put people into the program.  We look at how long they can do it, whether they develop symptoms while they are doing it, what their heart rate response is, what their blood pressure response is.  Then we develop a program for them individually as to how they can exercise, what kind of exercise they can do and what to expect.  It's a pretty extensive program and by the time they leave, they're in pretty good physical fitness.  Their programs involve treadmills, rowing machines, weights, ah, steppers, we have all kinds of equipment, walking, just plain walking a trail inside.  They are monitored while they are doing this.  They have an EKG on them so we know what their heart rate is, we know what their blood pressure is.  There are nurses who run the program and so they are under good observation.  We get patients out of bed at, you know, right away.  We discharge them from the hospital right away.  And they are in our program within 2 weeks. 

We have a specially designed facility for cardiac rehab.  We have TVs in there, we have big windows that you can look out and see the landscape and it's a beautiful landscape to watch, so it's very relaxing, restful, peaceful situation.  This is called a stage 2 program.  We also have a stage 3 program, which is voluntary for the patients to come to after they finish stage 2. They can continue to come up here and exercise. We have a lot of people who chose to do that, mainly because they feel very comfortable in coming here, so it, it, it's a very, very good program.  Very proud of it.