Week: 534.3 Topic: NEMA/ "The Heart of the Matter" Producer/Host: Steve Girard

NEMA: Every so often, we at "The Heart of the Matter" like to talk to you directly about the program and The National Emergency Medicine Association, which funds the show...to tell you why we work so hard trying to bring you an interesting, informative and sometimes fun look at the latest stories in health, medicine, fitness and nutrition.

NEMA, the National Emergency Medicine Association came together in 1982, a not-for-profit organization committed to trauma prevention and the delivery of quality emergency medical services at each stage of trauma. One of our special projects, The National Heart Council, educates the public through grants like those which provided print materials on prevention for organizations like the American Heart Association of Pennsylvania...and provided an intra-aortic balloon pump to support the heart catheterization process at a Baltimore hospital... and we gave the money for a California hospital to run an angioplasty study....and the emergency equipment for the Ripley's Life Squad in Ripley, Ohio. I have to tell you about the Chest Pain Emergency Room movement, that NEMA is proud to say began with a big grant to St. Agnes hospital... and which has surged across the country in the form of 293 specialized chest pain units...and hundreds more planned...one as far away as Australia!

Another special project was created by NEMA to challenge an all too common medical emergency: Stroke....The National Stroke Council distributes information to more than nine million people each year, aimed at preventing stroke. The stroke hotline at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine was partially funded by a grant from NEMA....Akron General Medical Center in Ohio conducted a clinical trial of a new neuroprotective stroke drug, and NEMA felt a grant should go there to help. Grand Rapids, Michigan...Port Jefferson, New York....Palos Heights, Illinois...Columbia, Missouri....all have hospitals or health care organizations that have benefited, just in the last year, from the money NEMA raises.

Now, to "The Heart of the Matter"...which has been on the air for ten years. Originally designed to follow along with the efforts of the National Heart Council and National Stroke Council in promoting cardio-vascular fitness and the signs of impending heart attack or stroke, the program has widened its topic base to include all health issues, in the hopes of providing the type of information that will help you... have a good relationship with your doctor, eat better, exercise more, smile more... and be more aware of your heart health, mental health, your family relationships...in short, just about anything that has a chance to help you be happier and healthier....so you'll be more resistant to disease of all types, and enjoy life to its fullest.

Let's go online now! In the 90's, if you don't go online, you miss out on a whole new world of communication...and NEMA is not about to neglect an exciting way of getting out the word on preventing trauma, heart disease and stroke. You hear this at the end of every Heart of the Matter program, but you can check out information about The National Emergency Medicine Association on the Internet by punching in this URL: http://www.NEMAhealth.org...or use a search engine to find us by name. At our Home Page, you can get more detail about NEMA's history, the projects around the country that have received grants....and even transcripts of Heart of the Matter programs are available for downloading. And, of course, we encourage your input on our work, comments and suggestions on the show... by e-mail, info@nemahealth.org. Let us know what topics are of interest to you, or about important medical work going on in your area. Its fascinating to us...its what we do.

Now, what we want from you....all we would like is for you to use the information to your benefit...and tell your friends that "The Heart of the Matter" airs right here...after all, the more the merrier. Thanks for listening, and visiting "The Heart of the Matter"'s home office. I'm Steve Girard.