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Check your heart this Heart Week

Almost 10 years ago, Canberra local Glen Farrant thought he had only pulled a muscle as his chest began to ache.

He had spent hours doing heavy lifting and, at midnight, after a shower, first noticed the pain. Within minutes, the pain began to escalate until he felt like a heavy weight was sitting on his chest and like he was going to vomit.

Then 52 years old, Mr Farrant was later told he was lucky to survive his heart attack.

“I knew something was wrong,” he said.

“Alison (his wife) rang the ambulance … It took about an hour from my first symptoms until I was in intensive care with a stent in.”

He said it was lucky his wife Alison immediately thought of her father, who had died of a heart attack aged 39, and recognised the symptoms.

Mr Farrant was told by hospital staff if he had waited any longer to go to hospital, his own experience would have been “more serious”.

Prior to his heart attack in 2011, he had never had a heart check, and was shocked to learn heart attacks are responsible for causing almost one in 20 deaths in Australia.

“As I was going into hospital, I was wondering whether this was the end. My father died of a heart attack, Alison’s father died of a heart attack, I thought it was my number up,” he said.

According to the Heart Foundation, onefifth of Australians aged 45-74 years have a high chance of having a heart attack or stroke in the next five years.

While deaths from heart attacks have been decreasing over time, researchers are concerned that following the COVID-19 pandemic, people are not undertaking preventative health assessments such as Heart Health Checks.

This Heart Week, 3-9 May, the Heart Foundation has a focus on supporting health professionals to deliver more Heart Health Checks to eligible patients.

As a grandfather to three young girls, Josie, Chloe and Abbey, Glen Farrant said surviving his heart attack experience has made him realise what he could have missed out on. Photo: Kerrie Brewer.

As a grandfather to three young girls, Mr Farrant said surviving his heart attack experience has made him realise what he could have missed out on and has a regular Heart Health Check. Find an extended version of this story at canberraweekly.com.au - Erin Cross

National push for minimum rental standards

More than 50 organisations have called on state and territory governments around the country to implement minimum energy efficiency standards for rental properties.

According to Better Renting’s executive director Joel Dignam, inefficient homes present a “dire” situation for a number of renters in the ACT, given the Territory’s weather extremes.

Mr Dignam said minimum standards would look different in each state and territory depending on conditions, but in the ACT could include things like ceiling insultation, stopping draughts, and a fixed, energyefficient heater.

“What we’d like to see is the basic stuff that just make a home fit to live in,” Mr Dignam said.

The ACT Government committed to minimum standards in the Labor-Greens Parliamentary Agreement, and Energy Minister Shane Rattenbury said some regulations would be in place by the end of the year. - Libby Kimber For more on this story, visit canberraweekly.com.au

Police target dangerous driving

Throughout May, ACT Policing are focusing efforts on addressing dangerous driving such as hoon behaviour, burnout activity and red-light compliance.

Detective acting Superintendent Donna Hofmeier said police were concerned with a small number of drivers who put other road users at risk.

“While the majority of our drivers do the right thing each day on our roads, there is a percentage that are choosing to do things that are dangerous to other road users and themselves,” she said.

“We’ve had a number of incidents in just the past week that include failing to stop at intersections, excessive speeding, driving on the wrong side of the road and failing to stop for police.”

Police are also reminding motorists that red lights are a key safety feature on our roads and are not to be ignored.

Between 2016 and 2021, an average of more than 5,500 infringements were issued by police and fixed cameras at red lights.

Anyone with information about dangerous driving is urged to contact Crime Stoppers via crimestoppersact.com.au or on 1800 333 000.

Vaccine rollout begins for over 50s

People over 50 are now eligible to receive their COVID-19 vaccination in the ACT.

The ACT Government has opened a new vaccination clinic at Calvary Hospital to provide AstraZeneca jabs to the community, while the Garran vaccination hub will continue to administer the Pfizer vaccine to eligible people under 50 as part of phases 1a and 1b of the rollout.

Eligible Canberrans can book an appointment online via the Federal Government’s vaccine eligibility checker or through MyDHR. For those without a Medicare card or access to the online system, contact 5124 7700.