A free pancake breakfast with a side of healthcare was just what people were craving.
Before the doors were even open, people were waiting outside the Davedi Club Saturday morning for 'Paramedics and Pancakes' hosted by Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli.
Paramedics were on hand to check vitals, including blood pressure, oxygen levels, and sugar levels. In a few cases, they found people weren't aware their numbers were off, showing some early warning signs.
"Depending on how alarming it is, I had a gentleman here who I was considering sending to emerg for high blood pressure, but it ended up coming down. If it's a little high, I'd recommend making an appointment with a family doctor. If there is no family doctor, then there's a couple walk-in clinics around the city they can attend, " said community paramedic, Matthieu Starra.
"You might feel 100 per cent, but based on your vitals and other things, there might be some concerns. So coming into a wellness clinic can give you some peace of mind. It's good to check everybody, but we really want to see those who don't have a family doctor, because they may be falling through the cracks, and some things could get missed along the way," said Starra
"Most people here are in pretty good health," said paramedic Keri Underwood who was busy checking vitals.
"For some people, they haven't been aware that something's been up, or they haven't been to visit their own doctor, so they're using this opportunity to have their vitals checked. We direct them where they need to go if they need to speak to a doctor. We've found some cases of people with high blood pressure, high sugar levels. They were surprised to find that out. We discussed with them, that they should go and get it checked, and they've been very willing to take that information and go do that."
Carrie Gray and her family were among the roughly 80 people who attended the breakfast, using it as another way to be proactive about their health.
"We thought it was a good opportunity to come out and have a little check-up. It gave me a little peace of mind that I'm doing something right," laughed Gray.
"I have a very good family doctor, but I think this is a good chance for those who don't, to get some of their vitals checked since they don't have the opportunity to do that with their own family doctor."
Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli compared the wellness check to a spring tuneup.
"It was an opportunity for people to come in and look under their hood and get a little diagnostic work done. Get your blood pressure checked, and your sugar checked, just to know whether you've come through the winter okay, and you're ready to carry on. And for those who wanted to talk about their medications, paramedics talked about that, and they also have displays of some of the equipment they use."
Thousands of North Bay residents are without a family doctor.
"There are a few options, we have nurse practitioners, and walk-in clinics, but what ends up happening, is people present themselves at the emergency room, and this is one of the more expensive places for health care. So this is why we need more alternative solutions, events like this of course. The more we can pull people away from the emergency department and the hospital, the better it will be for our healthcare budget."
Thinking ahead, Fedeli suggests there may be a name change for next year's event, from 'Paramedics and Pancakes,' to "Vitals and Vittles."
