February is American Heart Month, and Taylorville Memorial Hospital is using the initiative to spotlight its services in cardiac rehab.  The process – which typically lasts three months – is meant to help people recover from certain cardiac events.  Careful supervision from qualified nurses is necessary to avoid potentially catastrophic consequences as patients look to regain full function in their heart. 

Michele Kilduff is one of two registered nurses certified to work with cardiac rehab patients.  She has worked with patients recovering from events like heart attacks and bypass surgery.
 

Patients typically come in three times per week for three months.  The consultations and overall process are covered by most health insurance policies, as long as the rehab begins within six months of the cardiac event. 

A rehab stint consists of three phases.  Generally, the aforementioned consultations are part of the second phase.

Kilduff and her fellow cardiac rehab nurse, Kim Kersey, may monitor multiple exercising patients at a time.  They keep a close eye on the EKG of each one and will jump into action if the technology shows that a patient’s heart is overworking for its condition. 

Kilduff also took the time to share some common risk factors of heart disease, which include high blood pressure, diabetes, and smoking.  She adds that cardiac rehab patients discuss these factors in groups as part of their recovery regimen. 

More information on the Memorial Health system is available at memorial.health. 

Michele Kilduff appeared as a guest on the WTIM Morning Show.