Corporate Partner News for February 2025

CPR – Blended Learning and First Aid

Investing in CPR, AED and First Aid training for your employees is a vital step in fostering a safer workplace and potentially saving lives. Each year, over 350,000 sudden cardiac arrest occur outside of hospital in the United States and according to the US Occupational Safety & Health Administration about 10,000 cardiac arrests occur in the workplace each year in the United States. Immediate CPR can double or triple survival rates by keeping blood flowing until medical professionals arrive.

Additionally, First Aid training equips employees to respond effectively to injuries, reducing recovery time and preventing more severe outcomes. Providing this training not only prepares your team for emergencies but also shows you commitment to their safety and well-being.

To make this training more convenient, we offer a blended learning option that minimizes disruptions to your operations. Employees being with a self-paced online module, learning essential knowledge at their convenience. They then complete a focused, in-person session to practice hands-on CPR and First Aid techniques with an AHA-trained instructor. This flexible approach ensures employees receive comprehensive, high-quality training while staying productive on the job.

Catawba Valley Health System has trained instructors available to help prepare your employees to respond when a quick response is vital to survival. We also have a variety of ways to train your staff, including the convenient blended learning option. For more information about our CPR, AED and First Aid training, contact Liliana Adrian, at 828-732-6204.

Early Detection Saves Lives: Mobile Mammography for Employers

Breast cancer is the second most common cancer among women. It typically has no symptoms when it is small and can be treated easily and successfully when caught early. Approximately 1 in 8 women in the United States will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in her lifetime, and 1 in 43 will die from the disease. Although there has been substantial progress in reducing breast cancer mortality in the United States, there are persistent disparities in Black and American Indian/Alaska Native women reflecting less access to high-quality care.

Mammogram screenings for women begin yearly at age 40. Women with a family history of breast cancer or breast health issues may begin earlier. The importance of receiving regular mammogram screenings includes:

  • Detecting breast cancer at an early stage when treatment is most likely to be successful;
  • Finding breast changes that could be cancer years before physical symptoms develop;
  • Reducing the risk of dying from breast cancer;
  • Decreasing the number of women diagnosed with cancer in a later stage;
  • A mammogram can save your life and breasts;
  • It takes less than 20 minutes;
  • It is often free for eligible patients through their health insurance.

Catawba Valley Health System offers on-site mobile mammography program to employers in the following counties: Catawba, Caldwell, Burke, Alexander, Lincoln and west Iredell. This provides a convenient opportunity to encourage employee wellness, while decreasing employee time away from production/work hours. Appointments are usually completed within 15 minutes and offer convenient options for those that might not seek a mammogram at all. We provide 3-D mammography for all our patients, which has been shown in clinical studies to be superior to digital mammography.

Recently, our mammography team was awarded a three-year term of accreditation as a Breast Imaging Center of Excellence by the American College of Radiology (ACR). Our focus is patient-centered care: Exceptional Healthcare, Every Person, Every Time.

To learn more about the mobile mammography program, contact:

Meghan Harmon, Community Health Outreach Manager

mharmon@cvmc.us or 828-732-6201

Occupational Health - Physicals and screenings

It’s important for employers to regularly evaluate the fitness and well-being of their employees. These exams and/or screens help ensure your staff are healthy enough to do the tasks that are a part of their job without increased risk of accident or injury.

These assessments come in many forms including: pre-employment screens – to ensure applicants can perform the basic duties of the job, wellness screening – to determine an employee’s basic health status through routine bloodwork, firefighter and police exams, which are more comprehensive than a traditional exam, as well as specific screening such as hearing screening, pulmonary function testing, and respiratory fit testing.

Catawba Valley Occupational Health can help you identify which exams or screens will be the most valuable for your organization. For more information about this service, call 828-326-3230.

Pre-employment physicals

Pre-employment physicals help ensure that new employees are healthy and able to perform their duties safety and effectively. Offering a pre-employment physical can help reduce the risk of workplace accidents, injuries, and illnesses, which can be costly to the employee and the company.

A physical typically includes a medical examination of the candidate’s overall health, medical history, and physical ability to determine if they are fit for the job. The specific elements of a pre-employment physical will vary depending on the job requirements and the employer’s policies. Some companies and job functions require additional testing such as drug screening, vision and hearing screening or a skills-based physical fitness assessment.

Wellness Screenings

Additionally, employers strive to keep a healthy workforce and may want to consider offering Wellness Screenings to their employees as a valuable preventative service. A wellness screening, also called a “biometric screening”, provides an assessment of one’s basic health status including blood tests for cholesterol, blood glucose levels, and A1c, blood pressure measurement, and height and weight to calculate a body mass index (BMI). Additional testing may include Prostate specific antigen (PSA) testing for men and mammogram screening for women.

These screenings can be conducted at our Occupational Health Clinic, in Conover, or our HealthFirst Center can come onsite to provide a convenient option that limits your employees’ time away from work.

Exams for Public Service- First Responders, Police Officer, Firefighter

First responders are a critical component within our community, providing a safe environment for our citizens. Due to the daily physical and mental demands of their roles and the potential exposure risks they endure; their physical exam is more comprehensive than a traditional physical exam.

Firefighters must maintain a high level of physical fitness to ensure they can climb stairs and ladders, carry heavy equipment, wear a self-contained mask and breathing equipment, and assist people to safety. They can be exposed to smoke, fumes, and harmful chemicals while working.

Catawba Valley Occupational Health offers customized firefighter medical exams tailored to meet the individual needs and adhere to the current NFPA guidelines and the federal and state OSHA regulations.

Police officers have a physically demanding and emotionally stressful job. It is important that police officers undergo physical exams to monitor their wellbeing on a regular basis. It is also important that the officers receive pre-screening to ensure they can safety perform the duties of their jobs to keep our community safe. Catawba Valley Occupational Health offers thorough examinations in compliance with all local and state guidelines.

Our staff at Catawba Valley Occupational Health can help meet your individualized physical exam needs. Call 828-326-3230 to schedule an appointment today.

In addition to comprehensive exams and wellness screenings, Catawba Valley Occupational Health offers services to meet OSHA standards in top key areas to include hearing conservation, pulmonary function testing, respiratory fit testing and blood borne pathogen exposure management & education.

Hearing conservation

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that 22 million workers are exposed to potentially damaging noise at work each year. Whether working at a sports/music venue, in a manufacturing plant or operating heavy machinery- hearing loss is preventable. The workplace is responsible for measuring noise levels, providing exposure parameters, and providing hearing protection devices to help reduce occupational noise-induced hearing loss.

Hearing conservation programs strive to prevent initial occupational hearing loss, preserve, and protect remaining hearing, and equip workers with the knowledge and hearing protection devices necessary to safeguard themselves.

Occupational Health offers audiometry baseline and annual testing with review by a qualified provider.

Pulmonary function testing

Spirometry, or Pulmonary Function Testing (PFT) plays an important role in occupational respiratory health surveillance by helping to determine if a worker demonstrates a specific pattern of respiratory impairment and to assess the effectiveness of protective measures in the workplace.

A PFT measures how well the lungs are functioning and is used to evaluate worker respiratory health and to screen workers for their ability to perform certain work tasks. This may be used for various occupations in setting such as healthcare, industrial/manufacturing, first responders, and firefighters.

Occupational Health offers PFT for companies by appointment in our clinic, Mon-Fri.

Respiratory fit testing

Millions of workers are required to wear respirators in various workplace environments throughout the United States. Respirators protect workers against insufficient oxygen environments, harmful dusts, fibers, fogs, smokes, mists, gases, vapor, sprays, and disease particles. These hazards may cause cancer, lung impairment, diseases, or death. Compliance with OSHA Respiratory Protection Standard could prevent large numbers of deaths and illnesses annually. Respirators protect in two basic ways: 1- removal of contaminants or particulates from the air via the use of a filter or cartridge system or 2-supplying clean air from another source providing their own air supply.

Employers should provide training on how to use respirators, how to test for and determine a proper fit and how to maintain their respirators for optimal use.

Occupational Health offers respiratory fit testing, medical questionnaire review, & provider medical evaluation.

Call 828-326-3230 to schedule an appointment today.