Page 20 - February 2016

ease, compared to those with normal blood pressure.

High blood pressure often shows no signs or symptoms, which is
Duty disability star and ID card

strokes in the United States by 2017. It encourages
disability.

Get blood pressure under control during American Heart Month

DISABILITY REPORT

Ordinary disability

5/5-15 5).
February is American Heart Month and the Centers

nary disability. The process is the same as when you apply for duty

for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is mounting
I’ve been contacted by several members inquiring about ordi-

ability exceeding 30 days, for which the officer does not have a
a national effort to prevent 1 million heart attacks and

Americans to know their blood pressure and if it’s high,
Ordinary disability benefits are payable during periods of dis-

righttoreceiveanypartofhissalary.Foreveryfouryearsof
to get it down.

Uncontrolled high blood pressure is a leading cause
ofh ear tdise ase andstroke. Inf act,m oreth an6 7 m il- lionA mer ica nshaveh ighbloodp ressure .Peoplew ith service,anofficeriseligibleforayearofordinarydisabilitybene-

fits, not to exceed five years. The amount of the benefit is 50 per-
high blood pressure are 4 times more likely to die from
a stroke and 3 times more likely to die from heart dis-
If you know you have high blood pressure, take these steps to help get it under control:
wai t until the P ens io n Bo ard mak es a decision and grants him/her
20 CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ FEBRUARY 2016

cen t of the salar y at the tim e of the dis ability occurs ( Section

• Askyourdoctorwhatyourbloodpressureshouldbe;
• Take your blood pressure medicine as directed;
• Quit smoking and if don’t smoke, don’t start;
• Reduce your sodium intake.
why having your blood pressure checked regularly is important. It’s e a s y t o g e t y o u r b l o o d p r e s s u r e c h e c k e d . Y o u c a n g e t s c r e e n e d a t y o u r doctor’sofficeanddrugstores,orevencheckityourselfathomeusing a home blood pressure monitor.
The S u perint enden t of Polic e ha s direc ted t ha t on ly q ualified o f f i c e r s o n d u t y d i s a b i l i t y o r o c c u p a t i o n a l d i s a b i l i t y b e i s s u e d a du tydis ab ilitystar and new dutyd isabilit yIDt oreplacetheiden- tif ication card they n ow carry. T he disable d o ffice r m ay v isit the Hum a nR esources Div ision too btain th ecard.T he off icer must
duty disability status. It may take up to 14 days after the Pension
Board notifies Human Resource Division.
Until next month, take care of yourself and others and be safe. d