Press Releases

In Case You Missed It, last week, Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) unveiled a comprehensive toolkit titled “Blood Clot Awareness, Action, and Advocacy: The Toolkit.” This document contains information on blood clots, Blunt Rochester’s bipartisan work in Congress to spread awareness of blood clots, and ways the public can advocate for themselves and others at the doctor’s office and online. A digital copy of the Blood Clot Awareness, Action, and Advocacy: The Toolkit can be found here.

 

Read more in Delaware State News, WRDE, WDEL, and  WMDT:

 

Delaware State News: Delaware Congresswoman Blunt Rochester spreads blood clot awareness through toolkit

Author: Joseph Edelen

 

Building off of her personal experiences and recently introduced federal legislation, U.S. Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester has unveiled an extensive toolkit to bring awareness to the signs and symptoms of blood clots.

 

The Delaware congresswoman announced the release of “Blood Clot Awareness, Action, and Advocacy: The Toolkit,” on Thursday, which includes information on the condition and its symptoms, actions to better protect those at risk and how to advocate for yourself in and outside of the doctor’s office.

 

“This whole kit is really threefold; one is awareness, two is action and three is advocacy,” Rep. Blunt Rochester said during a virtual event to announce the resource. “But what’s key here is that blood clots are highly preventable and treatable if discovered early, and that’s one of the reasons why I wanted to unveil this toolkit, so that we can all better understand blood clots and who is at risk.”

 

Blood clots are a leading cause of preventable death in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

 

Further, pulmonary embolism is the third most frequent cause of cardiovascular-related death in the country; one American dies of a blood clot every six minutes, with one in four individuals with pulmonary embolism dying suddenly and without warning.

 

The initiative to raise awareness of blood clot prevention follows Rep. Blunt Rochester’s recent introduction of bipartisan legislation in honor of her late husband, Charles Rochester.

 

On the ninth anniversary of his death last September, the congresswoman announced the “Charles Rochester Blood Clot Prevention and Treatment Act,” which would direct the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to launch a national campaign aimed at increasing awareness of the condition’s signs and symptoms, while establishing an advisory committee dedicated to effective diagnosis, treatment and prevention.

 

In 2014, Mr. Rochester tore his Achilles tendon during a game of pickup basketball while on a business trip, and after blood clots soon traveled to his heart and lungs, he tragically passed away at the age of 52.

The experience helped Rep. Blunt Rochester and her family navigate the recent health troubles of her father, Ted Blunt, following his cancer diagnosis last July.

 

The congresswoman said that, amid chemotherapy treatments, her father’s leg became swelled, red and hot to the touch, which was determined to be a blood clot following a trip to the emergency room.

 

Ted Blunt passed away on Jan. 11, though Rep. Blunt Rochester remarked that detecting the blood clot gave her family an extra four months with him.

 

“Our goal here is to honor those who have been lost to blood clots like my husband, Charles, and make sure that their lives are not in vain,” the congresswoman said. “In addition to that, our goal here is to save lives; that is really what this is about… saving lives and preventing this from happening to other families.”

 

To access Blood Clot Awareness, Action, and Advocacy: The Toolkit, visit Rep. Blunt Rochester’s website at bluntrochester.house.gov.

 

WRDE: Delaware's Congresswoman unveils new toolkit during Blood Clot Awareness Month

Author: Mallory Metzner

 

March marks Blood Clot Awareness Month, a time of heightened focus on this critical health issue. Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochesterhas been at the forefront of raising awareness and improving understanding of blood clots.

 

In September 2023, she introduced the Charles Rochester Blood Clot Prevention and Treatment Act, a legislation named in honor of her late husband, who tragically passed away due to blood clots.

 

On Wednesday Delaware's Congresswoman unveiled an online resource titled "Blood Clot Awareness, Action, and Advocacy: The Toolkit." This comprehensive guide is designed to educate people about the signs and symptoms of blood clots. It emphasizes the importance of early detection and outlines how an advisory committee can enhance the prevention, treatment, and accurate diagnosis of blood clots.

 

During a press conference, Congresswoman Rochester shared a personal account, recounting the blood clot symptoms observed in her father, who ultimately passed away from cancer in January. 

 

"My family, we noticed that one of his legs was beginning to swell," Blunt Rochester says. "It was red and it was hot to the touch. It was something that for me knowing the signs and symptoms we immediately took him to the emergency room."

 

The Toolkit can be found online at bluntrochester.house.gov.

 

WDEL: Sometimes deadly, often preventable - highlighting the risks of blood clots

Author: Mark Fowser

 

Every six minutes, someone in the U.S. dies of a blood clot. 

 

Blood clots to the brain cause a majority of strokes. One in four victims of pulmonary embolisms die suddenly, without warning.

 

The risk is getting special recognition during the month of March, and Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Del. is helping to spread awareness with introduction of a digital took kit containing resources and information about awareness, treatment and prevention.

 

During an online gathering with medical professionals and other advocates this week, Blunt Rochester said for her, "this is personal."

 

Ten years ago, her husband Charles died due to blood clots. She is now a sponsor of the Charles Rochester Blood Clot Prevention and Treatment Act. The Act would require the CDC to conduct a national blood clot public awareness campaign. It also makes other recommendations to support effective diagnosis, treatment and prevention of blood clots and pulmonary embolisms.

 

“This toolkit is intended to help individuals recognize the signs and symptoms of blood clots and inspire action and advocacy on this serious health concern. Blood clots are treatable when caught, but too often there is a lack of information on how to properly get treatment – this is especially true for patients of color, seniors, and cancer survivors," Blunt Rochester said. "I will continue my bipartisan efforts in Congress to get the Charles Rochester Blood Clot Prevention and Treatment Act over the finish line so we can strengthen awareness on this issue and save lives."

 

ChristianaCare's Dr. Assaf Graif is a doctor of Interventional Radiology, Vascular Interventional Radiology.

 

"Awareness of the signs of clot, whether in the leg, arm or lung, can help the patient seek help sooner and shorten the time to initiation of treatment," Graif said. "It can help the patient get back to their lives sooner, prevent long term complications, and can even mean the difference between life and death."

 

WMDT: New toolkit increases awareness on blood clots

Author: Javari Burnett

 

“This bill and this kit is about awareness, action, and advocacy,” Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester said.

 

An estimated 900,000 Americans are impacted by blood clots yearly, resulting in upwards of 1 hundred thousand deaths according to the CDC.

 

Tuesday, Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester revealing the new Blood Clot Awareness, Action, and Advocacy Toolkit. The goal is to raise awareness on the signs and symptoms of blood clots.

 

The move furthers her advocacy for the cause as she introduced the Charles Rochester Blood Prevention and Treatment Act (H.R. 5699) last year, honoring her late husband. “Our goal here is to save lives. That is really what this is about and preventing this from happening to other families,” Rep. Blunt Rochester said.

 

The bill would direct the CDC to launch a national campaign to increase public awareness of blood clot signs and symptoms. It would also establish an advisory committee to streamline effect diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of blood clots.

 

The Delaware Chapter of the American Heart Association offers various resources through outreach and community engagement. They stress the importance of recognizing warning signs of blood clots because if they reach arteries near the heart or brain that could lead to a heart attack or even a stroke. “Heart attack symptoms can chest discomfort, pain in one or both of the arms. Sometimes these symptoms are different in men and women and people of different ages,” DE-AHA’s Kimberly Holmes said. “Stroke symptoms include facial drooping or speech difficulty. Again, time matters, reach out. ”

 

Healthcare providers told 47ABC that early detection is key. “Awareness of the signs of a clot, whether in the leg, arm, or lungs can help patients seek help sooner and shorten their time of treatment,” ChristianaCare’s Dr. Assaf Graif said.

 

March is also National Blood Clot Awareness Month, a time Blunt Rochester said is the perfect opportunity to open up the conversation. “Make sure that you take this toolkit, disseminate it, and get it out to all you know. Your family, friends, constituents, neighbors, doctors, pharmacists. Spread the word.”

 

The CDC, in partnership with the National Blood Clot Alliance, is also working to increase public awareness through a national campaign called ‘STOP the Clot, Spread the Word.’

 

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