The Alabama Department of Public Health has awarded grants totaling $55,000 to establish a system to help purchase necessary equipment and training to extend improved stroke care expertise to hospitals in the Montgomery, Prattville and Andalusia areas.

In the pilot project, specialists will use videoconferencing technology to remotely examine the patient, confirm the diagnosis, interpret the brain images, and provide recommendations to the hospital’s physicians. The project follows a “hub-and-spoke” model which will be created through a partnership with Baptist Medical Center South as the “hub” and Prattville Baptist Hospital and Andalusia Regional Hospital as the “spokes.”

Dr. Steve Suggs, medical director of the Stroke Center at Baptist South, says the telemedicine service will save lives and reduce disability.

Get your walking shoes ready, and make your plans to take part in the Alabama Employee Health and Fitness Day Walk which will be held at noon Friday, May 18, at the State Capitol. The noncompetitive and free event is designed to encourage walking during the work day as part of a health and fitness routine.

Participants may set their own pace, and all walkers completing a one-mile walk will be eligible to win a door prize. The walk begins at noon on the south lawn of the Capitol at 600 Dexter Ave.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with Sportspower, is recalling BouncePro 14 foot trampolines, which were sold exclusively at Walmart stores from February 2009 until February 2012.

The recall involves the Sportspower BouncePro 14' Trampolines with brown mesh netting. UPC codes 68706404210, and 68706404244 are printed on the trampoline box.