U.S. Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Del.

bluntrochester.house.gov.

By Joseph Edelen

DOVER— 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.