Add The New York Post on Google Police officers won’t want to miss this bus.
A new health screening vehicle being rolled out by one of the city’s police union aims to catch officers’ health problems before they’re too late, The Post has learned.
“We’re out here doing what we have to do to make sure the city’s safe,” said Bronx Det. Carlos Losada, a trustee with the Detectives Endowment Association. “But we tend to forget ourselves in that whole process.”
The 38-foot RV will go to police precincts throughout the city to screen members for heart and other health problems, the union said.
The program was inspired in part by Bronx Det. Juan Rodriguez, who died suddenly earlier this summer, Losada said.Rodriguez, 52, was a “phenomenal detective” who was just days from retirement when he had a heart attack at home after work, Losada said.
“The guy worked until the very last day, and right before he’s about to retire,” Losada said. “He had a vacation scheduled … everything was squared away, but up until the night before he was out working as a detective, catching cases. And the next day he went home and ended up having a heart attack.”
Union President Scott Munro also pointed out that 200 of union members have passed away from 9/11-related cancers.
“Seeing the outburst of people that are coming in with these cancers, it’s bad,” Munro said. “I think getting these checkups for our detectives in every borough in the next couple months is important and we will continue to do it. I may do it for the retirees too.”
Scott Siciliano, one of the owners of Baseline Health Inc., which runs the program, said its costs are covered by detectives’ healthcare and that there’s no co-pay.
“They get to go on work time to get a full comprehensive physical,” Siciliano said. “We try to focus on professions like fire and police that normally have a higher risk of heart disease.”
The company also provides the service to police and fire departments in Suffolk County and Nassau County, the New York State Police and in multiple jails, he said.
Det. Lydell Harrigan, who’s 47 and has been on the job for 20 years, was one of 21 cops who signed up for appointments on the van Friday while it was at One Police Plaza in Lower Manhattan.
“I think it’s great,” Harrigan, who works on a drug enforcement task force, said after having his blood pressure checked as he waited to have blood drawn. “Hopefully everything is good. It’s definitely important to have a physical every year.”
