An RV full of nurses is bringing Ontario health services to the type of place associated plates of greasy fries and burgers.

Once a month, truckers can go to a truck stop in Cardinal and have access to get a basic checkup that could help them catch conditions such as high blood pressure and diabetes, early on.

That, in turn, could make the roads safer, said Carol Quinlan, a nurse practitioner with the Community and Primary Health Care (CPHC) Brockville community family health team's mobile unit.

"You're keeping people healthy, at their optimum functioning and if they're functioning well, they're going to have more attention to driving," she said.

In fact, a University of Montreal study in 2000 found that truckers with untreated diabetes were 68 per cent more likely to be involved in a crash.

Help manage health conditions

Quinlan said about one in six truckers she sees at the mobile clinic have diabetes.

She added that many such health conditions can be controlled without medication if they are caught early and if the patient is properly educated about it.

On the other hand, if left untreated, high blood pressure could lead to a heart attack or a stroke and diabetes could lead to limb amputations or vision problems that could prevent truckers from working, she said.

The unit began making monthly visits to the truck stop in November. The stop sees 900 truckers a day. It offers services such as immunizations and blood work, as well as blood pressure measurements. The organizers believe the unit is the first of its kind in Canada. They are now promoting the idea to other local health units in Ontario.

Bob Lodge, a former trucker and the owner and manager of the Cardinal truck stop, said he lobbied for two years to get the clinic to come.

"The statistics say 75 per cent of the truckers are all 55 years or older," he said. "I'm worried about them not taking care of their health — they won't be around long enough to keep the economy going."

To do his part, Lodge provides a free exercise room at his truck stop, has a chiropractor on site and tries to offer healthy foods such as fruits, vegetables and cold plates on his restaurant menu.

But the health clinic is a welcome addition, say truckers such as Loren Cassie.

"It's pretty near impossible to get a doctor's appointment when you're on the road," said Cassie, who added that trucking isn't conducive to good health either.

"Mostly you sit in the truck, sit in the restaurant, eat greasy food, harden up the arteries a little more."