Comadin Police Officers

[Matt C]

Anyone on here have a mechanical valve and is in Law Enforcement? I was gonna put this behind me changed careers but got the call today from a large good department passed everything for them a year ago so have few more steps to go if I want in. I have a non related heart surgery coming up told them they kinda threw the ball in my court. I had a St Jude valve put in on comadin and just curious if anyone is or any thoughts from anyone.

 

[Randy Fecteau]

Matt. Follow your dreams. Warfarin is not a prison sentence lol. Good luck in whatever you choose.

 

[Ovie]

False, Warfarin can very well be a prison sentence. I've played Hockey all my life, about 21 years. Now that I'm on Warfarin I'm not allowed to play Hockey, among other things. It's funny..doctors will tell me live your life as you would, there aren't limitations. Then I start to ask about certain things and I'm told to avoid certain things. Being a Police officer on Warfarin I'd imagine is no different then not. Except if you get shot, you'll bleed faster and it's most likely lights out. May as well go for it, explain the situation and if it becomes an issue in the future you can always retire from it.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Lynlw]

i believe wether you can join the dept or not depends on each department. It used to be like the Military if you were on Coumadin you could not pass the Medical clearance to work, or get hired on Coumadin. I know for the military at least there have been some people who ended up choosing a tissue valve to hopefully be allowed to stay in or maybe even join I'm not sure how it ended up tho.
I think over the past decade or so it has changed a little and I believe but not 100% sure that some departments will let you work and others will not. Also I'm not sure if there is a difference if say you already were working there and then needed to b on Coumadin for the rest of your life you might be able to stay on the force but not sure if it would be as easy to get hired already on it. But if you already discussed it and they said they would still hire you, if it is really what you want to do discuss it with your doctors and if they say it is fine go for it. I know there have been some people who were able to be firemen recently with mech valves so on Coumadin and that used to be considerred "to dangerous" as far as passing a medical to be hired or stay at their jobs.

As for the "risks" I think that is up to each person (and their spouse if they have one) some people would feel for them the benefits outweigh the risks while others would think the risks were too high.
It stinks that this is something that you have to worry about Good Luck with everything

 

[carolinemc]

Do you already know any who are on the force that you could talk to? Perhaps a relative or friend who is in the department or in any part of law inforcement? As far as I know, Coumadin/Warafin shouldn't you keep you out unless they fear that something would happen. Would not hurt to talk to HR about it. Good luck and make your dream a realty. Hugs for today.