EMS: One Mission. One Team

Posted on May 20, 2013 • 0 Comments - We welcome your comments

National EMS Week or National Emergency Medical Services Week is May 19–25, 2013. This year’s theme is EMS: One Mission. One Team.

It is an exciting time because local communities and professional medical personnel are afforded the opportunity to join together to publicize the importance of safety. In addition, it is a time when those who often put their own safety aside in order to save the lives of others can be honored.

EMS Week originated under the presidency of Gerald Ford when he declared November 3-10, 1974 the first “National Emergency Medical Services Week.”   The American College of Emergency Physicians or ACEP was instrumental in establishing EMS week. The observance was moved to September in 1982 and ultimately moved to the third week in May in 1992.  The change was made so as to separate EMS week from Fire Prevention Week in October.

For over 20 years, The American Ambulance Association has honored paramedics, EMTs and other ambulance service personnel who epitomize the best of the best in the EMS field. The people being honored are designated as The Stars of Life by the AAA. They are selected by their peers to represent them in Washington D.C. as part of EMS Week activities. While in Washington, the Stars of Life meet with their congressmen and other Stars of Life. The week long event culminates with a banquet in their honor.

When a profession is populated with unsung heroes, it is a poignant event that can resonate with their praises. Some of the past Stars of Life recipients have included paramedics and EMTs who were part of the rescue and evacuation efforts at the World Trade Center on 9-11 and those who aided the victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Often, the tributes are paid to the “regular” people who are just doing their jobs when someone happened to notice their heroic efforts. Many of the recipient’s stories are not publicized on the news but to some very grateful people, their heroes are even more important than those mentioned on TV.

Since the Stars of Life program was instituted, more than 1,500 EMS professionals have been awarded and are representing almost every state in America.

We salute each and every paramedic, EMT and other ambulance service professional during National EMS Week and every week of the year.

Do you know someone who should be acknowledged? We would love to hear from you.

First Photo: City of Syracuse Flikr

Second Photo: MonroeRegional

References Cited: http://www.emsweekideas.org, http://www.acep.org

Posted by celizabethdugan • Filed Under: Blog Posts, Events, Healthcare, News, People • Tags: , , , ,

Mother’s Day and National Women’s Health Week

Posted on May 9, 2013 • 0 Comments - We welcome your comments

As Mother’s Day approaches, we are reminded of ways that we can give our mothers something special. If there is a mother in your life, you can give a gift to her that will contribute to her future health.

Whether the mother is your own, or someone else’s, you can encourage or challenge her to make her health a priority.

Suggest that the women in your life join each other to help one another meet the challenges of improved physical activity and nutrition.

What a perfect time to observe National Women’s Health Week because it is a time when communities, businesses, government, health organizations and many other groups promote women’s health. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office on Women’s Health is coordinating an empowerment of women everywhere through this observance.

There are five steps that women should take in order to maintain or improve their health.

1. Receive regular checkups and preventative screenings including:

  • Clinical Breast Exam
  • Gynecological Care
  • Pap Smear
  • Mammography
  • Colonoscopy
  • Blood Pressure Check
  • Cholesterol Screening
  • Colorectal Screening
  • HIV and other testing for sexually transmitted diseases
  • Bone Mineral Density screening
  • Eye, ear and dental exams
  • A1C (blood glucose) test
  • Immunizations

2. Get the required sleep and manage stress.

3. Avoid behaviors that contribute to poor health or even death.

4. Remain or become active through exercise.

5. Eat healthful foods in a healthful way.

Steps four and five are usually the most difficult undertakings. There are a few simple changes that can be made in these areas so as to see improved health. When women take even the simplest steps, the results can be significant.

Thirty minutes of appropriate exercise 5 days a week, doesn’t have to be dramatic exercise. One of the easiest ways to meet this exercise challenge is by tracking the number of steps taken each day and comparing that number to a goal of 8,500 steps per day.

Regarding diet, small changes should be the first to come into play. Substitution is one way to step over the “diet fail” hurdle. Substituting water for sugary drinks is helpful. Other steps can include eating salads or drinking water before meals in order to consume fewer calories. Reading labels and finding out where “hidden” calories are located can be insightful.

We encourage all women to take steps to live longer, healthier, and happier lives and we wish all mothers a Happy Mother’s Day.

Reference Cited: http://womenshealth.gov/nwhw/

First Photo: deltaMike

Second Photo: MilitaryHealth

Posted by celizabethdugan • Filed Under: Blog Posts, Events, News, People • Tags: , , , ,

Childhood Allergies on the Rise

Posted on May 7, 2013 • 0 Comments - We welcome your comments

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently published a report stating that skin and food allergies are becoming more prevalent in American children.  The number of children diagnosed with food allergies has risen from 3.4% in 1997 to 5.1% in 2011. Alarmingly, the number of children diagnosed with skin allergies has doubled during the same time frame.

That means that one child in eight will contract a skin allergy and one child in twenty will contract a food allergy. The CDC states that respiratory allergies remain the most common allergies in children under eighteen years of age.

Much of the information in the CDC report was obtained from the National Health Interview Survey.  Findings showed that skin allergies decreased as children got older and respiratory allergies increased with age.

While the reasons were not definitive, the study showed that the number of children with food and respiratory allergies increased with higher income levels. Hispanic children had lower allergy rates than the non-Hispanic white and black children surveyed.

When pollens or different foods enter the body, some people have reactions because of their sensitivity to one or more of these antigens.  The reactions are due to the body’s mistaking the harmless antigen for a dangerous particle. These particles become allergens to the people affected. When this occurs, the body produces antibodies which release histamines and other chemicals causing allergic reactions.

The body’s immune system changes over time for various reasons. As an example, eating more processed food with fewer natural ingredients may impact the vulnerability of our immune systems. In addition, it is believed that life indoors and breathing less fresh air may play a role. Less exercise may also impact how the immune system reacts to antigens.

There are various theories regarding the reasons behind the rise in numbers of children with allergies. Research is being done to learn from where allergies come and why the number of children with allergies is growing in the United States.

  • It is believed that genetics, environment and bacteria within a person’s body may be contributing factors. 
  • Some European studies show that children raised on farms are less likely to have allergies. It is believed that exposure to animals and different microbes at a young age may strengthen immune systems. Scientists have labeled weakened immune systems due to too clean environments “hygiene hypothesis.”
  • Vitamin D deficiency is also believed to contribute to a rise in the rate of allergies. There is no substantive data specifying how Vitamin D works on the immune system but it is known that Vitamin D plays a crucial role in the immune system.
  • In addition, concern is growing over the possible overuse of antibiotics in children because they destroy good bacteria in the body.

Does your child have allergies? What is your theory as to why?

References Cited:  http://www.nlm.nih.gov‎  http://www.cdc.gov http://www.children.webmd.com                

First Photo: emmajanehw

Second Photo: nan palmero

Posted by celizabethdugan • Filed Under: Blog Posts, Healthcare, News, People • Tags: , , ,

International Nurses Day

Posted on May 6, 2013 • 0 Comments - We welcome your comments

Nurses Week begins on Tuesday, the 6th of May and ends on Sunday, May 12th. May 12th is Florence Nightingale’s birthday and has been designated as International Nurses Day.

Healthcare around the world must tout nurses as unsung heroes. History remembers Florence Nightingale as the mother of nursing as we know it today. She was responsible for organizing a corps of nurses to tend to ill and fallen soldiers during the Crimean War in 1894. Warned about the deplorable conditions at the British hospital in Constantinople, Nightingale and her corps of nurses were ill prepared for what was to follow. There were more soldiers who were dying from infectious diseases like typhoid and cholera than there were from injuries incurred in the war itself.

Nightingale spent every waking moment caring for the soldiers and cleaning up the unsanitary conditions she encountered. She seemed to have an unending supply of compassion and concern and ultimately lessened the hospital’s death rate by two-thirds.

Upon her arrival home after the war, Nightingale was welcomed as a hero. Humbly, she served as an example for young women to emulate.  Because of Florence Nightingale, nursing became an honorable vocation which was not the case previously.

Today’s nurses are following in her footsteps all over the world. Here in the United States, we think of nursing as depicted in modern and technologically superior hospitals. Sadly, that is not always the case. Over 3 million registered nurses are in the United States but over 32 million nurses work in other parts of the world.

It is in the poorest of countries and communities that healthcare needs skyrocket and the number of physicians is inadequate. Who is picking up the pieces and taking a greater role in healthcare? It is the nurse. Nurses have become the difference between life and death for many impoverished peoples.

Unlike Florence Nightingale who was applauded, the efforts of many nurses go unnoticed. International Nurses Week should be epitomized by appreciating nurses and celebrating them for all that they do. As more and more global communities welcome nurses into their midst, continued advancements in health systems will be made.

Did you know that nurses deliver 90 percent of all healthcare services worldwide? Wouldn’t Florence Nightingale be proud?

References Cited:

http://phs-nurse.org/  http://www.usphs.gov/  http://www.bbc.co.uk   http://www.nurse.com/

First Photo: Official Navy Imagery

Second Photo: Walt Stoneburner

Posted by celizabethdugan • Filed Under: Blog Posts, Healthcare, News, People • Tags: , , , , ,