Tag Archives: Awareness

Boot Breast Cancer night with the Columbus Crew, Oct 7, 2012

OhioHealth presents Boot Breast Cancer night at Columbus Crew Stadium on Sun., Oct. 7. When you visit thecrew.com/pinkribbon to purchase your ticket for the 4 p.m. game, $5 of the purchase price will benefit the OhioHealth Breast Health Program. Just enter the promo code: ohiohealth. As the official healthcare provider of the Crew, OhioHealth is excited to partner with the team to boot breast cancer as we honor those impacted by the disease.

Trauma system data shows some trauma patients are undertriaged in Franklin County

From the Central Ohio Trauma Systems (COTS) First Quarter 2011 newsletter:

The COTS Regional (Trauma) Registry collects data on approximately 13,000 trauma patients annually who arrived at COTS-member hospitals for care. In 2009, the COTS Registry revealed that 772 trauma patients with serious injuries were transported by EMS to non-trauma centers within Franklin County. Although the State’s Trauma Triage Criteria allow for exceptions to transporting trauma patients to trauma centers, a question is raised:

why in Franklin County, with five verified trauma centers, would EMS choose to transfer injured patients with risk to life or limb to a non-trauma center, given that a trauma center is within a few minutes’ drive from anywhere in the county?

The COTS Registry reveals that of the 772 patients transported to non-trauma centers in Franklin County in 2009, 629 or 81% had NO physical findings consis- tent with the state’s existing trauma triage criteria. This means that these 629 trauma patients were “under-triaged” as trauma patients by EMS. One major factor in under-triage is EMS trauma triage criteria that fail to delineate symptoms or conditions indicative of signifi- cant trauma injuries.

Click here for the newsletter and article

FISDAP Online Survey of Female EMS Providers now Available

From FISDAP:

In honor of Mother’s Day, we want to feature women in EMS in the May edition of our Fisdap newsletter.

We’ve put together an online survey for female EMS providers to complete, and we need your help! If you are female, please take 5 minutes to answer the questions (there’s only 7) in our survey. And if you are not a female, please share with your female co-workers and other female EMS providers.

Please complete the survey by Friday, May 6.

Click here to take the survey

Thank you for your support!

FISDAP is an organization that provides support to EMS Education organizations across the US. Resources include validated exams, software for student tracking and more. For more information, please visit:  http://www.fisdap.net

USFA & IAFF Develop Best Practices for Emgy Vehicle/Roadway Ops Safety

USFA and the International Association of Fire Fighters Develop Best Practices for Emergency Vehicle and Roadway Operations Safety

Emmitsburg, MD. – The United States Fire Administration (USFA), in partnership with the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF), announces the release of Best Practices for Emergency Vehicle and Roadway Operations Safety which highlights the results of a U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice (NIJ) supported initiative to enhance emergency vehicle and roadway operations safety for firefighters and law enforcement officers.

“With vehicle crashes and emergency responders being struck on the roadway being a major cause of on-duty fatalities, it is important for all first responders to avail themselves of these programs to reduce this tragic cause of death,” said USFA Acting Assistant Administrator Glenn A. Gaines. “We are grateful for the U.S. Department of Justice’s support of this emergency vehicle and roadway safety initiative which benefits the fire service and law enforcement alike.”

“The number of law enforcement officers and fire fighters killed in vehicle crashes and as the result of being struck by vehicles as they work at the roadside is disturbing and unacceptable,” said IAFF General President Harold A. Schaitberger. “The purpose of this program is to provide information to all emergency responders that will make their jobs safer.”

The goal of this project is to provide a basic guide for all law enforcement officers and fire fighters to improve their level of safety at work. The document discusses training, policy development, education, and technology to enhance emergency vehicle and roadway safety operations.

Further information on USFA’s emergency vehicle and roadway operations safety projects, may be found on the USFA Web site at: http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/fireservice/research/safety/vehicle-roadway.shtm.

 

Grant Honors Organ Donors with Memorial Wall

Press Date: 09/27/2010

Columbus, OH – Grant Medical Center honored patients who gave the gift of life when it revealed Sunday a “Wall of Heroes” commemorating organ and tissue donors. Located in the newly remodeled critical care waiting area on the hospital’s third floor, the wall pays tribute to 15 donors who passed away within the past year. More donors will be added on an ongoing basis. “Those who have chosen organ and tissue donation are heroes in every sense of the word,” said Chief Nursing Officer Donna Hanly.

Grant created the wall in partnership with Lifeline of Ohio, the Columbus-based nonprofit organ procurement organization responsible for promoting and coordinating organ and tissue donation in central and southeastern Ohio. “Lifeline of Ohio is thrilled that Grant Medical Center, our largest donor hospital, has chosen to honor donors and their families with the Wall of Heroes,” said Dorrie Dils, Lifeline of Ohio’s chief clinical officer. “It demonstrates Grant’s longstanding dedication to donation and its support of donors and their families.”

The wall displays the pictures and names of donors, with the dates of their donations and the number of lives impacted by each donation. Family members of the first 15 honorees attended Sunday’s ceremony.

Grant’s organ and tissue donation council approved and supported the plan and worked with Lifeline of Ohio on the design.  “We thought it was a creative way to increase awareness about the lives that can be saved through donation,” said Perry, a member of the organ and tissue donation council.

Grant leadership is hopeful that the wall not only remembers individual donors, but stimulate discussions and decisions about organ and tissue donation among visitors to the wall’s busy waiting room area. Although 90 percent of adult Ohioans support tissue and organ donation, only 54 percent are registered donors. About one Ohioan dies every other day while waiting for a lifesaving transplant.

“Not everyone realizes the impact they can make,” said William Carroll, MD, medical director of neurology and a member of the organ and tissue donation council. “One donor has the potential to save eight lives through organ donation and enhance up to 50 lives as a tissue donor.  It’s an amazing legacy to leave, but it’s important that family members have this discussion ahead of time.”

The heart, intestine, liver, lungs, kidneys and pancreas are organs for transplant, while bone/tendon, cornea, heart valves, skin and veins/arteries are tissue for transplant.  “We want to give people the chance to see organ donors as real people and think about organ and tissue donation,” Dr. Carroll said.

via OhioHealth – Newsroom.

Hear from Patient Dustin Holloway About his Care at Grant for Post-Surgery Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jslQOAbA6gw

You may have seen Dustin Holloway, Grant Medical Center patient, featured on billboard ads around town. Dustin was a patient at Grant who had surgery and acute respiratory syndrome. His condition was so severe that he was placed into a medically induced coma. As he recovered, Dustin cited that the Grant nurses really helped him rally both physically and emotionally. His experience with the nurses changed his life, and now he is studying to be a respiratory therapist.

Experiences like these are why Grant has maintained the nation’s highest standard for nursing excellence with its re-designation of Magnet status by the American Nurses Credentialing Center. Having first received this recognition in 2005, being re-designated places Grant among the top three percent of hospitals worldwide to receive Magnet status. Magnet recognizes healthcare organizations that provide nursing excellence and validates the quality of care Grant provides to patients every day.

HomeReach Hospice Stepping Stones Day Camp for Youths Who Have Experienced the Death of a Significant Person

Stepping Stones Day Camp

(posted on 8/13/2010)

HomeReach Hospice is offering a free, one-day grief camp on Saturday, September 25, 2010. Stepping Stones Day Camp utilizes art, nature and interactive games for youth ages 6 to 12 who have experienced the death of a significant person in their lives.

All activities have been developed to support the grief process of each child.

Snacks and lunch provided at no cost.

In addition, Stepping Stones Day Camp offers an adult group session from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. to offer support to loved ones and caretakers about the grieving process.

To Register

For more information on the activities or to obtain a registration form, call (614) 566-4509. Registration packets must be received by September 10, 2010.

Saturday September 25, 2010

9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Check in begins at 8:45 a.m.

Camp Ken-Jockety

1295 Hubbard Road

Galloway, Ohio 43119

Grief Support Services

HomeReach Hospice offers grief counseling support groups to help people of all ages learn how to live with the death of someone they love. We also provide services to schools, workplaces and community organizations. For more information, call (614) 566-5377.

Directions:

Take I-70 West

Take the Route 142 exit (exit # 85) and go south toward West Jefferson/Plain City

Turn left onto High Free Pike (County Road 49) High Free Pike becomes Roberts Road (County Road 28)

Stay straight to go onto Hubbard Road.

Can-Am Police-Fire Games 2010, Dublin OH

Join others from across North America August 15-22 at the Can-Am Police-Fire Games in Dublin OH. Here are some of the events planned.

Archery
Arm Wrestling
Baseball
Basketball
Bench Press
Biathlon
Billiards
Bowling
Chili Cook-off
Cross Country
Cycling
Darts
Dead Lift
Golf
Ice Hockey
Judo
Karate
Lacrosse
Narcotics Dog
Paintball
Pistol
Police Motorcycle Skills
Police Service Dog
Powerlifting
Racquetball
Rifle
Running
Skeet
Skyscraper Climb
Soccer
Softball (Slow-Pitch)
Sporting Clays
Submission Grappling
SWAT
Swimming
TCA
Tennis
Texas Hold’em
TFA
Track & Field
Trap Shooting
Triathlon
Tug-O-War
Volleyball

Click here for more information

Hilliard/Norwich Township First Responders Park Dedication, Sept 11, 2010

Please join the members of the Hilliard Division of Police and the Norwich Township Fire Department

Saturday, September 11, 2010

12:00 p.m.

~Downtown Old Hilliard~

Norwich Township Fire Department as we dedicate “First Responders Park”

A very special dedication is planned for the City of Hilliard’s “First Responders Park” at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 11, 2010. This park is a memorial to the nearly 2,800 Americans who lost their lives in the three terrorist attacks of September 11th and it is being dedicated to the 400 plus “first responders” who died that day saving others.

The First Responders Park is the largest memorial of its kind in the United States outside of the monuments at the three individual terrorist attack locations in New York, Washington D.C. and Shanksville, PA. The $1.9 million park features over 6 tons of steel recovered from “Ground Zero,” three large granite walls engraved with the names of the 2,800 Americans lost and a reflecting pool with a flag lined plaza.

We are inviting all police officers and firefighters to join in what should be a stirring and memorable moment. We are planning on all police officers and firefighters to line up at the Joint Safety Services Complex (5171 Northwest Parkway) and parade to the park together in a sign of unity and respect for our fallen comrades. The event will coincide with “Old Hilliard Fest” and the column of officers and firefighters will be led through Old Hilliard to the park where thousands of people are expected to attend.

The parade will be led by Honor Guards and Pipe & Drum Corps from numerous public safety organizations and military units

All police officers and firefighters should dress in uniform and arrive at the Safety Complex between 10:30 – 11:30 a.m. We will line up all personnel, Honor Guards and Pipe & Drum Corps starting at 11:30 am and “step-off” at 11:50 am for the ten minute walk to the park.

We will have light refreshments before and after the dedication at the Safety Complex.

We Look Forward To Your Participation.

If your agency has an Honor Guard or Pipe & Drum Unit and would like to participate in this memorable event, please contact Sgt. John Higgins at 614.334.2328 or e-mail at sgt.higgins@cityofhilliard.com for more information.

EMS: Improved clinical outcomes and downstream healthcare savings

The National EMS Advisory Council published a white paper: EMS Makes a Difference | Improved clinical outcomes and downstream healthcare savings in December 2009. This document is rather impressive and demonstrates a number of items. 

From the paper’s Introduction: 

Does EMS make a difference? Do prehospital interventions really improve patient outcomes? Can timely care provided in the prehospital setting lead to reduced total healthcare expenditures? After more than fifty years of prehospital care provided by EMS systems in the United States and associated scientific research, there now exists a sufficient body of scientific evidence to answer this question with an unequivocal YES. 
Evidence-based medicine has become the standard for change in healthcare. As healthcare systems become increasingly data-driven, the efficacy and usefulness of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) has come under increased scrutiny. The challenge facing EMS today is to affect a system-wide transformation from practices based on tradition and expert opinion to adoption of national guidelines and protocols that have been developed through a rigorous examination of the scientific evidence and a systematic guideline development process. The growing body of research in prehospital care has reached a critical mass and there now exists a sufficient evidence base to scientifically evaluate the efficacy of select interventions. This paper reviews the literature documenting the efficacy of prehospital care and its resulting impact on patient outcomes and healthcare finance. 
 
 
 

 

FAA: Helicopter Emergency Medical Service Safety

Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) operations are unique due to the emergency nature of the flight. The FAA, operators, and the medical community all play a vital role in promoting a positive safety culture that ensures the safety of passengers, flight crews, and medical professional on these flights.

In August 2004, the FAA initiated a government and industry partnership that reduced HEMS accidents in 2005 and 2006. While the total number of accidents declined, fatal accidents increased sharply to eight in 2008. There were two fatal accidents in 2009 and two so far in 2010. While the FAA is pursuing new rules that support National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recommendations, the agency has aggressively promoted significant short-term safety initiatives that do not require rulemaking. The FAA’s has immediate focus has been:

Encourage risk management training to flight crews so that they can make more analytical decisions about whether to launch on a flight.

Better training for night operations and responding to inadvertent flight into deteriorating weather conditions.

Promote technology such as night vision goggles (NVGs), terrain awareness and warning systems (TAWS) and radar altimeters.

Provide airline-type FAA oversight for operators. Identify regional FAA HEMS operations and maintenance inspectors to help certificate new operators and review the operations of existing companies.

Click here to read the FAA Fact Sheet