The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have reported that reports of serious stomach viruses are on the rise.  This is from an article on WebMD about Norovirus case increases across the country. This is likely related to two new strains of Norovirus labeled “Minerva” and “Laurens.” There was a marked increase in reported cases between October 2006 and June 2007.  With the new cold and flu season on the way it would be a good idea for all of us to bone up on ways to avoid pathogens like a norovirus.

The WebMD article stresses the following points:

• Wash your hands frequently with soap and water.
• Alcohol-based hand-sanitizing gels may be used in addition to washing your hands.
• Disinfect contaminated surfaces with a chlorine bleach solution or disinfectants registered with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for being effective against norovirus.
• Don’t return to work or school until 24-72 hours after symptoms stop.
• When you return to work or school, wash your hands frequently with soap and water.

The CDC also recommends that nursing homes and other health care facilities keep patients with stomach flu — and staff who work with those patients — temporarily away from others in the facility.

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With more and more patients being sent home from the hospital on meds requiring injections and IV administration, the hunt is on for a more economical and safe administration route. Enter the inhaler. With more meds being adapted to be absorbed via inhalation, we are likely to benefit from this route as well. Already, intranasal narcan is making dealing with narcotics OD patients easier by not having to get IV access first. Check out the article here.
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I report on this and other EMS news in the most recent episode of the MedicCast News at the Podcaster News Network.

Jamie

the Podmedic

Each year, we talk about disaster planning.  Depending on where you live, it may be tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, or blizzards.  No matter what your geographical disaster of choice may be, awareness of the issues and dangers associated with it and the likely medical emergencies you may encounter is important.

As the height of the Atlantic hurricane season approaches, one more likely emergency associated with it is carbon monoxide poisoning. This article from CNN talks about the numbers over the last few years. As people lose power and rev up their generators to power their appliances, often these generators are placed in basements and garages, allowing the build up of CO gas in their homes.  CO poisoning is completely preventable. The secret is:

Education, Education, Education.

Go to your local home centers and hardware stores.  Print up flyers and have them hand out safety messages with each generator purchase. Offer to talk about generator safety in your communities: churches, schools, civic groups. Strive for the goal of - NO CO INJURIES THIS YEAR.

I talk about Carbon Monoxide poisoning as the tip and trick of the week on Episode 44 of the MedicCast.

Diabetics are increasingly using insulin pens to administer their doses rather than the traditional syringes.  Many hope the pens will solve a variety of issues surrounding insulin delivery.

• Reusable devices save money over cost of many disposable syringes
• Insulin pens dial-a-dose system ensures proper dosing
• Pens are easier to use and carry
• Self-retracting needles ensure safety of medical providers and family members

Having used insulin pens when medicating diabetic patients during clinicals, I have to say that I was impressed with their ease of use. Read more about them in the article at MedicalNewsToday.  We may find these devices on our units in the future to use for hyperglycemic emergencies in the field. At the very least, we’re likely to encounter them more often in the field when examining patient medications.

A recent article over at WebMD looks at the facts behind the top ten dietary supplements. Until recently, the FDA was required to treat these medicine like products like food and not pharmaceuticals. This enabled manufacturers and distributors to make some pretty wild, unsubstantiated claims about their products in some cases. Also, many of the these products were not consistent in the strengths of the active ingredients, leading to widely varying reactions to the “same med.” We see some of the effects of this lack of oversight when we encounter patients who take supplements with supposed medicinal qualities instead of their prescribed meds.

Worse yet are those cases where patients don’t disclose their use of a supplement that may have harmful side effects when combined with a prescription drug. Read through the article. You might be surprised about your own presuppositions based on “common knowledge.”

Recent changes is federal law as of Aug. 24, 2007 have changed the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) mandate to regulate dietary supplements. The FDA’s new good manufacturing practices ruling ensures that supplements:

• Are produced in a quality manner
• Do not contain contaminants or impurities
• Are accurately labeled

With these changes in place, people should have more assurances that the products are produced safely and in consistent percentages by ingredient. Also, accurate labeling will have impacts on some of the claims previously put forth about some of the supplements.

Welcome to Episode 81

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Link of the Week: U.S. DEA Online Newsletter Microgram

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News:

Atlanta EMS Cardiac Arrest Survival Rates

Volunteer EMS Providers and Milestones

Joining Forces for Volunteer Skills

FDA Approves First Anti-Psychotic Drug for Peds

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Tip/Trick of the Week — A look at Schizophrenia

NIH Medline on Schizophrenia

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Med of the Week — Antipsychotic Medications

Wikipedia page on Antipsychotics

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Other Podcasts: MedicCast News, MedicCast Live, and Headliner News Roundup

Contact Me!
Call the Voice Mail Line — (941) 306-3342

send me a note at podmedic@mac.com

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This week “Hear Me” by Caitlyn Smith

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Until next time, Scene safety, BSI!

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License

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Infection control is a problem in every health care arena.  Hospitals and nursing homes are constantly dealing with MRSA or VRSA outbreaks.  Reports of pathogens present on ambulance surfaces even after a routine cleaning have all of us trying to do more to clean up.  The more important point might be what do we do to keep the germs at work and not bring them home with us.

Developing good hand-washing habits is the answer.  A recent study of consumer antibacterial soaps confirms that fact along with showing that ordinary soap and water is just as effective at controlling and removing pathogens.  Check the article out here.
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I report on this and other EMS news in the most recent episode of the MedicCast News at the Podcaster News Network.

Jamie

the Podmedic

The Journal on Psychosomatic Medicine reports on a recent study on belligerence that points to this tendency towards anger as a risk factor for calcium buildup in the coronary arteries. The study specifically called the trait “antagonism” and referred to it as “a person’s tendency to be suspicious of others, argumentative, competitive or emotionally cold.”

The study looked at answers to a questionnaire filled out by the patients’ spouses as the more reliable risk indicator of this trait. There was no link between the patient’s own assessment of their level of antagonism and calcium levels and plaque build up in the cardiac vessels. It is interesting to note that occasional outbursts of anger were also not associated with additional stress to the heart and its supply vessels.

This finding may support the belief that the prolonged production of stress hormones experienced by a more generally belligerent person over time will contribute risk for future cardiovascular disease. It’s a good bet that people in stressful jobs like ours run an increased risk over time unless we find outlets for the stress we develop.  Exercise, counseling, peer discussions, spiritual pursuits, or involvement in outside activities and hobbies all help us leave the job at work.

This press release I received has some valuable information on the difficulties in diagnosing, treating, and curing Lyme Disease. Check it out.

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Ukiah, CA (PRWEB) August 14, 2007 — The California Lyme Disease Association has some advice for President George W. Bush about his recently disclosed bout of Lyme disease: Don’t be too quick to dismiss the threat it can pose.

“We hope for his sake it was caught early and treated sufficiently,” says CALDA president Phyllis Mervine. “Unfortunately, that’s not the case for many people who contract tick-borne infections.”

Even with prompt treatment, Mervine said, up to sixty percent of people infected with Lyme disease can relapse after a standard course of antibiotics. Additionally, Lyme disease symptoms can recur months to years after the original exposure. “Regrettably, there is no definitive lab test to prove the disease has been eradicated from the body,” she said.

According to Mervine, untreated or undertreated Lyme disease is famous for mimicking many conditions including viruses, attention deficit disorder, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, multiple sclerosis, Lupus, dementia, Parkinson’s, ALS, autoimmune diseases, and other health problems.

“There are two standards of care for Lyme disease. We endorse the guidelines of the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society, which call for individualized treatment,” said Mervine. “There is plenty of evidence that more antibiotic treatment can help people with chronic Lyme. However, insurance companies don’t like to pay for it.”

Lyme disease is spread by ticks that can be as small as a poppy seed. Their bite is usually painless. “Approximately 50 percent of people with Lyme disease don’t recall a tick bite and less than 50 percent report the typical bull’s-eye rash,” Mervine said. “Prompt and adequate treatment early in the course of the disease is the best way to prevent future complications.”

Congress is currently considering legislation to provide $100 million for Lyme disease research and education over the next five years. Mervine hopes President Bush’s experience will lead him to support the bills. “Lyme disease affects millions of Americans,” she said, “and receives hardly any government funding.”

Lyme-carrying ticks can be found throughout the United States. Hikers, campers and others who spend time outdoors are most at risk from the disease.

Despite indications that most parents have their heads firmly planted in the sand (if not buried somewhere even less pleasant), 4 out of 5 high school students say they are regularly exposed to drugs in their schools. This is from a recently released report based on a survey was conducted by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University. The survey tracks the attitudes of teens towards drugs and alcohol.

The survey results that seem to be getting the most attention — “80% of the nation’s high school students and 44% of middle-schoolers have personally seen illegal drugs used or sold and/or students drunk or high on the grounds of their schools.”

For those of us in the EMS fields, this may not come as much of a surprise. Even in my supposedly protected rural reason, I am always taken aback by the number of overdose calls we get at local schools. The most important warning that comes from this report is that the parents seem to be completely unaware of the this increasing trend in their children’s schools. We can do two things:

1. Take care of our own first. Talk regularly and often with your own children about drugs in their schools. What drugs do they come in contact with? According to this survey, if they are in school, they have some awareness and should be able answer the question.
2. Get involved in your community education projects. Talk to your local police agencies about what drugs they are seeing more commonly on the street this year. Arrange to provide assistance to their school outreach programs with a demonstration of the life-saving techniques we will have to use in the case of an overdose.

By getting more involved now, before school starts, maybe we can avert a few of the overdoses that we know are just on the horizon. A little education and preparation go a long way!

Jamie, the Podmedic

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