Health

National Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Week is May 21-27, 2023.  This year’s theme is “Where Emergency Care Begins!”  National EMS Week honors the lifesaving care EMS providers offer nationwide, 24-hours a day, seven days a week.   They are truly where emergency care begins.

The American Heart Association warns the public to utilize EMS when needed by the following theme, “Don’t Die of Doubt.  Chest Pain?  Trust 911!”  They warn the public not to doubt and Call 911 if any of these symptoms of heart attack or stroke appear:

Heart Attack Symptoms
• Chest discomfort that can feel like pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain
• Pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach
• Shortness of breath
• Other signs may include a cold sweat, nausea or lightheadedness.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. It’s ok to have a mental illness and it’s important those with a mental illness know it’s ok to not be ok to help reduce stigma and encourage them to seek care and treatment needed.

Tara Fink, Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, joined the Veterans Memorial Hospital Clinic staff to offer behavioral health care to help meet the great need for mental health care in northeast Iowa. Tara provides consultations at both the Waukon and Postville clinic locations and offers medication management for all mental illnesses.

Veterans Memorial Hospital, together with Helping Services of Northeast Iowa, will begin offering the ‘Baby and Me - The Basics’ class on Tuesday evening, July 11, from 5-8 p.m. in the hospital’s Large Conference Room.

Helping Services’ Certified Child Passenger Safety Technicians, Barb Fjelstul and Rachel Weber, will teach the basics of how to correctly secure children in their car seat and getting the seat secured in the vehicle. Barb Fjelstul, also a breast-feeding educator, will guide participants through the challenges and rewards of breast-feeding and provide techniques to ensure baby is getting the most benefit from nursing.

Rachel Stone, RN, is a labor and delivery nurse and will give expecting mothers education on breathing techniques and coping with pain during labor.  

Veterans Memorial Hospital will be offering free blood sugar testing and blood pressure checks with immediate results at the Taste of Lansing celebration Thursday, May 25.  The hospital’s display will be located in the Main Street Lansing office building.

“Be the Match” sampling will also be offered. This is the same program that Robyn Roberts from Good Morning America endorses following her own successful bone marrow transplant match 10 years ago. A blood stem cell donation can be a cure for blood cancer, sickle cell, and other deadly diseases. Many patients and their families are counting on drives like this to find their match. The process is simple and painless and will be available for all visitors ages 18-40.

For additional information, feel free to call Veterans Memorial Hospital at 563-568-3411.
 

Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) Community and Home Care Allamakee Public Health has scheduled monthly free blood pressure check clinics all around Allamakee County beginning in June. Nurses from Allamakee County Public Health will be on-site to take a blood pressure reading. Blood pressure results will be recorded on a log card given to all visitors to bring back each month so their next results can be logged.

Every two seconds someone needs blood. The next LifeServe Blood Center blood drive will be held Monday, June 5, from 12-5 p.m., at the First Baptist Church located in south Waukon. Blood drives are held once a month in Waukon, to allow for more donors to give. The LifeServe Blood Center supplies Veterans Memorial Hospital with their blood and blood products.

Blood centers across the United States see a decrease in blood donations during the busy summer months.  During the summer, people become more active, have busier schedules, spend more time outdoors and take vacations. While donations decline, hospitals see an increase in the need for blood. More driving can mean more automobile accidents. A person who has suffered severe injuries from an automobile accident can need up to 50 units of blood.

Veterans Memorial Hospital Speech-Language Pathologist, Steven Mazzafield, is now offering a Stroke Support Group for individuals who have experienced a stroke, as well as caregivers and family members affected by stroke. Monthly meetings are held the first Thursday of every month at 2 p.m. at Veterans Memorial Hospital. The next Stroke Support Group meeting will be held Thursday, June 1, at 2 p.m. in the ICN Conference Room.

The Stoke Support Group provides opportunities to share tips, tricks, or trials among participants, offer support for caregivers, and provide an opportunity for socialization.

While strokes can happen at any age, risk of stroke is greatest as we get older with the majority of strokes occurring after the age of 70. Risk factors for stroke include obesity, sedentary lifestyle, binge drinking, diabetes, smoking, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure.

Helping Services for Youth & Families’ Domestic Abuse Resource Center has implemented a Domestic Abuse survivor chat line, which can be reached at HelpingServices.org/chat. There is also the option to call a 24/7 resource phone line at 800-383-2988, but during the time of social distancing Helping Services advocates noticed a decline in calls.

The agency responded by implementing a secure chat option for anyone in need of reaching a local advocate. Whether chatting or calling, a trained Advocate will be available to respond 24 hours a day.

All services provided are at no cost to the survivor and are confidential. For more info about Helping Services’ Domestic Abuse Resource Center call 800-383-2988 to chat with someone or go online to HelpingServices.org/chat to reach out to an advocate.
 

The Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) Medical Clinic-Waukon opened just two years ago, May 3, joining the Gundersen Waukon Clinic in providing accessible family health care to the area communities.

“The statistics show, after just two years, the incredible need and impact of this new clinic. A total of 16,182 patient visits have been made since opening day, serving 4,507 patients. This number is more than doubled since our first year,” states Laura Baxter, Clinic Director. “We have added providers since last year, to allow for greater access to local healthcare, and even added a nurse mid-wife and psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner to widen the range of services we provide, to meet the growing needs of our area communities.”

Veterans Memorial Hospital will be hosting the Safety Day Camp for children ages six to 14 Wednesday, June 7 at the Allamakee County Fairgrounds in Waukon from 8:15 a.m. to 2 p.m. The camp is open to all children in the area of that age range. It is a true safety camp that instructs many areas of safety that addresses every child’s life.

Children often see the outdoors as an exciting playground, providing endless hours of fun and adventure. But the great outdoors can set the stage for tragedy. That is why this Safety Camp was established by Veterans Memorial Hospital and Allamakee County ISU Extension 23 years ago.