Health
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UKIAH, Calif. – It started out as an average day, recalled Milo Moreno, maintenance worker at Ukiah Valley Medical Center (UVMC).
But what happened that Tuesday, Sept. 2, was extraordinary.
“I was working on a commercial kitchen microwave that wasn’t working,” shared Moreno, who continued, “I had been checking all the parts and had just plugged and unplugged the microwave when Eric Odlozil, technician from Reliance Enterprises, came into the maintenance shop and began giving me some troubleshooting advice. I really appreciated his expertise in helping me figure out what the malfunction was. Eric asked me if I had checked the plug. He immediately pushed the plug into the outlet while holding the microwave. I immediately heard a pop and jumped back.
“Eric remained clinging on to the microwave. So, I reacted by shoving it out of his hands. Eric fell backwards and the microwave fell beside him. I said to him, 'Dude are you OK?' He barely garbled out the word no – his eyes were also going crazy and moving all around.”
What happened next is a nothing short of heroic.
“I knew something wasn’t right and I ran into the hospital to the emergency room where I found Dr. Trotter. Dr. Trotter grabbed a couple more of his colleagues and ran with me back out to the maintenance shop where we found Eric not breathing! I couldn’t believe this was happening. Dr. Trotter called a code blue and began resuscitating Eric. I stayed by his side the whole time until I knew everything was going to be alright.”
UVMC and its staff were grateful for Moreno’s acts of heroism and wanted to honor him with a gift.
However, rather than receiving a gift he is asking the community to be heroes for someone else by donating bone marrow on Monday, Dec. 15, from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. in honor of his cousin Erick Moreno who recently passed away at the age of 14 from leukemia.
The test is a simple swab that tests your saliva for a potential match in the Be The Match registry.
Anyone between the ages of 18 to 44 is eligible to join the registry.
There will also be a special hero celebration for Moreno at 3:30 p.m. that day.
For more information please contact UVMC at 707-463-7616 or visit www.bethematchfoundation.org/goto/uvmc .
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LAKEPORT, Calif. – Thanks to generous donations from the community and staff, Sutter Lakeside Hospital will get two new ventilators by the end of this year.
The hospital received more than $24,000 in donations from community members and employees, including the medical staff and volunteers.
Sutter negotiated a reduced price and contributed the remaining funds.
“We’re grateful for our donors’ generosity, which will help us provide optimal care to patients with severe respiratory complications,” said Sutter Lakeside Chief Administrative Officer Siri Nelson. “We generally see many more of these cases during the flu and pneumonia season from October through April.”
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) predicts this may be one of the worst seasons yet due to the enterovirus D68 (EV-D68).
There are no available vaccines or treatments for this virus, making mechanical ventilation crucial.
“Sutter Lakeside Hospital serves a large retired community and we’re generally hit hard during the flu season,” said Chief of Medical Staff Fred Johnson, M.D. “The new ventilators will make it possible for us to serve our patients instead of transferring them to other facilities.”
Dr. Johnson led the effort to raise funds for the ventilators and rallied unprecedented support from hospital employees and volunteers.
The medical staff donated $8,000 and administrative staff members donated another $1,500.
The Sutter Lakeside Auxiliary was the largest contributor; this dedicated group of volunteers donated $10,000 raised at the hospital gift shop.
“After we heard Dr. Johnson’s presentation about why we needed the ventilators, it was a unanimous decision,” says Auxiliary President Sharon Brash. “It was clearly a priority for the health of our community and we were pleased to help.”
To learn more about Sutter Lakeside, visit www.sutterlakeside.org/ .
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SACRAMENTO – The California Health and Human Services Agency (CHHS) has launched its Open Data Portal, which facilitates user-friendly access to non-confidential data collected by CHHS departments.
The Open Data Portal’s goals are to spark innovation, promote research and economic opportunities, engage public participation in government, increase transparency, and inform decision-making.
“Open data” describes data that are freely available, machine-readable and formatted according to national technical standards to facilitate visibility and reuse of published data by individuals, business, researchers, journalists, developers and others.
“Transparency and accessibility to information is so important to democracy,” said Diana S. Dooley, secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency. “This is the beginning of a very ambitious effort to open information portals that people want and need. This is an important step toward our goal of making California the healthiest state.”
The California Department of Public Health and the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development are the first departments to contribute data to the CHHS portal with other departments to follow. Participating departments will continue to add more datasets over time.
Data sets initially available include birth profiles, poverty rates, reports on asthma and West Nile virus, Health Professions Shortage Areas, utilization of specific medical procedures and hospital seismic compliance.
“The launch of the California Health and Human Services Agency data portal promises benefits for policymakers, consumers, the media and anyone else who wants to leverage health data to inform decision making,” said Andy Krackov, senior program officer at the California HealthCare Foundation, which is funding the Open Data Portal Project. “The California HealthCare Foundation looks forward to supporting the state’s work by encouraging use of the Portal and the creation of innovative tools to harness these data.”
Prior to its launch, CHHS tested the portal ( https://chhs.data.ca.gov/ ) with state partners, researchers, technology experts and members of the public.
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SACRAMENTO – Dr. Ron Chapman, director of the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and state health officer, has issued a warning to consumers with allergies to milk, soy or wheat not to eat the following 99 Ranch Market toast products because they contain milk, soy, and/or wheat allergens that are not listed on the label.
RECALLED TOAST PRODUCTS
– Cheese Toast
– Raisin Toast
– Coconut Toast
– Red Bean Toast
– Family Toast
– Taro Toast
– Green Onion Porksung Toast
– Wheat Bran Toast
– Multi-9 Grain Toast
– U-Ta-Ne Toast
– Pineapple Toast
People who have milk, soy, and/or wheat allergies risk life-threatening reactions if these products are consumed. To date, no illnesses have been reported.
Welcome Market Inc., doing business as 99 Ranch Market of Union City, Calif., initiated a voluntary recall of these types of toast.
The toast products were packaged as pre-sliced loaves in clear plastic bags and distributed to 99 Ranch Market stores in Northern California and the state of Washington.
Each store has a different bar code and address information specific to that location. The products have a sell by date of 11/04/14 or prior.
You can view a picture of one of the recalled toast products on CDPH’s Web site, www.cdph.ca.gov .
Consumers in possession of any of these products should return them to the place of purchase for a refund.
Consumers that have experienced an allergic reaction after eating these products should consult their health care provider.
Anyone observing these products being offered for sale is encouraged to call CDPH toll-free complaint line at 800-495-3232.