Technology can provide numerous ways to save people’s lives. A useful application of technology is the PulsePoint app which connects users trained in CPR with other people who urgently require their help. This was the situation in Seattle, in Stephen DeMont’s case.

Last week, Stephen collapsed right in front of the University of Washington Medical Center, at the bus station. He taking a bike ride when suddenly felt lightheaded and collapsed because of a heart attack. Fortunately, enough nearby citizens trained in CPR were alerted through the PulsePoint app just in time to save Stephen.

The app was invented by Richard Price, a former fire department chief for 33 years. In one ordinary day when he happened to have lunch, he saw that an EMT arrived nearby to save someone having a cardiac arrest. Price was bothered by the fact that he could have administered CPR and used the automated external defibrillator (AED) he had in his car, if only he was aware of the situation.

This event prompted Richard to have the idea of the PulsePoint app. With some work, he eventually made his idea into a reality and has been saving lives ever since. Around 900,000 people have downloaded the app and at least 34,000 were alerted to people requiring CPR. Over 13,000 alerts involved cardiac events.

The app was developed in 2011 but only recently cities like Seattle have started wide adoption programs seeing how beneficial it is. The app works through the emergency services system. When someone makes a call requesting help, the 911 operators alert the PulsePoint app users within a certain radius that CPR assistance is required. The location of the closest portable EDA is also provided.

The PulsePoint app is extremely useful as it allows the timely intervention in cases where time is essential to the survival of the suffering person. For example, cardiac arrest is a medical condition which if it is not addressed within a few minutes it will cause damage to your organs and brain. After 10 minutes the chances of surviving drop to zero. The app fulfills an important role in cases where emergency responders just don’t have the resources or time to reach the affected person in time.

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Authorities are worried about the fact that the heroin and the opioid epidemic is widely spread across the United States. Although active measures have been taken to tackle this problem, many opioid addicts are still out there.

Over the past few months, lots of over-the-counter drugs have become available only on prescription. Also, another type of medication was introduced in order to save overdose victims. This handy asset contains Narcan, which must be administered in the nostrils in emergency situations to revive a person who collapsed after an overdose.

This medication is carried by some police officers in a bag that looks like a travel toiletry kit. According to Cam Strahm, Drug Enforcement Administration assistant special agent, Narcan is very useful in case you ever find yourself in a life-or-death situation.

The statistics have revealed that over 28,000 people died in 2014 due to heroin and overdoses from opioid painkillers. Also, based on the data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), starting from 1999, the number of deaths caused by opioid overdoses has become four times higher, while the situation is even worse in Oregon.

Strahm added that one of the main factors influencing overdoses are doctors from pain-management clinics who prescribe too many painkillers just for the sake of their profit.

According to Jack Riley, DEA Deputy Administrator, the cultivation of heroin crops has increased by 160 percent between 2013 and 2015 with the highest production in the several states including Guerrero, Durango, Sinaloa, and Chihuahua just to name a few.

This information is relevant because most of the heroin sold on the streets of Oregon originates from Mexico and enters the state via California. Unfortunately, this deadly powder is easily distributed to any addict because some residents have family ties to the above-mentioned states of Mexico.

Strahm refused to comment on any political matters regarding the hypothesis of a wall at the United States and Mexico border. This wall would have the role of preventing heroin traffic.

While the heroin and opioid epidemic continues to rise, Strahm and his team are doing their best to tackle this issue and save many kids from falling prey to such a vicious life. Also, some believe that opioids should be banned from many clinics and pharmacies.

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A mumps outbreak has gripped the states of Oklahoma and Arkansas and doesn’t show any signs of relenting. As of yet, there have been over 70 cases in Oklahoma, while Arkansas has seen 476 cases in three counties.

According to a recent report from the Oklahoma State Department of Health, a total of 70 cases of mumps were reported. Two cases were found in Kay County while the rest of 68 are located in Garfield County. The investigation of health officials found eight out of ten patients were vaccinated. The rest of 20 per cent of cases were not vaccinated or their status is currently unknown.

Arkansas has a much higher count of people infected with the mumps. The lab confirmed or suspected cases total to 476. Three counties are main grounds of the mumps outbreak: Benton, Washington, and Madison. The outbreak has affected 13 workplaces and even three school districts. This includes more than 30 schools statewide with one or more students with the mumps.

Mumps outbreaks are caused by the mumps virus. It can be found in saliva, in the nose, and throat fluid.  The virus is very contagious and spreads through coughing, sneezing or most effectively, through direct contact with throat and nose secretions. Even talking close enough to another person, or sharing eating utensils can spread the mumps virus.

The most common mumps symptoms include swelling on either one or both sides of the faces, inflamed salivary glands in the cheek and jaw area, headaches, fever, and muscle pain. In some cases, you can experience a loss of appetite. If infection occurs after puberty, it can lead to swelled testicles.

In more severe and rare cases, mumps can cause meningitis or even encephalitis, which is the inflammation of the brain. If women in the first three months of pregnancy are infected they can risk a miscarriage.

According to the CDC, the MMR vaccine is safe and effective. Two doses of the vaccine are 88% effective at preventing the disease, while one dose is 78% effective. Additionally, if you live in areas with a mumps outbreak avoid sharing food and drinks and maintain the regular standard of hygiene. If infected, then stay at home until you get the MMR vaccine.

Have you been infected with the mumps?

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Nestle has recently issued a nationwide recall of its Drumstick ice cream. The recall notice was ordered after a factory in California, where the ice cream is made, has tested positive for listeria contamination.

The factory located in Bakersfield, California was recently subjected to routine health testing. The test results discovered certain equipment from a production line was infected with listeria. In response, Nestle issued a voluntary recall of the affected products. These include the 24 count Vanilla Pack, Drumstick Club 16 count Variety Pack. Both types of products were made between August 31 and September 17.

Nestle discovered the contamination of Drumstick ice cream on its own, through internal testing. However, the products were accidently shipped to national stores due to an error in the receipt logging of the tests.

Besides the recall notice, Nestle urged consumers to avoid the ice cream and return it to the store. They also recommended contacting Nestle Consumer Services for more information. Nestle made the distinction between this case of listeria contamination and its Blue Bell recall in 2015 when three people died in Kansas. In other four states, 10 people were infected and then hospitalized.

In this current case, only the equipment was discovered to be infected not the ice cream itself. There was only one product line in a single facility affected so the infestation wouldn’t be large scale. The recall is only a precautionary measure. There aren’t any reports claiming the ice cream is infected or that people have fallen ill after consuming it.

According to the Food and Drug Administration:

Listeria causes serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. The infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women.

Fortunately, listeria does not have any severe effects on healthy individuals. If infected, they are likely to suffer from short-term high fever, stiffness, headaches, nausea, abdominal pain, and diarrhea. In the US, almost 1,600 people suffer severe illnesses after being infected with listeria each year. Approximately 16% of these cases will result in death.

If you have purchased any of the previously mentioned types of Nestle Drumstick ice cream, we recommend consulting this FDA page. It includes information about the production codes and dates included in the recall.

Do you regularly eat Nestle’s Drumstick ice cream?

Image source: FDA

Four students were diagnosed with MRSA infection at Westford Academy. Even though the bacteria is common, it can cause dangerous infections if it manages to get into the cut skin.  School officials decided to disinfect the school to be sure that nobody is in danger. The first case was found on October, 5.

Bill Olsen, the manager of Westford  Academy, said the school is following the guidelines from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. They also took into consideration advice from the  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

This is not the first time when a MRSA case is found at Westford Academy.  There could  be an issue as they are using the same disinfectant as they did in the past. We do not how efficient the clean solution it was having in mind that the infection is back.

The officials said they will not cancel school because they do not have any reason to make this decision. It seems that as long as students are on antibiotics and have their wounds protected, nothing wrong could happen.

Bill Olsen explained that they are going to focus on the locker rooms and the gym because three of the four students who got infected were part of the football team. They also asked the parents to clean their childrens’ towel, gym clothes and bags to make sure they will not get the infection.

School  officials do not know where the virus came from. There could have been from any student, even from someone who is not involved in the Westford Academy community.

It seems that the disinfection of the school began yesterday night. On October 6, the Westford Academy has a planned curriculum night. It was the perfect time to clean the place because there were no students around. However, we are expecting more measures to be taken if the situation will get worse.

MRSA infection is caused by a bacteria that has become resistant to many antibiotics. The good news is that there are still antibiotics able to fight the disease.  To prevent the infection, the first thing you have to do is wash your hands. Moreover, keep your person things private, especially your towels. Another advice would be to cover your wounds because they are the most vulnerable places to MRSA infection.

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It seems that social security numbers will be removed from Medicare cards by April 2019. The decision was taken by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. However, the providers will need some years to keep up with the changes. SSN will be replaced by Medicare Beneficiary Identifiers.

At the moment, there are almost 60 million people who have Medicare cards with Social Security Number. CMS promised to their best in teaching providers and patients about the benefits of the new system.  People are expecting more details about how this change will be done and what impact it will have for the patients.

The new MBIs will be available from April 2018 for all living and deceased Medicare beneficiaries. CMS is hoping that they will have the information systems needed to start the process. The MBIs will be distributed until the end of 2019. Until then, all Medicare patients should have the new cards. CMS will also have a transition period of 20 months. After that moment, they will no longer accept the older cards.

Providers have a lot on their minds at the moment. They need to find the best solutions for the changes that will come. First of all, they will have to change the coding information in their systems. Moreover, they will also have to explain their patients about the new electronic cards. There will be cases when people will come with older cards because they did not know about the new ones.

People will have a lot of questions regarding this matter. They will want to know how much time they will have to wait for the new cards and how much money it will cost. Providers also need to make sure that their patients’ medical care will remain the same or be even better after MBIs will replace the SSN.

The new Medicare Beneficiary Identifier will have alphanumeric characters and it will be 11 digits long. Even though there will be some major changes in the system, CSM is really hoping that Medicare patients will not be affected by the new cards. It seems that we have to say “goodbye” to Social Security Number. How much do you think the health industry will be changed after MBIs will be introduced?

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Exploding E-cigarettes were not believed to be a  common thing, but it seems that the situation has changed. Elisha G. Brownson, M.D., a burn, and trauma physician, confirmed that between October 2015 and June 2016 she treated  15 patients who had injuries due to e-cigarettes. It seems that these devices are not dangerous just for having unhealthy chemicals, but they are also able to explode while we use them.

To understand better the situation, we need to see how things developed regarding exploding e-cigarettes cases. From January 2009 to  August 2014, there were 25 cases reported, in the United States. According to the Food and Drug Administration, there were only four reports reported between 2006 and 2013.

Doctors think  there are more cases, but media does not know about them. For example, Dr. Brownson said that at her hospital there are at least two patients every month who need to be treated because of exploding e-cigarettes.

These injuries are more dangerous than we could think. We are talking about burns to the face and hands. There are cases when patients need to have surgery and after that talk to psychologists because chemical burns can change your life forever.

Why are the e-cigarettes exploding? It happens mostly when the battery fails. Every e-cigarette has a tube where the air is able to flow. When battery stops working, that tube becomes the best way for combustion products to come out. This is when the device breaks and the explosion is taking place.

However, there are people who think that if e-cigarettes are used in the right way, there is no reason to worry. Moreover, it seems that they are no more dangerous than our laptops or smartphones. The companies should be more careful when developing e-cigarettes and test their safety.

Dr. Brownson has another opinion. She explained she would not let her children use those devices and she does not advise anyone to use them.  The biggest problem is that most e-cigarettes consumers are teenagers. They could get scars for their entire life due to an explosion. The government should raise awareness regarding this issue.

It was reported that e-cigarettes are responsible for making more young people to smoke. They are curious to try the device and after that, they will begin to use tobacco cigarettes.  It seems that e-cigarettes are more dangerous than we thought.

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Expensive does not always mean good. According to FDA, people who take hepatitis C drugs are at a high risk of developing hepatitis B. The Food and Drug Administration asked doctors who prescribe drugs for hepatitis C to screen their patients also for the B type. The drugs, called direct-acting antivirals, could be more dangerous than we think.

Health officials identified 24 cases of hepatitis B reactivation after the patients were treated with direct-acting antivirals from November 22, 2013, to July 18, 2016. This number includes only the cases that were shown to FDA. There could be more patients who got sick because of this disease. From those 24 people, two of them died and one needed a liver transplant.

FDA wants to add a warning on the labels of hepatitis C drugs. This way, people will be aware of the danger. It is hard to know that the drug you take for one disease can reactive another one, but patients have to know the side-effects of their medication.

There are more than 3.2 million Americans who suffer from Hepatitis C. There were times when almost 15 000 people died every year because of it, but the drugs changed that. However, the treatment is expensive for most people. For example, the prices start at 84 000 dollars and can go up to 94 000 dollars.

Almost 1 million Americans suffer from hepatitis B and 3 000 die every year because of it. The main factors are unprotected sex, intravenous drug use and any contact that involves blood from an infected person.  The biggest problem is that there is no cure for Hepatitis B. There are drugs which can make patients feel better and have control over the disease.  Moreover, there are a lot of people who do not know they are infected and they get tested when it is too late.

What we know for sure is that doctors should screen patients for hepatitis B while they are getting treatment for the C type. Researchers are still trying to understand how these two diseases are connected and what makes hepatitis B reactivate.

Health officials do not want to discourage people who need to use hepatitis C drugs. Those treatments can save people’s lives. They just want patients to be informed about the danger and have doctors pay more attention to hepatitis B.

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Antitobacco groups decided to file a lawsuit against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday. They are trying again to make the agency use graphic warning labels on cigarettes.  According to the law, FDA was supposed from 2011 to use color graphics that warned people about the dangers of smoking.

The groups asked the court to give FDA a new deadline for the warning labels.  They said that FDA has not been respecting the law for more than four yeas. The companies involved in the lawsuit are the American Cancer Society, American Lung Association, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and other five public health groups.

Tobacco companies from the United States have avoided graphic cigarette warning labels for many years. They always say they are protected by the First Amendment, the gives the right of commercial free speech. However, the antitobacco groups think that the government should have different limits when it comes to warning labels because they could really decrease the smoking rates.

Until now, FDA officials did not comment on this lawsuit. However, they said they are supporting a new rule for the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco  Control Act. We do not know when the rule will be proposed and what it is about.

It could come as a surprise, but the United States are one of the few countries where graphic warning labels have not ben used. More than 90 countries are using these labels, with decaying teeth or sick lungs, to raise awareness about the disadvantages of smoking. Moreover, in the United Kingdom, the authorities want to eliminate cigarette branding. This way, big companies such as Lucky Strike will lose their unique packages.

The groups said that, according to a study, simple health warning on the labels are not effective. People should really see what could happen to them if they keep smoking. While FDA is sued due to warning labels, there are millions of Americans who still smoke. Most of them know how dangerous this habit can be, but they do not seem to care.

The biggest problem is that people do not think something wrong could happen to them until it is too late. Lung cancer is one of the main causes of death around the world.  Even though you are feeling good at the moment, smoking will reveal its side-effects when you will be older.

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A mother of a transgender teenager decided to sue the Rady Children’s Hospital’s Child for discrimination. She said that her transgender son had bad experiences with the staff while he was on suicide watch. Even though the hospital is one of the best in the country, the mother said that the staff gave his son a lot of anxiety.

Katharine Prescott said that doctors misgendered her 14-year-old transgender son, referring to Kyler as “she” and not “he”.  He went to the hospital on April 5, 2015, after he wanted to commit suicide. The unit’s staff psychiatrist decided to remove the patient after two days because he was not feeling good in the hospital.

Unfortunately, Kyler died by suicide a month later. Even though his mother does not blame the hospital for his death, she thinks that he should not have been treated like that, especially from one of the best hospitals in the country. She believes that the hospital violated the Affordable Care Act and California’s Civil Rights Act. The mother does not understand how discrimination is possible at this hospital, where thousands of children are treated every year.

She wants to make sure that Rady’s is providing the right care to all its patients, no matter what gender they are. According to her, the hospital violated the section which does not allow gender discrimination. As long as the hospital receives federal funding, they should have been treated her son in a different way.

Kyle was admitted to the hospital as a male patient and even his medical bracelet was marked with an M. However,  most of the hospital staff members did not want to recognize him as a teenage boy. He was suffering from gender dysphoria. Moreover, the boy decided to drop public school and have home study because of discrimination. Unfortunately, anxiety won and he decided to end his life.

The mother said she called the hospital many times after her son complained about the way he was treated. However, the hospital blocked her phone number so she was not able to talk with them anymore. She thinks that her child was supposed to stay more days there and get the mental health care he needed.

She is afraid that there will be other transgender teenagers who will need mental care. She wants to raise awareness regarding discrimination.

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