Hard Head Patrols Resume

With the return of summer and bike riding season, the Hard Head Patrol from Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh is once again hitting the streets. Children’s Director of Trauma and Injury Barbara Gaines says about 70 employee volunteers will be on the streets watching for young bikers without helmets. If they find one the child will be given a coupon to attend one of ten free bike helmet fittings where experts give the juvenile a new helmet and teach them how to properly wear it.

Gaines says every year the emergency room staff admits 150 – 175 kids who suffer head injuries while riding their bikes. She says 85% of those injures could have been prevent if the child would have been wearing a helmet.

The volunteers also hand out rewards for kids wearing their helmets. This year it is a Giant Eagle cookie card. Gaines says it is important to also give an incentive to wear the protective gear.

Last year the hospital handed out 1,700 helmets during the Hard Head summer program and another 1,000 helmets through other efforts. Volunteers also handed out 2,500 reward cards.

Gaines says ay child who comes to a fitting event without a helmet will be given one. She says the coupons simply serve as a good reminder for the kids and their parents.

This summer’s first Hard Head helmet fitting event will be held at the Kohl’s Department store in Robinson from 11:00 a.m. to 2 p.m. A full list of fitting can be found online.

"Good Samaritan" Bill in PA House

A bill granting partial immunity to underage drinkers who call the authorities when their friends’ lives are threatened due to alcohol is winning praise from student leaders.

Dan Florencio, the president of Penn State University’s Interfraternity Council, said he’s heard a similar story time after time. “Someone just appeared really, really sick, and people were just like, ‘oh, let him sleep it off.’ Because they don’t want to get anyone in trouble,” he explained. “They don’t want to implicate themselves or the person. So they just let them sleep it off, or brush it off, when really, something really bad could be happening to the person’s body, because of alcohol.”

The council represents 46 fraternities and sororities, which include more than 2,600 students.

The so-called “Good Samaritan” bill, which is currently in front of the House, would offer legal amnesty to underage drinkers who call 911 when their friend drinks too much.

Felicity Debacco Ernie, the state coordinator for Students Against Destructive Decisions, said her group supports the measure, and believes it would solve a recurring problem. “I think it is pretty real, and I think that it is a decision that, unfortunately, a lot of students are making, not to get the help, because they’re fearful of their own legal issues that will come into play then,” she said, adding, “ It’s a very serious consequence for people who are charged with underage drinking these days.”

The bill passed the Senate on a unanimous vote, but it’s not clear if or when the House will take it up.

Public Input Needed For Air Toxicity Guidelines

The Allegheny Board of Health is seeking public input as it updates its air toxics standards and guidelines.

The guidelines have not been restructured since their creation in 1988 and Guillermo Cole, public information officer for ACHD, says the standards need updating with the advancements in understanding over the last two decades.

“Whether it’s a regulation or a guideline that is used for evaluating the issuance of permits, you have to keep these up to date with the state of knowledge and the science.”

The public meeting with be held Wednesday, May 4, from 6 to 8:30 p.m., at the Avalon Borough Building, 640 California Ave. The meeting will cover a number of topics and include a question and answer session between the public and the air toxics committee of ACHD.

“There will be discussion of why the new guidelines are being developed, how we calculate risk for air toxics pollutants, and ways to address hot spots, areas where toxic air pollutants are emitted from a cluster or groups of sources,” Cole says. Participants from the public may sign up at the meeting to speak during a one-hour public statement period.

Pittsburgh Air Quality Ranked Among Worst

The American Lung Association's "State of the Air 2011" has ranked Pittsburgh as the third most polluted for short-term particle pollution. The region also ranked seventh for yearlong average of particle pollution, while Allegheny County was ranked 41st in the nation for worst levels of ozone. The County did have fewer days of dangerous air pollution and lower long-term levels of fine-particle pollution than last year.

Allegheny County Health Department spokesman Guillermo Cole says the A.L.A report is not getting a fair measurement of the city as a whole. "It uses reading from one air monitoring site, which happens to be the worst here in Allegheny County. And it uses that reading to represent what air quality is like throughout Allegheny County and the metropolitan area."

Cole says that the county as a whole is within healthy standards. He says they have always known that Liberty (where the A.L.A. monitoring site is located) is the most polluted in the county, but other air monitoring sites have shown much lower levels.

The A.L.A. gave the county an "F" for particle and ozone pollution this year. The Association cited in their report that 51,000 children and about 175,000 adults in the county have asthma. While the cleanest cities in the report were Honolulu, Hawaii and Santa Fe-Espanola, New Mexico.

Tobacco Money at Center of Auditor Hearing

A diabetic calling for better state supported health insurance, a researcher highlighting the need to fight the illnesses caused by tobacco use and a public health advocate looking for more funding for smoking cessation programs were among a long list of individuals giving testimony today at a hearing focused on how to best spend the tobacco settlement money still coming into Pennsylvania.

The hearing in Pittsburgh was convened by State Auditor General Jack Wagner who contends the state legislature and the governor are diverting the $370 million annual payment to Pennsylvania without getting the proper public input. When the fund was first established in 2001, Governor Tom Ridge and the state legislature held public hearings and decided to dedicate all of the funds to health related issues. Percentages were laid out FOR health care, cancer research, senior care, tobacco use cessation efforts and to build a public health endowment fund. In recent years the state legislature has been diverting those funds to the general fund and non-health related causes. A large portion this year will go to an economic development loan fund.

The shift was brought into the spotlight when funding for the adultBasic program was cut. Wagner wants lawmakers to either be put back the funds or hold public hearings on the reallocation. “We again want a public discussion, because your opinion has always been important in terms of the use of public money,” said Wagner.

Last week the state received $370 million from the tobacco settlement fund. Over the next 15 years the payments will slip to an estimated $355 million a year.

About 40,000 Pennsylvanians lost their low cost healthcare in January when the adultBasic program was ended. The state continues to offer the Special Care program but recipients complain it comes with higher costs and fewer benefits. Former adultBasic recipient Cynthia Brazen of Overbrook is 53-years old and has been fighting diabetes for more than 40 years. “I am a responsible citizen, tax paying, working home owner,” said Brazen, “I have checked my options and I have none, therefore I will rely on the charity of doctors, hospitals and pharmaceutical companies and, of course, soon the state of Pennsylvania.” Brazen believes that if she does not get the treatment she needs she will go blind due to complications from her diabetes and will be forced to go on welfare.

Nick Balandiat says he has a hereditary blood condition that requires frequent lab tests and trips to the doctor. After losing adult Basic he bought into Special Care but says he is worried about the limits on office visits and a cap on spending on lab fees. “I just want insurance that is decent that I can afford,” Balandiat told the Auditor General.

Catholic Charities downtown says it has seen a 25% increase in the number of calls it gets from individuals trying to find out if they are eligible for the group’s free health care. They have also seen a 10% increase since January in people coming through their doors for treatment. The Consumer Health Coalition is reporting similar increase in calls for help in finding free and low cost care. “There is no worse job right now than to work on our help line,” said Coalition Executive Director Beth Heeb, “nine times out of ten they can’t help [the caller].” Heeb says the best they can do is send the caller to an already overwhelmed clinic.

United Way of Allegheny County Executive Director Bob Nelkin went before Wagner to express his belief that funding for tobacco use cessation programs must be restored if not increased. When the tobacco fund was first approved more than $51 went to those programs, now, that number is down to $14 million. Nelkin says the money should be seen as an investment in the future that will, “pay off in a big, big way for Pennsylvania taxpayers, and people paying health care premiums.” Nelkin says a recent study by the CDC shows Pennsylvanians spend more than 5 billion dollars a year on tobacco related illnesses.

Free Nicotine Patches Offered

A local nonprofit is offering a free, one-month supply of nicotine patches to help people quit using tobacco.

Tobacco Free Allegheny and the Allegheny County Health Department are offering the patches along with a series of free counseling sessions to help users quit smoking.

ACHD spokesman Dave Zazac says the tandem of counseling and nicotine patches increases a person’s chance of successfully quitting.

Zazac says there’s no special occasion behind this free offer.

“This is just an opportunity for those folks that may have fallen from their New Year’s resolution to get a second chance, perhaps a better chance to finally stop their tobacco habits,” says Zazac.

Interested people should call the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s Free Quitline at (800)-784-8669 to receive patches and counseling while supplies last. Quit coaches will help callers set quit dates and ask them if they have any medical conditions that would prevent them from using nicotine patches.

Zazac says more info about the program can be found at www.DeterminedToQuit.com, where you can find quit plans, video blogs of successful quitters, and information for friends and family supporting someone’s attempt to stop smoking.

Synthetic Marijuana to be Targeted Again

A top Pennsylvania House Democrat says she will take another stab at banning synthetic marijuana. Lehigh County representative Jennifer Mann's bill passed the House on a near-unanimous vote this year, but the Senate never voted on it. She says she will start the process again in the new year when the General Assembly gavels into session. Mann says teenagers are getting sick from the synthetic weed. “The scary thing to me is that young people feel this is a safe alternative to smoking marijuana. Just because it's legal doesn't mean it's safe. The law just hasn't caught up to it yet,” says Mann. The product is sold as incense, under several brand names. The most popular is K2. Mann says she does not believe people are buying the product to make their homes smell nice, “Those who sell it tell you that, well it's ok because we're telling you not to smoke it. But I don't know who would pay 60, 80, 100 dollars for small packet - something smaller than a t-bag -- for the purpose of burning it, and the smell it's going to give. Let's be real.” Mann says it's caused a lot of emergency room trips for Pennsylvania teenagers.

Environment vs. Public Health?

A two-year study at the University of Pittsburgh has found that non-chemical water treatment devices thought to be environmentally preferable to chemicals like chlorine in large water-cooled buildings do not prevent the growth of dangerous bacteria as the water warms and is returned to the cooling tower.

Janet Stout, director of the Special Pathogens Laboratory and an expert on Legionnaire’s Disease, says researchers tested five different systems, including electromagnetic, electrostatic, ultrasonic, hydrodynamic cavitation and magnetic devices. (The latter are only intended to prevent mineral buildup.)

Stout says architects and engineers may specify the non-chemical treatment devices to earn environmental ratings such as LEED certification without following up to see if the system actually works effectively.

She recommends that buildings using only non-chemical devices test their water for bacteria to avoid public health dangers like Legionnaire’s Disease.

Industry Group Calls for Voluntary Ban on Alco-Energy Drinks

The Malt Beverage Distributors Association of Pennsylvania has sent out a letter to its members encouraging them to voluntarily remove ‘Four Loko’ from their shelves. The alcohol and energy drink has come under scrutiny in recent weeks as more media reports linking ‘Four Loko’ to alcohol poisoning and injuries requiring hospital treatment surface. "Until the safety questions and other concerns about Four Loko are resolved, MBDA is asking its members not to sell this item," says Association President David Shipula. Shipula says the issues was brought up at the last MBDA board meeting after the Pennsylvania Liquor Control board sent out a letter to all beer distributors asking for the same action. He says among those beer distributors he has spoken to, the only Alco-Energy drink they were selling was ‘Four-Loko.’ He says there are as many as 40 other drinks in the class. ‘Four Loko’ combines a 12% alcohol content with caffeine and other stimulants typically found in energy drinks. Most mass-produced beer contains 4-6% alcohol.

Shipula says he was selling only a few cases of the drink every week but there were other members selling 50 cases a week. The board of the MBDA says they want to remove the beverage from the shelves until the FDA and other organizations have had a chance to review the safety of the beverage. It is unclear if the combination of chemicals in the drink is to blame of if drinkers simply are not expecting the kick and drink more than they should. "MBDA has always believed in and promoted the idea that beer and all alcoholic beverages should be used only by those over the age of 21 and only in a responsible manner," says Shipula.

Seminar to Explore Health Risks of Shale Drilling

The University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Healthy Environments and Communities (CHEC) is holding a seminar on the public health impact of Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling.

CHEC Director Dan Volz says while there will be time for Pitt’s panel of three experts to take questions, most of the time will be dedicated to an academic presentation highlighting important public health issues.

Volz says one expert will also tell the audience about fractracker.org, CHEC’s website that records reams of data on Marcellus Shale activity. Another will speak on the social impacts of drilling.

The Pitt assistant professor says in addition to water supply concerns, Marcellus Shale drilling could also bring air quality issues as well.

The seminar is scheduled for 1:30 to 3:00 p.m. on Friday, at Parran Hall in Pitt’s Graduate School of Public Health (130 DeSoto Street).

Website To Track All Things Marcellus

The Center for Healthy Environments and Communities (CHEC) at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health has launched a new web page that it hopes will help everyone learn more about the impacts on Marcellus Shale drilling in PA. The site, Fracktracker.org, will include a blog where CHEC director Dan Volz says “snapshots” of what is happening in the Shale play will be posted for people that do not want to dig into the data on their own. For those who are more adventurous, the site also holds a web-based data tool developed by Pittsburgh-based Rhiza labs that will allow users to layer data sets and then produce a visualization of the information. Volz says they are in the process of holding a series of meetings aimed at getting government and nonprofit entities to “buy in” to the process. Volz says it is clear groups like the Department of Environmental Protection and the Fish and Boat Commission have data that should be posted but he says there are other departments such as the DEP, the Game Commission and State Police that can all be part of the picture. Several data sets are already loaded onto the site including a list of every Marcellus Shale drilling permit issued in the state and a list of gas extraction incident records. The goal is to not only look at the environmental impacts of the drilling and its associated activities but to also look at the community and public health impacts the drilling has on Pennsylvania. Volz hopes users will begin posting their own data and stories to site. The CHEC has a grant to monitor the tracker to make sure all of the information posted is sound.

ACHD Calls for Reserve Medical Volunteers

Volunteers are needed for the local Regional Medical Reserve Corps, an emergency response group covering 13 counties in southwestern Pennsylvania.

Allegheny County Health Department spokesman Dave Zazac says the Reserve Corps is called up in times of medical emergency, like any natural or man-made disaster.

“For instance, if indeed we had an oil spill up here as opposed to down in the Gulf; if we go back to Hurricane Ivan, whenever there was flooding in certain sections of the county; other really wet-weather events perhaps at this time of year.”

You don’t need to be a doctor or a nurse to apply – Zazac says the Health Department would also need non-medical personnel to help contain crowds and provide clerical support. He says the Health Department provides free training online and in classrooms.

Reserve Corps chief Ed Schwartz says in emergency conditions, the state or federal government would cover any liability if a medical error should occur.

Southwestern Pennsylvania’s Region 13 chapter currently has 485 members. To apply, call the Health Department at 412-578-8349 or visit their website.

HACP To Open Fitness Center

The Housing Authority of Pittsburgh is teaming up with the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police and the Western Pennsylvania Police Athletic League to open a new fitness center in Fineview. The authority will cut the ribbon on the facility in the basement of one of its the Allegheny Dwellings buildings July 1st. Authority spokesperson Michelle Jackson says the center will provide the usual workout equipment but it will also house a boxing ring and all the equipment needed to train boxers. One retired and one current Pittsburgh Police officer will run that aspect of the program. Jackson says residents will also be able to tap into a raft of special programs aimed at helping head-of-household mothers and young mothers. Housing Authority, Iron Cross Ministries and One Vision, One Life staff, will lead the programs and mentoring sessions. Jackson says the programs include self-esteem, self-awareness and health and wellness classes. She says the center will serve residents “mentally, physically and spiritually.” The housing authority will go door-to-door in effort to inform residents about the new programs. Jackson says the center will be open to all Housing Authority residents but it is particularly focused on serving the Allegheny Dwellings residents, which she says includes a higher percentage of young, single mothers.

PA Hospitals Cause Fewer Infections in 2009

Pennsylvania’s Department of Health released a report yesterday that found declining infection rates in hospitals in the state.

The report says in 2009, 25,914 people were infected while in hospitals in Pennsylvania – that’s a 12.5% drop from 2008.

President of the Pittsburgh Regional Health Initiative Karen Wolk Feinstein says the Department of Health will audit that information to check for any reporting errors or omissions from hospitals.

Wolk Feinstein says one of the most common hospital contaminations is a central line bloodstream infection -- that’s when a catheter infects an important artery or vein, resulting in a 20% mortality rate. She says central line infections have been reduced by 68% in southwestern Pennsylvania hospitals.

Wolk Feinstein says Medicare and many private insurers have stopped paying for medical bills caused by hospital infections.

“With this kind of public reporting, with Department of Health sanctions, with financial disincentives, we are closing the door on the fact that for a while, you actually got rewarded as a provider for these infections and you got larger payments.”

She says hospital visits without infections averaged about $35,000 in Pennsylvania, but patients and their insurers would usually pay a bill closer to $192,000 if the person was infected. She says now that insurers have stopped covering these costs, hospitals have incentive to put effort into infection control.

Pgh Task Force to Hold AIDS Testing Event

In observance of National HIV Testing Day on Sunday, the Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force will hold the East End Community Health Day this Friday at the East Liberty Presbyterian Church.

The Allegheny County Health Department will have a van at the event to do HIV and STD testing, as well as other health screenings.

PATF Executive Director Kathi Boyle says most HIV-positive Pittsburghers get the virus through unsafe sex, not via needle-sharing or blood transfusions.

Boyle says HIV/AIDS remains a major issue, particularly in the African-American community. She says gay African-American young men are at high risk for HIV infection. Boyle adds that HIV/AIDS is the primary cause of death for African-American women aged 25-34.

“Women are getting infected and they aren’t getting into care. They don’t get themselves tested. Traditionally, women are busy taking care of families and they’re the last to take care of themselves, and so when they finally find out, they’re so sick that they die from HIV and AIDS, and that doesn’t have to happen.”

Older gay white men are also at increased risk, says Boyle.

But she says many treatment options are available in Pittsburgh.

“It’s possible to get medication without having to pay anything for that if you don’t have insurance, and you can get the care without insurance. We really want people to understand that HIV is not a death sentence any longer, if they get into care.”

The East End Community Health Day will run from noon to 3 p.m. Friday. Screenings are confidential and anonymous, as mandated by Pennsylvania law.

Unnecessary Idling Prohibited for Diesel Engines

Off-road diesel vehicles are now barred from idling longer than five minutes in Allegheny County.

Allegheny County Health Department spokesman Guillermo Cole says the new regulation was adopted to cut down on unnecessary emissions from industrial equipment.

“These emissions contain small particles and also toxic air pollutants that can be a big health risk to children, the elderly, and others sensitive to air pollution,” says Cole.

Cole says this rule will mostly apply to construction, mining, and manufacturing vehicles that aren’t meant to drive on the road. He says a similar regulation already prohibits on-road diesel engines from idling longer than five minutes.

A first violation results in a $100 fine. Subsequent citations will each bring a $500 penalty to the person or business. Operators won’t be fined if idling is necessary for the well-being of the vehicle or the driver, or if the equipment is used in an emergency.

Cole says the County’s Board of Health, County Council, and the County Executive approved the rule, after getting input from the construction industry and environmental organizations.