$2.5 million grant helps Illinois become seventh HeartRescue state

CHICAGO - August 22, 2012. Governor Pat Quinn and the University of Illinois Hospital Health Sciences System today launched Illinois Heart Rescue, a statewide all-volunteer effort to more than double survival from sudden cardiac arrests. The Medtronic Foundation provided a $2.5 million grant to the University of Illinois Hospital to coordinate Illinois Heart Rescue. Governor Quinn recently signed a new law to increase CPR training.

"Learning CPR is something simple we can all do to help save lives, whether you're on the field, in the classroom or at home," Governor Quinn said. "Illinois Heart Rescue will educate the public about heart health and help give those experiencing cardiac arrest a greater chance of survival."

Illinois Heart Rescue's community initiative will aim to improve bystander CPR in Illinois through free instruction. The effort is designed to more than double survival from sudden cardiac arrests by strengthening three key links in the chain of survival: bystander CPR, pre-hospital resuscitation by EMS, and post-arrest care through hospital interventions. In the first moments, a knowledgeable bystander who can begin CPR can save a life. At today's event, bystander-performed, chest-compression-only CPR was demonstrated.

The program's all-volunteer leadership team represents an unusually broad collaboration among physicians, health professionals, community organizations, hospitals, EMS systems, fire departments and governmental agencies across the state.

Evidenced-based best practices for pre-hospital care will be taught to 911 dispatchers, EMTs, firefighters, and paramedics in simulator training at the Chicago Fire Academy Simulation Center and later at simulation centers in Peoria and Evanston. The Illinois Heart Rescue team will use social media, multi-lingual and culturally-sensitive messaging, athletic events and community health fairs to reach the diverse population of Illinois.

Leaders in the initiative include the Chicago Fire Department, Chicago EMS System, the Illinois Department of Public Health, the Chicago Cardiac Arrest Resuscitation Education Service (CCARES) and the University of Illinois Hospital and Health Sciences System. Other grant partners include the American Heart Association, the Chicago Cubs, the American Red Cross, the Chicago Department of Public Health and many community organizations that include local health clinic systems and neighborhood groups.

Governor Quinn signed House Bill 5114 earlier this summer, which allows middle school students to learn CPR and AED skills in the classroom. In 2011, he also signed legislation providing legal protection to good Samaritans who performed CPS in an emergency, which will encourage citizens to use this critical skill to save a life.

PARTNER QUOTES

"In sudden cardiac arrest, a few seconds of time can make a lifetime of difference," said Dr. Terry Vanden Hoek, professor and chair of emergency medicine at the University of Illinois Hospital, who will lead the project. "The unprecedented collaboration from so many Illinois institutions along with the opportunity Medtronic Foundation has provided us will allow us to help the people of Illinois and serve as a model for other states."

"Currently, one of the missing links in the 'chain of survival' is data," said Dr. Joseph Weber, Chicago EMS director, emergency-medicine physician at Stroger Cook County Hospital and assistant professor at Rush Medical College.  "This grant will allow us to quantify cardiac-arrest survival across the state. We can then use this data to direct quality improvement initiatives and track progress on our ultimate goal of improving cardiac arrest survival in Illinois."

"We will bring the science of cardiac-arrest resuscitation to the streets through simulation training," said Dr. Eric Beck, EMS Medical Director for Chicago and assistant professor of medicine at the University of Chicago. "Simple things like high quality, uninterrupted chest compressions and limiting patient movement during cardiac arrest have been shown to dramatically improve survival."

"If you see someone collapse, the message is simple: Call 911. Start doing chest compressions, 100 beats per minute and two inches deep. Call for someone to bring an AED and use it. These actions alone can save someone's life," said Dr. Amer Aldeen, assistant professor of emergency medicine at Northwestern University, co-director of CCARES and Illinois Heart Rescue community liaison. "We plan to spread the message of bystander CPR and AEDs throughout Illinois, especially in our relatively underserved urban and rural areas."

"We are especially pleased to partner with Illinois Heart Rescue in this important initiative to eliminate disparities in sudden cardiac arrest and to improve cardiac arrest outcomes in our state, particularly in Chicago and underserved rural areas of the state," said Dr. Derek J. Robinson, executive director, Illinois Hospital Association's Quality Care Institute.  Almost 30 hospitals throughout Illinois will collaborate initially to collect outcome data and champion state-of-the-art care for patients post-resuscitation.

Law to Increase Access to Vaccines as Kids Head Back to School

CHICAGO - August 21, 2012. Governor Pat Quinn today continued his commitment to improving the health and wellness of Illinois children by signing a new law that will make it easier for them to receive flu shots and other preventative vaccines. With the start of the new school year quickly approaching and cases of whooping coughing increasing across Illinois, the governor visited pharmacies in Chicago, Rockford, Milan and Peoria to let parents know about their new options.

"We are blessed with modern medicines that can prevent illnesses, but we must make sure children have access to them," Governor Quinn said. "This new law means more children will be getting vaccinated, which means healthier children, healthier families and fewer days away from school."

Senate Bill 3513, sponsored by Sen. Iris Martinez (D-Chicago) and Rep. Dan Burke (D-Chicago), allows pharmacists to administer influenza and TDAP (tetanus, diphtheria, acellular pertussis) vaccines to children ages 10 to 13, with a valid prescription from a licensed physician. Previous law had allowed children only as young as 14 to receive these shots from pharmacists. With nearly 630,000 more children getting vaccinated, outbreaks of influenza and other diseases will be less widespread. The law takes effect immediately.

"Thanks to this legislation, families with younger children will no longer have to seek out and travel to medical facilities that may be far away. Now, they'll have the convenient option of going to any of their local pharmacies that offer these shots," said Sen. Martinez.

Governor Quinn was joined in encouraging parents across Illinois to get their children vaccinated as soon as possible by local leaders, the Illinois Retail Merchants Association and pharmacists at Walgreens, CVS, Target and Kroger, which are among the many Illinois retail stores that offer vaccinations for children and adults.

"We're proud to join Governor Quinn in helping to provide greater access to immunizations for families and neighborhood communities throughout Illinois," said Mark Wagner, president of operations and community management, Walgreens. "Our pharmacists have played an integral role in improving immunization rates for flu and other diseases, and with today's legislation, Walgreens pharmacists will serve as an even more valuable health care and immunizations resource in helping people get, stay and live well."

"Expanding access to vaccinations is critical especially for children, and the collaboration between the retail pharmacy and medical community to make vaccinations more readily available is an example of sound public policy," said David Vite, President/CEO, Illinois Retail Merchants Association. "Allowing parents to get their children vaccinated at the local pharmacy gives them a quick, easy and inexpensive way to meet the changing vaccination needs of the public schools, and we should thank Governor Quinn and the legislature for making access much easier for busy families."

As part of August being National Immunization Awareness Month, the Illinois Department of Public Health is reminding parents and health care providers that all sixth and ninth graders are now required to show proof of having received the TDAP vaccine before being allowed to attend school. The shot includes protection against pertussis (commonly known as whooping cough) which has been on the rise in Illinois. In 2011, health care providers reported 1,509 pertussis cases to IDPH for the entire year. With five months still to go in 2012, providers have already reported more than 1,300 cases of pertussis.

"The single most important thing parents can do to protect their children against whooping cough and other preventable diseases is to receive a vaccination," said IDPH Director Dr. LaMar Hasbrouck.

For more information about vaccinations, please contact the Illinois Department of Public Health at 217-782-4977 or online at http://www.idph.state.il.us/home.htm.

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Do you know what is the second leading cause of lung cancer?  I didn't, until I started to learn about Radon.

Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer behind smoking and almost 400 Iowans a year die from radon induced lung cancer. What's more is that seven out of 10 Iowa homes have dangerous radon levels. Radon is a gas that occurs naturally in the soil underground that can get in to buildings.  You may be breathing this in every day without even knowing it.

It's also in our children's schools. Iowa is ground zero for this deadly, odorless, invisible gas, yet we have almost no radon prevention and mitigation (safely venting the radon out of a building) legislation at all.

Over the next few weeks, you'll hear from a radon cancer survivor, learn about radon in schools, and find out how you can help us get important, lifesaving radon legislation passed.

For now, I encourage you to learn more about radon in Iowa.

These days, the glimpse of a naked body after being misdirected to a porn site is no shock to the average internet user. What may prove more surprising is the pornography industry's statistics, compiled worldwide, wherein a second is worth 1,000 images -- or more:

• $3,075.64 is spent on pornography ... every second
• 28,258 internet users view pornography ... every second
• 372 internet users type porn terms into search engines ... every second

"There have been several surveys about who's viewing internet pornography and what consequences they're experiencing, and the findings are disquieting," says Jim Wysong, author of The Neutering of the American Male (www.TheNeuteringoftheAmericanMale.com).

"In a 20,000-person study recently conducted by TED.com, porn is the most prevalently cited obstacle for romantic relationships between men and women in their teens and 20s. Women say guys are emotionally unavailable, and men say porn makes them less interested in pursuing a relationship.

"In reality, men have been compromising their masculine nature for several decades."

A lack of involvement by fathers in raising their sons; the overuse of prescription and illegal drugs; and uncertainty about their gender role have set American boys and men back, Wysong says.

"We all have a need to feel significant, to be accepted and loved, but those issues  prevent some males from developing fulfilling relationships," Wysong says.

"Sexual intimacy is typically a byproduct of emotional intimacy. Unfortunately, when people don't have a fulfilling relationship, their sexual desires don't disappear."

Men are often more visual and physical, so they're able to use pornography to meet some of that need in the short term. But in the long run, they also need the emotional support, nurturing and deeper connection with a partner, he says.

"It becomes a vicious cycle: Males turn to pornography seeking to satisfy unmet needs, and pornography addiction makes it extremely difficult to achieve the balanced, loving relationship that would meet their emotional needs," he says.

A Canadian study found that one in three teenage boys are "heavy porn users,'' and an Italian study reveals that a large percentage of men there suffer from "sexual anorexia," a temporary impotence, in their 20s because they were heavily into pornography in their teens, Wysong notes.

Parents, especially fathers, need to sit down with their sons and discuss sex. The lack of dialogue leaves young males to seek the answers to their curiosity on their own. Unfortunately, many turn to porn, which does not portray sex in a healthy and balanced way.

One of the most destructive things about it is that it portrays women as something to be used rather than valued and respected, Wysong says.

"Fortunately, this is something that can be remedied, both on a physical and a mental level," he says.

If you're concerned that you or a loved one is addicted to porn, Wysong suggests taking this self test from www.recoveryconnection.org:

1. Do you feel guilty or ashamed after looking at pornography?
2. Do you look forward to being alone so you can look at pornography?
3. Has pornography negatively affected your personal relationships, your job, or your finances?
4. Do you find that you have been looking at an increasing amount of pornography over time?
5. Do you look at pornography when you are bored, anxious, or lonely?

A yes to one or more of these questions may indicate a need for a quality treatment program.

About Jim Wysong

Jim Wysong is a businessman, contractor and real estate investor who spent more than 30 years observing and studying psychology and human behavior through workshops, seminars and textbooks. His efforts to better understand his own emotional discomfort led to theories that have universal applications in modern society.