CALSTAR is a stand alone 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in June 1983.

The mission of the company is:

“To save lives, reduce disability and speed recovery for victims of trauma and illness through rapid transport, quality medical care and education.”

CALSTAR Helicopter Air Ambulance

According to the American Trauma Society, trauma is the number one cause of death in the United States for persons under the age of 44. Trauma is defined as an acute personal wound or injury requiring immediate care. Between 140,000 and 160,000 trauma related deaths occur nationwide every year. For each death, at least two permanent disabilities occur, leading to a great loss of productivity and enormous disability costs.

The total annual cost of accidental death and disability in the United States is estimated to exceed $110 billion. Despite the staggering loss of life, productivity and great cost to our society, trauma remains “the neglected disease”. For trauma victims, medical treatment within one hour, often referred to as the “Golden Hour”, can prevent 20-30 percent of potential deaths and dramatically reduce hospitalization times.

Nationwide, helicopter air ambulance programs are a key vehicle in delivering thousands of trauma victims to trauma centers within the “Golden Hour”. Frequently, patients accepted by a hospital for routine care can deteriorate or develop complications requiring immediate transport to another hospital for specialized treatment. Ground ambulance services are not normally staffed to provide the level of patient care required of many critically ill patients. Commitments to county emergency services often limit ground ambulance availability. Patient time outside the hospital environment and the level of patient care required, are important transport considerations.

Critical Care Transport requires medical staff to maintain proficiency in a myriad of patient disciplines. Federal OBRA/COBRA legislation passed in 1989 and 1991 place the responsibility for patient transports clearly on the sending hospital physician. Yet, a lack of physicians and nurses for transports at the sending facility can cause significant delays in transporting patients to receiving hospitals for urgently needed specialty care. As the medical industry continues to face increased competition and pressure to limit charges, median patient condition prior to transport continues to deteriorate. This results in a need for immediate rapid transport of patients between hospital facilities that frequently can only be met by helicopter ambulance.

SOURCE: calstar.org

Click here for more info about CALSTAR

Hospitals Posting ED Waiting Times Online
Robert Glatter, MD, Emergency Medicine, 12:01PM Apr 5, 2010

A recent article in the Columbus Dispatch (4/3/10) highlights a new trend in which some EDs are posting waiting times online to see a doctor. Additional data regarding average length of stay for a typical ED visit is also available. Hospital administrators feel that this data helps to keep patients informed regarding waiting times, allowing them to potentially seek care at an alternative facility if there is a prolonged delay to see a physician.

While this data may certainly be helpful regarding patient expectations for non- urgent ailments, those with potentially life threatening conditions who make their decision to stay home and go to the ED at some later point because of a lengthy wait time, may be in jeopardy.

While I feel that keeping the public informed and publishing waiting times and length of stay is a reasonable initiative to communicate with the public, there is the potential for this data to delay some patients going to the ED for life threatening conditions.

In this era where hospitals are competing for patients, and where EDs with shorter waiting times may “win out”, there is the potential for this data to adversely affect patients who decide to delay their care because of long wait times with no alternative facilty close by to seek treatment.

As more EDs transition to the concept of a “closed waiting room”, bringing all patients into the ED upon arrival for a bedside triage, the time to see a physician will significantly decrease, improving waiting time data.

However, the public must still understand that we treat the sickest patients first, even though they may all be waiting inside the ED, and not in the waiting room.
Robert Glatter, MD

SOURCE: medscape.com

SERVES 1

Shamrock

Ingredients
1 (8 ounce) container cream cheese spread
* green food coloring
* 4 slices cucumbers
* 1 celery stick

Directions
For each serving: Tint the cream cheese with food coloring. Place a dollop of cream cheese in the center of the plate. Wedge four cucumber slices into the cream cheese to resemble a four-leaf clover. Insert a celery stick at.

Use the bottom for a stem.

SOURCE: recipezaar.com

Click here to read the article

Eden’s 10 Principles
1. The three plagues of loneliness, helplessness, and boredom account for the bulk of suffering among our Elders.

2. An Elder-centered community commits to creating a human habitat where life revolves around close and continuing contact with plants, animals, and children. It is these relationships that provide the young and old alike with a pathway to a life worth living.

3. Loving companionship is the antidote to loneliness. Elders deserve easy access to human and animal companionship.

4. An Elder-centered community creates opportunity to give as well as receive care. This is the antidote to helplessness.

5. An Elder-centered community imbues daily life with variety and spontaneity by creating an environment in which unexpected and unpredictable interactions and happenings can take place. This is the antidote to boredom.

6. Meaningless activity corrodes the human spirit. The opportunity to do things that we find meaningful is essential to human health.

7. Medical treatment should be the servant of genuine human caring, never its master.

8. An Elder-centered community honors its Elders by de-emphasizing top-down bureaucratic authority, seeking instead to place the maximum possible decision-making authority into the hands of the Elders or into the hands of those closest to them.

9. Creating an Elder-centered community is a never-ending process. Human growth must never be separated from human life.

10. Wise leadership is the lifeblood of any struggle against the three plagues. For it, there can be no substitute.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT EDEN

Thanksgiving Menu for Renal Patients

Click here to View the Thanksgiving Menu for Renal Patients

Tips on How to Care for your Elderly Parent

Be inquisitive. Do not hesitate to ask questions. Do not be embarrassed that you do not know certain medical terms or definitions. Have the doctor explain to you in plain English what exactly caused your parent’s chest pain rather than just taking a prescription and leaving.

Keep records. Every time you talk to a doctor, or even a nurse, have a notepad handy and take notes or use a voice-activated recorder. Make sure you record the exact term for that diagnosis, or specific instructions on what to do at home. When you are in a stressed state as you bring your parent for a doctor’s visit it is very easy to forget some important details when relaying this information to others who will be helping with the care.

Do research. Try to find out as much information on your parent’s condition as possible. Make sure you understand what it is caused by and what the long-term consequences are, so that when you talk to the doctor you are not immediately overwhelmed by the TMI syndrome (Too Much Information).
Souce: www.eldercareresidentialservices.com
From ezinearticles.com
Click here to read the article