North Texas Chapter 205 Academy of Medical Surgical Nurses - Dallas County Gets Ready for West Nile Season

Home

Welcome Med-Surg Nurses

The North Texas - Chapter 205 of the Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses would like to welcome you to our regional website. Please visit again soon for updates on events, meetings, news, articles from our regional members, and much more. Thank you for visiting.

President's Message
Joyce

It’s Almost Summer!

A dash of spring flowers, a cup of summer breezes, the smell of late evening showers, all add up to a recipe for lots of smiles and happy thoughts. As we turn our thoughts to a little “me time,” let’s contemplate on the finer values in our lives. Make time “to be” with your family, take overdue naps and late evening walks. RESURRECT your “free spirit.” As we look forward to summer and then fall, recall how each new season refreshes, uplifts and motivates us to yet again be the BEST that WE CAN BE! Nursing is our profession! It’s a part of us that is always there to fill our days with the ability to provide a need that only a true professional can give. So, as you look forward to great summer days and some “me time,” take time to CONTEMPLATE on the PASSION that first bought YOU to NURSING. Relive the JOY, the PRIDE, the EAGERNESS you felt when you received your nursing pen, 1st “professional” stethoscope or 1st paying RN job! Refresh yourself this summer and “Raise the Bar!” Take pride,! Have joy! Regain your eagerness for Patient Care!

Joyce

Dallas County Gets Ready for West Nile Season

PDF

| Print |

E-mail

DCHHS Gets Ready for West Nile Season

Mosquito season in Dallas County typically runs from May to October with peak activity in August. Public education and personal protection is vital in protecting the public from the disease. Dallas County Health and Human Services (DCHHS) has stepped up its efforts to detect, prevent and control the spread of West Nile virus and other mosquito-borne illnesses.

“DCHHS is committed to protecting the community from the West Nile virus,” DCHHS Director Zachary Thompson said. “We will continue to work with our city partners to protect Dallas County residents from mosquitoborne illnesses.” DCHHS West Nile prevention activities include surveillance, source reduction, larvaciding (killing mosquito larvae or wigglers), adulticiding (spraying for adult mosquitoes), and public education.

“We are collecting and identifying mosquitoes to determine if the mosquito species that carries West Nile, primarily the Culex species, is active in Dallas County at this time,” said DCHHS Entomologist/Vector Control Supervisor Scott Sawlis. “Mosquitoes can breed in as little as one-half inch of standing water,” Mr. Sawlis said. “By ensuring that your property – including flower pots, trash cans, tires, gutters, etc. - is free of standing water, you can help protect your community from mosquitoes that may carry the West Nile virus.”

“The most effective way to reduce any mosquito-borne disease like West Nile is prevention,” said Dr. John Carlo, DCHHS Medical Director. “The best way to avoid West Nile infection is to avoid mosquito bites by using insect repellent and wearing long, loose-fitting, light colored clothing when outside at dusk and dawn.” Studies have shown that the majority of people who contracted the more serious form of West Nile virus did not use insect repellent.

In 2005, Dallas County had 34 confirmed human cases of West Nile with one death. In 2004, DCHHS reported a total of 16 human West Nile cases (6 with West Nile fever and 10 with neuroinvasive West Nile) with no deaths. In 2003, Dallas County had a total of 54 human West Nile cases with 4 deaths. In 2002, the first year the virus was reported in Dallas County, there were 27 human cases with 3 deaths.

For more information about mosquito activities in Dallas County, call the DCHHS Environmental Health Division at 214-819-2115 during normal business hours, 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. or visit
www.dallascounty.org.

< Prev		Next >

[ Back ]

Subject: Please take a moment to go to the website and support this bill...

Mastectomy Hospital Bill in Congress, If you know anyone who has had a mastectomy, you may know there is a lot of discomfort and pain afterwards.

Insurance companies are now trying to make mastectomies an OUTPATIENT PROCEDURE!

Let's give women the chance to recover properly in the hospital for 2 days after surgery.

This is so important and it only takes 2 seconds to do, so please take the time and do it right now really quick and send this to everyone in your address book.

If there was ever a time when our voices and choices should be heard, this is one of those times.

There's a bill called the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act which will require insurance companies to cover a minimum 48-hour hospital stay for patients undergoing a mastectomy. It's about eliminating the "drive-through mastectomy" where women are forced to go home just a few hours after surgery, against the wishes of their doctor, still groggy from anesthesia and sometimes with drainage tubes still attached.

Lifetime Television has put this bill on their web page with a petition drive to show your support. PLEASE!! Sign the petition by clicking on the web site below. You need not give more than your name and zip code number.

http://www.lifetimetv.com/health/breast_mastectomy_pledge.html

Main Menu

Welcome Med-Surg Nurses

Main Menu

Community Login

Online Now