Health News

100,000 Lives Campaign

BANGOR – St. Joseph Healthcare and Eastern Maine Medical Center were two of the more than 3,000 hospitals nationwide to participate in the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s 100,000 Lives Campaign, the first ever national initiative to save a specific number of lives by June 14. The campaign focused on enlisting hospitals to commit to the campaign by implementing proven health care improvement techniques to prevent deaths, saving an estimated 122,000 lives.

Health care facilities that chose to participate in the campaign committed to implementing some or all of the following six quality improvement changes – deploy rapid response teams, deliver reliable evidence-based care for acute myocardial infarction, prevent adverse drug effects, prevent central line infections, prevent surgical site infections and prevent ventilator associated pneumonia.

“Ensuring quality patient care has always been our top priority at St. Joseph Healthcare. The new measures introduced by IHI have assisted us in formalizing many of the patient safety measures that we were already doing,” said nurse Georges Nashan, director of performance improvement at St. Joseph Healthcare.

Dr. James Raczek, chief medical officer at EMMC, said, “Eastern Maine Medical Center is committed to fostering a culture and environment that promotes high quality care, patient safety and service excellence. Participation in the 100K Lives campaign provided us with a renewed energy to these commitments.”

For more information, visit www.emmc.org and click on the quality tab on the top of the page.

Disaster response training

BANGOR – Hurricane season has begun. Already, Tropical Storm Alberto has pounded its way across Florida. Although the season runs from June to November, mid-season tends to be the busiest months.

In response, the American Red Cross has put into place its Hurricane Response Plan to provide for the well-being of those displaced by the storms. The Red Cross stages resources and volunteers in the days before storms make landfall, in order to respond swiftly and efficiently.

This year, weather experts are predicting another busy hurricane season with the possibility of at least nine storms, with three reaching Category III or higher. Experts say conditions are right for several East Coast storms this year, with the possibility of a hit in New England.

In anticipation of hurricane season, Maine’s Pine Tree Chapter of the American Red Cross has scheduled disaster response classes to prepare and train those interested in serving their communities by volunteering. The Red Cross cannot send untrained volunteers to a disaster area.

Volunteer training is free. The upcoming class schedule is:

. Introduction to Disaster Services, 9 a.m.-noon Saturday, July 22.

. Community Services Overview, 1-4 p.m. Saturday, July 22.

. Shelter Operations and Simulation, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday, July 23.

. Family Services, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 12.

. Adult CPR and First Aid for Disaster Volunteers, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 12.

For more information, call 941-2903.