“Find a Flu Shot Near You”

From Flu.gov:

Flu Shot Locator

Pregnant women and others at risk should get H1N1 flu shots as soon as they are available in their communities. Click a state to get the latest information on where to get vaccinated. This information is being updated regularly by states as more vaccine becomes available.

Seasonal flu vaccine is widely available. H1N1 vaccine is being shipped now. States are posting new information every day about availability, distribution to priority groups and where to get vaccinated. There is also information on State planning and preparation efforts, as well as general flu information here.

Ed. Using Iowa as an example, after a couple of clicks, you end up here when you look for H1N1 vaccine, which has the following header:

Notice: Local public health departments in Iowa have received limited amounts of 2009 (H1N1) influenza vaccine. Although there is currently not enough vaccine available for widespread use, these initial shipments will expand in the coming weeks.

Initial H1N1 vaccinations will be made available for these priority groups:

• Pregnant women
• Household contacts and caregivers for children younger than 6 months of age
• Health care and emergency medical services personnel
• All people from 6 months through 24 years of age
• Persons aged 25 through 64 years who have health conditions associated with higher risk of medical complications from influenza

EMS Services Begin to Charge Extra for Obese Patients

From JEMS:

As the nation battles the obesity crisis, ambulance crews are trying to improve how they transport extremely heavy patients, who become significantly more difficult to move as they surpass 350 pounds. And caring for such patients is expensive, requiring costly equipment and extra workers, so some ambulance companies have started charging higher fees for especially overweight people.

The move to modify ambulances is just the latest effort to accommodate plus-sized patients. Some hospitals already offer specially designed beds, wheelchairs, walkers and even commodes.

Ambulance companies say it’s time for insurance providers, Medicaid and Medicare, or patients themselves to begin paying the added costs, which are cutting into their razor-thin profit margins.

In the past, ambulance companies often absorbed the extra expense of serving the obese. Now they are adding charges similar to those already imposed on intensive-care patients, people requiring multiple medications and patients on ventilators.

Rotor Speed Abnormality Forces CareFlight Helicopter Down

From JEMS:

A CareFlight medical helicopter with a patient aboard made a hard landing last night in the desert near Blythe, severely damaging the aircraft but causing no injuries, according to Riverside County Fire Department dispatchers and the Federal Aviation Administration website.

The Augusta A119 helicopter was forced to land shortly before 8:30 p.m. Thursday due to an abnormality in the speed of the rotor, according to the FAA’s preliminary accident data.

President declares H1N1 pandemic a national emergency

From CNN:

President Obama has declared a national emergency to deal with the “rapid increase in illness” from the H1N1 influenza virus.

“The 2009 H1N1 pandemic continues to evolve. The rates of illness continue to rise rapidly within many communities across the nation, and the potential exists for the pandemic to overburden health care resources in some localities,” Obama said in a statement.

“Thus, in recognition of the continuing progression of the pandemic, and in further preparation as a nation, we are taking additional steps to facilitate our response.”

Obama’s action allows Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius “to temporarily waive or modify certain requirements” to help health care facilities enact emergency plans to deal with the “pandemic.”

Those requirements are contained in Medicare, Medicaid and state Children’s Health Insurance programs, and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act privacy rule.

Man, concerned about patient in ER, dials 911

From the Daily Advance:

When James Morris saw the woman bent over to the arm level of her wheelchair, seated for hours in Albemarle Hospital’s emergency room waiting area without medical attention, he did the only thing he could think of to get her some help: He dialed 9-1-1.

Morris told an emergency dispatcher that a woman needed help from the hospital’s emergency room staff but wasn’t getting it.

He said a number of concerned bystanders had approached hospital staff over the course of five hours and asked why the woman wasn’t being attended to. Each seemed to be given a different answer, he said.