Host Families Needed For Summer 2010
Submitted by School Kids Healthcare Blog
If you live in the Northeastern US, even Canada, and are ready to open your home as a host family for The Fresh Air Fund’s Fresh Air Children now’s the time to get in touch. The Fresh Air Fund needs host families for the summer of 2010.
Fresh Air Children are boys and girls, age six to 18 years old, who live in New York City. The majority of Fresh Air Children are from low-income communities. These are often families without the resources to send their children on summer vacations.
If you’re ready to open your home and give a child the experience of a lifetime checkout The Fresh Air Fund’s website for all the details.
Source: freshairfundhosts.com
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Cardiac Science Automated External Defibrillators: Recall
Submitted by School Kids Healthcare Blog
Cardiac Science Automated External Defibrillators (Powerheart, Cardiovive, CardioLife models): Recall
Audience: Emergency medical professionals, hospital risk managers
[Posted 02/09/2010]: Cardiac Science Corporation and FDA notified healthcare professionals and consumers of a recall because the automated external defibrillator (AED) may not be able to deliver therapy during a cardiac resuscitation attempt, which may lead to serious adverse events or death. These AEDs were manufactured in a way that makes them potentially susceptible to failure under certain conditions. Each of the approximately 12,200 devices affected in this recall can be confirmed at the Cardiac Science Web site, http://www.cardiacscience.com/services-support/service-announcements-and-upgrades/voluntary-recall.php. The affected AEDs were manufactured or serviced between October 19, 2009 and January 15, 2010 and include the following models - Powerheart 9300A, 9300E, 9300P, 9390A, 9390E, CardioVive 92532 and CardioLife 9200G and 9231. Each affected AED should immediately be removed from service since it may not deliver the expected therapy.
Full Press Release
Source: fda.gov
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7 Steps to a Healthier Life
Submitted by School Kids Healthcare Blog
Cardiovascular diseases are our nation’s number one killer. Since 1963 Congress has required the president to proclaim February “American Heart Month“. During this month the goal is to raise funds for research and pass along information about heart disease and stroke.
Not only does the American Heart Association work with administration to draft and sign this annual proclamation they also designed “My Life Check – Live Better With The Simple 7″ with the goal of educating the public on how to improve their health one step at a time.
You probably guess most of these, if not all of them, but it’s never a bad idea to remind yourself of 7 Steps to a Healthier Life.
Lose Weight
Stop Smoking
Control Cholesterol
Manage Blood Pressure
Reduce Blood Sugar
Checkout My Life Check for more information on The Simple 7 and to get your own personal assessment test.
Sources: americanheart.org, mylifecheck.heart.org
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Vital Supplies Going To Haiti in Pelican Cases
Submitted by School Kids Healthcare Blog
Pelican™ Sends Vital Survival and Rescue Items to Provide Help in Haiti
Pelican Donates Head Lamps and Flashlights; Valued at $100,000
TORRANCE, CA – January 21, 2010 – Pelican Products, Inc., the global leader in the design and manufacture of advanced lighting systems and virtually indestructible cases, today announced its contribution of $100,000 worth of head lamps and flashlights to the Haiti relief effort. The in-kind donation will help aid and assist rescuers, volunteers and emergency response teams in their relief efforts in Haiti. Emergency triage shelters are without lighting, so head lamps allow doctors to treat patients in completely dark locations.
“Our prayers go out to the people of Haiti,” said Lyndon Faulkner, Pelican’s President and CEO. “It is impossible to see the devastation and not want to help. We hope that our donation, along with the donations of others across the county, will help bring some relief to the people of Haiti.”
Pelican™ cases are also being utilized by emergency response teams to transport and carry supplies to Haiti. Pelican cases are some of the most durable, longest lasting protector cases and are engineered to be completely watertight, crushproof and dustproof.
Source: pelican.com
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Cervical Health Awareness Month
Submitted by School Kids Healthcare Blog
The United States Congress designated January as Cervical Health Awareness Month. Cervical cancer screening saves lives yet for assorted reasons not all women are getting a Pap test and pelvic exam.
Take a look at some facts:
11% of United States women report that they do not have their Pap test screenings.
In the United States, About 10,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer each year and about 3,700 women die in the USA each year from this disease.
Women in developing countries account for about 85 percent of both the yearly cases of cervical cancer (estimated at 473,000 cases worldwide) and the yearly deaths from cervical cancer (estimated at 253,500 deaths worldwide).
In the majority of developing countries, cervical cancer remains the number-one cause of cancer-related deaths among women.
A woman who does not have her three shot prevention vaccine and her regular Pap test screen and HPV test when recommended, significantly increases her chances of developing cervical cancer.
High-Risk HPV Types are directly related to cervical cancer, yet many women are unaware of what HPV is or the relationship it has to cervical cancer.
Does your school have a Sexual Health Education program? Is cervical health, Pap tests, pelvic exams and HPV talked about or part of the curriculum?
As a parent would you feel more comfortable talking to your daughter about cervical health or would your prefer a school nurse or other appropriate teacher to educate her about the importance of cervical health?
The National Cervical Cancer Coalition (NCCC) was founded in 1996. This grassroots nonprofit organization is dedicated to serving women with, or at risk for, cervical cancer and HPV disease.
Source: nccc-online.org
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NYC ½ Marathon Update
Submitted by School Kids Healthcare Blog
The NYC ½ Marathon lottery closed last Wednesday night (1/6/10) and the winners were announced on Thursday. If you didn’t make it and you still want to take part in it you still have a chance. The FAF Team still has spots available. If you’re interested you can register with the Fresh Air Fund.
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January is National Blood Donor Month
Submitted by School Kids Healthcare Blog
Since 1970 the first month of the year has been recognized as National Blood Donor Month. Why not kick off the New Year with a blood donation to your local Red Cross or other blood bank in honor of National Blood Donor Month? The whole process takes only about an hour of your time.
If you’re at least 17 years old, weigh at least 110 pounds, not on antibiotics, without infection or fever, feeling healthy the day of and it’s been at least eight weeks since your last donation why not go for it? There are some other guidelines but those are the biggies.
Blood has a shelf life of only 42 days. That means it constantly needs to be replenished. In the midst of not only cold and flu season but the rise in car accidents during the winter season clean, backup blood is needed.
For information on where you can donate blood here’s a link to the American Association of Blood Banks (AABB) which has a handy Blood Bank Locator Map.
Sources: aabb.org, healthnews.com, redcross.org
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Looking Towards 2010: New Web Look for the New Year!
Submitted by Dr. Gwenn Is In
Happy Holidays!
I hope you have some wonderful plans in store for the next 10 days or so that involves yummy food, family time and time away from your computers.
When we all regroup in January for the New Year, you’ll find some exciting changes here on Dr. Gwenn Is In blog and on Pediatrics Now. Pediatrics Now is about to celebrate it’s 4 year online so it seemed fitting to celebrate the amazing ride we’ve had so far with a new website and blog that can take us in new and exciting directions.
Here’s a sneak peak of both new sites:
What’s cool is now both sites will be linked to each other without you ever having to remember how to get from one to the other! And, both sites will allow for some really cool and fun interactive content…so stay tuned for that as well.
Pediatrics Now will remain live in it’s “old” form until the launch around New Year’s Day so be sure to visit often should a question arise.
The new Dr. Gwenn Is In blog is already in beta on line so you can check it out now and tool around if you want to get a preview of the look and feel of the new home for Dr. Gwenn Is In blog.
So, tune in to either site early January 2010 for the official launch of the new and improved Pediatrics Now family of sites. It’s going to be a great way to ring in the new year!
Until then, have a safe, happy and healthy holiday season with those close to you.
As they say, we’ll talk again next year!
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FDA Approves Fluzone High-Dose for People Ages 65 and Older
Submitted by School Kids Healthcare Blog
FDA PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release: Dec. 23, 2009
Media Inquiries: Shelly Burgess, 301-796-4651, shelly.burgess@fda.hhs.gov
Consumer Inquiries: 888-INFO-FDA
FDA Approves a High Dose Seasonal Influenza Vaccine Specifically Intended for People Ages 65 and Older
Accelerated approval process used in vaccine approval
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Fluzone High-Dose, an inactivated influenza virus vaccine for people ages 65 years and older to prevent disease caused by influenza virus subtypes A and B.
People in this age group are at highest risk for seasonal influenza complications, which may result in hospitalization and death. Annual vaccination remains the best protection from influenza, particularly for people 65 and older.
Fluzone High-Dose was approved via the accelerated approval pathway. FDA’s accelerated approval pathway helps safe and effective medical products for serious or life-threatening diseases become available sooner. In clinical studies, Fluzone High-Dose demonstrated an enhanced immune response compared with Fluzone in individuals 65 and older.
As part of the accelerated approval process, the manufacturer is required to conduct further studies to verify that the Fluzone High-Dose will decrease seasonal influenza disease after vaccination.
“As people grow older, their immune systems typically become weaker,” said Karen Midthun, M.D., acting director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. “This is the first influenza vaccine that uses a higher dose to induce a stronger immune response that is intended to better protect the elderly against seasonal influenza.”
Fluzone High-Dose, manufactured by Sanofi Pasteur Inc., is formulated so that each 0.5 mL dose contains a total of 180 micrograms (mcg) of influenza virus hemagglutinin (HA) which is made up of 60 mcg of each of the three influenza virus strains.
Other currently licensed seasonal influenza vaccines for adults are formulated to contain a total of 45 mcg of influenza virus hemagglutinin (15 mcg HA from each of the three influenza strains per dose). Sanofi Pasteur, also manufactures Fluzone, a seasonal vaccine for the United States approved for use in individuals ages 6 months and older.
As expected, because of the higher HA content, non-serious adverse events were more frequent after vaccination with Fluzone High-Dose compared with Fluzone. Common adverse events experienced during clinical studies included pain, redness and swelling at the injection site and headache, muscle aches, fever and malaise. The rate of serious adverse events was comparable between Fluzone High-Dose and Fluzone.
People with hypersensitivity to egg proteins or life-threatening reactions after previous administration of any influenza vaccine should not be vaccinated with Fluzone High-Dose.
Fluzone High-Dose is administered as a single injection in the upper arm and is available in single dose pre-filled syringes without preservative.
Source: fda.gov
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2010 CureSearch Calendars
Submitted by CureSearch - Conquering Childhood Cancer
This coming year, simultaneously fulfill a need and contribute to childhood cancer research. By purchasing a 2010 calendar from CureSearch, you will be on time for all of your appointments and fund the life-saving work of the Children’s Oncology Group.
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Watching TV Smartly, and Sanely, Over Holiday Break With Your Kids
Submitted by Dr. Gwenn Is In
With the upcoming school holiday break days away, let’s be realistic: TV sets are about to get a bit more use than usual. In fact, many will go into hyper drive as kids of all ages are home more and parents become distracted with holiday preparations and school week plans.
It’s always important to keep an eye on the clock when kids are home for extended periods of time and be sure that tube time doesn’t increase out of control. At the same time, whether a vacation week or any other time of the year, the core of TV viewing with kids is always content.
With they myriad of TV stations and shows on the air these days, finding good content for any age is a gigantic challenge. A new group has partnered with TIVO to help you with this task in some very creative ways.
Called “Smart TV”, it’s a product of the “Smart TV Alliance” which is ” a coalition of national nonprofit organizations united by a shared commitment to improving what our nation’s children see on television.”
The mission of the group is to give parents the information they need to make informed, smart choices about programming for their kids and a way to pick those shows to save for later viewing from one interface.
It’s a really cool set-up!
From the Smart-TV recommendations page, you pick either the age of your child, the category of show (history, safe and fun, science, etc.), or channel, and you’ll be taken to a screen that has recommended shows with descriptions and ratings from the most trusted groups for media reviews online, such as Common Sense Media, Parents Television Council, Parents Choice Foundation, and others.
Here’s a screen shot of the choices you have for how to get to the recommendations you are seeking:
Let’s say you click on the “9-11″ year old tab and decide ”Adventure Camp” is perfect for your child. This is what the “Adventure Camp” summary would look like:
As you can see, you get a description, who rated it and a link to save the show to your TIVO without having to leave the Smart TV site. All shows on the Smart TV site will have a similar appearance and contain the same basic information that’s shown in this example.
Having the ability to download the show to your TIVO from the Smart TV site is very useful so you can continue hunting for other shows to save for later viewing for that child or other children in your family, or for family movie night.
If you don’t have a TIVO and are interested in purchasing one, Smart TV has worked out a discount of 10% that you can access here.
Finally, Smart TV is interested in learning what you watch and why you find it educational for your family. They’ve created a fun sweepstakes around this idea that is running through December 24, 2009. By filling in the blanks of “the show that teaches my family a lot is ________” you automatically get entered to win some fun prizes just in time for the holidays, as well as helping Smart TV learn what shows you would be interested in having them post on the site. Click here to learn more.
The site is constantly growing and the team informed me that a robust amount of new shows is going to be added this week as well as some holiday week and show information. BTW, I don’t have any formal stake with the site…I’ve given them some informal advice so you can have the healthiest viewing experience possible but that’s it. So, shoot me an email and if there’s something Smart TV needs to know, I’ll pass it on.
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A Dose of Dr. Gwenn Podcast Returns Tomorrow Night!
Submitted by Dr. Gwenn Is In
Show 16, The Return of Dr. Gwenn and Healthy Holidays 09, airs tomorrow night at 8pm ET.
Wondering how to have happy, healthy and sane holidays with your kids?
Any linger questions about H1N1, especially with some breaking news about the H1N1 vaccine and kids this week?
And, what was up with Dr. Gwenn being off air for so long? How did that 3 month summer hiatus become the entire fall?
Tune in tomorrow, Thursday, December 17, 2009 at 8pm ET and Dr. Gwenn will catch you up news you can use, news you’ve been wondering about, and get you ready for a healthy holiday season!
In case you’re rusty at this, when show time arrives, you can listen in a number of ways:
1. From my show page here
2. From any phone at: (347) 237-5194
3. By clicking this button when show time arrives:
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The developmental tracking industry: do we need a gizmo?
Submitted by Dr. Gwenn Is In
With our world becoming high tech, it’s not surprising that gizmos and programs or our computers, iPhones and Smartphones are emerging to help us track everything from our infant’s cry to our child’s development. But, are these necessary?
I was called by a reporter from Wired.com to weigh in on this with a colleague as was a colleague of mine. As members of the American Academy of Pediatrics Council of Communications and Media, and Spokespersons for the AAP, we had a few opinions on this very important topic that I want to share with you that you can find here.
Before you download or buy any computer program or cell phone application just ask yourself one question: can this program do anything more that I can do myself? More times than not, the answer will be no! Honest, you really can parent your kids just fine and keep track of the important “data” you have to keep track of. If our parents and grandparents could do this without high tech aids, so can we!
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Partner With Your Child To Handle Inappropriate Content on the iTunes Store
Submitted by Dr. Gwenn Is In
I had heard there were “adult only” applications on iTunes but hadn’t seen any myself – until yesterday.
I’ve been on the application store many times to find cool application for my iPhone and never seen anything alarming. Yesterday, however, under “top free applications”, this is what I found:
Note #2, “Beautiful Boobs”. If you scroll down, you’ll find #74 “Pocket Girlfriend lite”, among others in a similar vain!
All are technically for “over 17 years of age” but if your child is using your phone, or an older sibling’s phone, and the parent controls are not set to block explicit content and limit downloads to over 17 years of age only, your child could download one of these games.
Do you know where the parent control settings are on your iPhone or iTouch? Most parents are not so sure so let me show you where to find them.
On your iTunes main screen, under “Edit”, scroll to “preferences”. That will get you to this screen where you’ll find the “Parent Control” settings on the 5th tab, which is shown below:
As you can see, you can set the ratings by country and then control the content your child has access to by venue, movies, TV show and application content as well as overall explicit content.
The ratings systems are as follows:
Movies: G, PG, PG13, R
TV Shows: TV-Y, TV-Y7, TV-G, TV-PG, TV-14, TV-MA
Applications: 4+, 9+, 12+, 17+
In addition, you can block out access to more global content such as podcasts, radio and even the iTunes store and shared libraries.
It’s important to not just set the parental controls but lock them so your child can’t change the settings.
If you feel your child requires more control than the iPhone/iTouch comes with, there are programs on the market that offer higher degrees of control. SafeEyes is one such program that has been designed specifically for the iPhone/iTouch.
In an ideal world, iTunes would have those adult only applications in an adult only section. Perhaps that will occur some day.
Since that isn’t the case, though, we have to assume our kids already on iTunes have seem the icons for these apps given how visible they are.
If that’s the case, and you don’t see those apps on your kids or your phone, that’s very reassuring and speaks to your kids ability to just ignore those questionable apps and keep their hunt going for what they are seeking.
It goes to show that even if we are behind our kids in the digital space at times, they are not always going to get into trouble. That is very reassuring!!
What’s important to remember is our kids don’t always get into trouble in the digital space. We have to remember to talk with them and find out what they know before we panic and reach for parent controls and programs to lock them out. I believe it’s important to know where those tools are in case you need them but I also believe that more times than not those tools are not needed – what is needed is actively parenting with your kids in whatever digital space they are in.
So, if your kids are on iTunes either because of iPods or iPhones or iTouches, be there with them…know what they are doing and downloading, talk with them and encourage them to talk with you. Create a game plan of fair and appropriate use for that site. And, as a last resort, use a formal control system if you find your child needs it due to exposure to inappropriate content.
The goal is partnership and helping your child become a responsible digital citizen given your child’s age…not random censorship because of our parental panic. The best way to accomplish that is by partnering with your child, not dictating to your child.
(Screen shots of iTunes, 12/8/09)
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Talking To Kids About The Economy and The Holidays
Submitted by Dr. Gwenn Is In
With the holidays upon us and our country still facing a challenging economic crisis, many families are struggling with how to balance celebrating and spending without disappointing their children.
From news stories to Facebook postings, families are expressing clear concern for how to celebrate this year, what to buy for their kids and how much money to spend. They want to be honest with their kids yet shelter them from their adult financial concerns at the same time. Moreover, they feel guilty because this year was supposed to be different because last year they had the same stresses and concerns.
That’s the bottom line for everyone. Last year we all hoped that this year would be different. We hoped that last year’s tough economic downturn woud be much improved by this year. We all painfully know that reality didn’t quite occur as we hoped and we are all once again struggling with how to celebrate with funds not being quite where we hoped – and what to say to our kids.
Last year I posted about these issues based on a Boston Globe article by Barbara Meltz. To help you talk with your kids and regroup together, I decided to repost that article for you today. Here it is:
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As with most tough issues in life, honesty is always your best policy with kids, kid-appropriate, of course. Kids have an amazingly fine-tuned radar for knowing when a parent is worried. More than that, they are very good in picking up on gigantic world issues from their friends and worrying themselves about their own world.
Barbara Meltz, Boston Globe columnist, agrees. In her article, Helping kids understand family finances, she discusses not only how kids react to tough societal stresses, but ways parents can not only discuss these tough issues and be on the look out for signs that kids are having trouble coping with the enormity of situation.
The article opens with the story of a family that could be any of us – a basic nuclear family trying to plan for the future but is otherwise financial ok at the moment. For this family, they focused their conversation on “saving money by not wasting”. In the father’s words:
“‘Countries have financial ups and downs. This is a down time. Our family is not in trouble, but as a precaution, we are rearranging our budget. You guys can help.’”
Their kids help with reminding the family to turn off lights and the TV. Those small actions can add up for all of us over time!
We take the same tact with our kids and are learning that their middle school is actively teaching the girls about the environment and saving in school. “Go green” has been our families motto for a while but at the moment has taken on an interesting financial twist at the economy continues to sour.
By the way, keep in mind that that kids’ reactions to tough times are independent of their families tax bracket and that isn’t something parents always understand. So if you are one of the lucky families who won’t have to worry about this financial crisis, your kids are still worried, or at least worried for their friends.
Meltz and I have always shared a vision of being proactive about parenting and needing to balance information with reassurance. Her current article hits the nail on the head with not only the tone of the conversations we need to have with our kids right now but ways we can step in when we sense trouble.
The printed Boston Globe article contains a small chart with a trouble-shooting guide to help you intervene if your child is showing signs of stress. Here are the highlights to be on the lookout for:
- Changes in behavior. Meltz suggests initiating an age appropriate discussion and try and get your child talking about what he or she has heard at school.
- Your child starts to discuss friends going through tough economic times. Hit the nail on the head by reassuring your child about your families situation.
- You started a discussion and now your child seems very unhappy.Be reassuring and help your child see that your family’s situation stable despite any modifications that have to be made due to the economy.
- Nothing you say seems to “get through” (especially for a middle schooler). Meltz said it best “offer hope”. The age group needs to know the truth so don’t candy coat it but be careful not to make statements that place blame on the child inadvertently. This is the age of moodiness so this group will brood and stew while readjusting to a new reality.
- Holiday expectations are becoming unrealistic. This is one area you just have to be clear about. Kids always get carried away with their holiday lists but this is a year where most kids just won’t get a huge pile.
I find it helps kids to know that all their friends are going through the same exact thing. It also helps kids to give to other kids in need. I’ll be blogging more on this soon but kids love to give back and by finding ways to tap into that a bit, it will remove the focus from your own situation and help them develop a sense of community and altruism.
One thing is for sure, this is one situation that is touching everyone, although some much more deeply that others. We don’t know how long this will last so we have to be honest, realistic and help our kids understand there is more to being a family than the tangible things we have inside our houses…and that their world won’t end wearing last year’s clothes.
For more information on talking to kids about the economy, click here.
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