August 2014 News

August 2014 News

By: uwmweb Date: August 1st, 2014

Washington State Drowning Prevention Network

  • Why Black Kids are More Likely to Drown (KUOW). Seattle Parks and Recreation lifeguard Alvin Barnes and Dr. Linda Quan talk about swimming disparities. Read the interview here: http://kuow.org/post/why-are-black-kids-more-likely-drown. Click on this link to hear the interview: A disparity in drowning
  • Beach ‘superstars’ – and the not-so stellar (CNN). According to the Natural Resources Defense Council’s 24th annual “Testing the Waters” report, 10 percent of water samples collected from U.S. beaches failed to meet the government benchmark for swimmer safety. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates up to 3.5 million people become ill from poor water treatment each year, largely because of contact with “raw sewage from sanitary overflows.”
    Yuck! 1 in 10 U.S. beaches unsafe for swimming – USA Today
    1 in 10 U.S. beaches polluted, researchers say; WA ranked 19th – KING5
Preventing Window Falls: A Regional Forum

Noting an increase in window falls within the region, the Western Pacific Injury Prevention Network formed the Regional Window Falls Prevention Workgroup. The workgroup includes diverse representation from four states within the region: Washington, Oregon, Hawaii, and Nevada. Early workgroup discussions identified shared challenges with window falls and benefits from leveraging limited resources to gain broader support.
On June 16th, the workgroup hosted a Regional Window Falls Prevention Forum with participants from organizations including the Consumer Product Safety Commission, building code council, military housing, housing authority, non-profit organizations, public health (local and state), hospitals, EMS, fire, legal, and parent advocates from Washington, Oregon, and Hawaii. HIPRC Associate Member Dr. Brian Johnston, MD, MPH (Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Adjunct Associate Professor of Health Services) presented research and evidence of effective countermeasures to prevent falls. Military housing and officials in Hawaii participated due to the prevalence of falls within that population. This stimulated ideas and discussion on developing a model for the military community for replication elsewhere.
As an outcome of the Forum, the workgroup agreed to develop a regional action plan based on Dr. Johnston’s research and recommendations. Planned activities include unified messaging, a regional website/resource, and specific interventions with partners including military housing.

American College of Surgeons National Surgical QI Program National Conference Talk

Help us congratulate Rosemary Grant, RN, BSN, CPHQ (Research Coordinator for Anesthesiology) on her talk at the 2014 American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program National Conference. Rosemary’s talk on the “University of Washington Medical Center Approach: Using the ACS NSQIP Return on Investment (ROI) Calculator to Demonstrate Medical Center Cost Savings” was part of a panel discussion with former UW Medicine Chief of General Surgery, Dr. E. Patchen Dellinger, MD, FACS.
The presentation was a summary of QI efforts in the Division of General Surgery and how the reductions in complications from participations in those registries translated into cost savings for the Medical Center. There were approximately 1,200 people in attendance.