County has an eye out for swine flu
The Klickitat County Health Department (KCHD) reports that it is closely monitoring the swine flu situation in the United States, Mexico, and Canada. In particular, it is keeping tabs on the information provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Washington State Department of Health.
There are no confirmed cases of swine flu (swine influenza) in Klickitat county or in the state. Health officials at KCHD are working closely with local providers to monitor and respond to any potential cases in the county.
As of Monday, swine flu infections have been confirmed in 40 people living in California, Texas, Kansas, Ohio and New York City. To date no deaths due to swine flu infection have been identified in the United States.
Swine flu is a virus that causes respiratory illness. It was originally found in pigs and then mutated to cause illness in humans. The virus implicated now appears to be transmitted from person to person.
The KCHD is educating citizens on how swine flu is contracted and passed on. For example, a person cannot become infected with swine flu by eating pork and the virus cannot be transmitted from pigs to humans. According to the CDC, swine flu is thought to spread like other respiratory diseases, through the coughing and sneezing of infected people. The symptoms of swine flu, which are similar to symptoms people experience during the normal flu season, include fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headaches, chills, fatigue, diarrhea and vomiting.
People experiencing these symptoms should see their health care provider and share their travel history if they have recently visited Mexico or affected areas of the United States.
While there is no indication of immediate threat of swine flu infection in the county, KCHD encourages people to practice good hygiene to help prevent any respiratory infection. Health officials recommend the following precautions:
• Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue or your upper sleeve when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
• Wash your hands frequently with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hand cleaners are also effective.
• Try to avoid close contact with sick people.
• Stay home to avoid spreading germs if you or your family members are coughing, sneezing or have aches or fever.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth.
Wagons and Wildflowers a unique view of the gorge
The fifth annual Wagons and Wildflowers field day will be held this Saturday, May 2, at the Dalles Mountain Ranch.
The event is the once a year opening of the Dalles Mountain Ranch, homestead of the Crawford family, who arrived in 1878. Many of the Crawford's family artifacts are on display during the field day.
The site was acquired by the state in 1993 and is part of the Columbia Hills State Park. It is located three miles up the Dalles Mountain Road from Highway 14, one mile east of the Highway 197 junction, and can also be reached by turning south at downtown Centerville.
Activities begin at 10 a.m. There will be presentations on ethnobotany, ice age flood history, and Raptors of the Gorge. Field trips will look at wildflowers and wildlife. This year's kids activities include macroinvertebrates (insects), hayrides, and a fun center with mules and sheep.
There will also be living history activities with Lewis and Clark history, pioneer crafts, blacksmithing, and more.
KV Health showing signs of improvement
Klickitat Valley Health has developed a comprehensive performance improvement program that addresses the quality of care in all services. Every department has an annual plan for formal process improvement for efficient and effective care and/or for customer service. Data is collected for the formal projects through satisfaction surveys, record reviews, or logs. Results are reported to a committee, posted on a bulletin board, and presented to the Board of Commissioners in open public session. The results are used to help refine procedures and practices to continuously improve the care at KVH. Some of the projects and data allow for internal comparisons over time and some allow for external comparisons with other hospitals.
For example, the overall patient satisfaction for the first quarter of 2009 with KVH Emergency Department services was rated 87.3 compared with the average of 84.9 for Washington State hospitals. For inpatient services KVH was rated 85.2 and for Washington State the average was 85.1.
Beginning May 4, 2009, patients and visitors to the hospital will use the main entrance to the hospital. The west hospital entrance, referred to many as the "old main entrance" will no longer be used. |
