April 2011 Archives

This Real Ramping Project is brought to us by Mobility Specialist, Tony LaLonde. "This was a unique project because the ramp was built to the unusually high threshold." Tony tells us. "It descends from the back door 4th to a platform turns 90 and descends another 20 ft discharging on the sidewalk giving it a 12:1 pitch and a safe discharge point." 

When injured employees become wheelchair bound, it is important to have a reliable vendor partner who is knowledgeable in the installation of modular aluminum ramping.

The benefits of aluminum ramping include:
• Installation within hours
• No building permit required
• Maintenance free
• Virtually indestructible
• Can be stored or "banked" for later use
• Does not reduce value of property
• American made

If you have any questions about your upcoming ramping needs, feel free to contact Total Medical Solutions at 1.800.700.9393 or intakes@newtms.com or www.NewTMS.com.

Whenever you need a good cry, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition never fails. Their stories are so touching and uplifting, you can't help but to be moved to tears. This past Sunday's episode was no different. This episode featured the Hall Family from Kansas. The family of six was hit hard by tragedy on June 26, 2010, when a car accident left dad, Carl, paralyzed from the shoulders down, leaving him a quadriplegic. Wheelchair bound for the rest of his life, Carl depended on Sip-n-Puff technology to maneuver.

Carl was a baseball star at Wichita State, and later went on to play semi-professional baseball and coach his son's baseball team. The accident robbed him of his passion and the special bond of baseball with his son, Logan. Brent Bushnell of Syyn Labs worked with the design team to create a special machine that would allow him to use sip-n-puff technology to control a pitching machine to make it possible for him to pitch to Logan again.

"Sip-n-puff is like mores code. A long puff and a short puff mean something. Stitch them together to create its own little language" says Brent. "When creating this special machine, we designed it to recognize one short puff to control speeds, and one long puff sets it up to fire the ball." This ultimately allowed Carl to pitch either a fast ball, curve ball, slide ball, etc. to Logan. "I never thought it would be possible to pitch to my son again" Carl said with such appreciation for returning to his two biggest loves - baseball and his son. "I'm actually playing sports with my Dad again. It makes me so happy" exclaimed Logan.

It's amazing to see such a deserving family receive what they need to help them move forward from such a tragedy. They have such a great perspective on life - turning lemons into lemonade. "We're just making lemonade", explained Carl, "you get handed something that may not be the best, but you can do something with it." To remind the family daily of their lemonade story, the design team completed their home with a bright yellow, lemonade-themed kitchen. Incredibly inspiring.

To see the full episode, click here - I highly recommend it!

Earth Day's 2011 theme is "A Billion Acts of Green." This year, The American Nurses Association (ANA) Celebrates Earth Day 2011  and encourages all registered nurses to participate in the observance of Earth Day on Friday, April 22.

Are you a registered nurse? Is there something you can do or change to be greener? According to ANA, nurses have an obligation to seek sustainable and environmentally-friendly practices and products in their profession to preserve human and environmental health. ANA's Center for Occupational and Environmental Health (COEH) reminds all nurses to THINK GREEN! and reuse, reduce and recycle whenever possible.

ANA also urges support for the Safe Chemicals Act of 2011. ANA joined a group of health care professionals and lawmakers on April 14 to speak out against proposed cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) budget. They feel the cuts represent a serious threat to the public's health. Read the press release.

ANA and COEH offer the following tools to help with your efforts to go green:

-ANA's Green Meeting Guide;
-Principles of a Healthy, Sustainable Food System;
-ANA's Principles of Environmental Health for Nursing Practice with Implementation Strategies

For more information about Earth Day and Earth Day celebrations, visit Earth Day Network.

And watch the official Earth Day 2011 video: 

We are watching the progress of eLEGS, unveiled by Berkeley Bionics last fall, very closely. It is going to revolutionize quality of life for many people who are paralyzed. 

Watch this short video and see for yourself how new eLEGS test pilot, Sarah Anderson, takes her very first steps at Berkeley Bionics. According to the company, Sarah progressed quickly from a walker to crutches. Read more about Sarah and her story on Empowered, the official blog of Berkeley Bionics.

In December, CNN named eLEGS as the #3 Innovation of 2010, topped only by electric cars, and of course Apple's IPad, which secured the #1 spot for innovation in 2010.

And another brief video shows testing in progress at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta just a few weeks ago:

According to a press release issued in October 2010, Berkeley Bionics strives to provide the 6 million Americans who are living with paralysis today "unprecedented mobility options." For the past 500 years or so, options for paraplegics have been limited to wheelchairs. Berkeley Bionics' CEO, Eythor Bender, says "We want to enhance their independence and freedom of movement, and with eLEGS, they can stand up and walk for the first time since their injury."

The press release states that the eLEGS device can be adjusted to fit most people between 5'2" and 6'4" who weigh 220 lbs or less, in a matter of minutes. Users must be able to self-transfer from their wheelchair.

And finally, read more about eLEGS in an article post from TIME's Healthland titled "Bionic Legs Allow Paraplegics to Get Up and Walk."  

21 American Records. 8 Pan-American Records. 7 National Gold Medals. 2 Paralympic Records. 2 World Records. 1 National Silver Medal. Incredibly to think that this numerous accomplishments are held by 19 year-old, Jessica Long, who also happens to be paraplegic.

Jessica was born in Russia without proper bone structure in her lower legs. She was missing the fibulas, ankles, heels and most of the other bones in the feet. Jessica lived in an orphanage until adopted and brought to the U.S. where she had both of her legs amputated from the knee down at the young age of only 18 months. "I was fitted with prosthetic legs and my parents tell me I learned to walk within a few weeks" says Jessica.

At the age of 6, Jessica decided to take up swimming, after participating in gymnastics. Jessica recalls "When I began swimming competitively, I was the only disabled swimmer on the team, but I really didn't care what anyone thought. Most people didn't even notice my legs were missing until I got out of the pool".

Jessica competed in the Paralympic Games in Athens, Greece in 2004. At the age of 12, Jessica was the youngest Paralympian to win a gold medal.  "I knew I was representing my country, but then to get on the podium... that was my flag, that was my anthem. It was amazing" Jessica proudly recalls.

Her story is inspirational:

Home infusion therapy is a cost-effective, safe and desirable option for discharging your patient from the hospital and continuing on to their next phase of care in the comfort and safety of their own home. Home infusion therapy allows your patient to continue to receive necessary treatments that require intravenous medications at home.

The advantages of transitioning your patient to home infusion therapy include:

Significant reduction in hospital costs

Reduced risk of infection

Privacy and more interaction with family members

Involving the patient in their own treatment program

Less stress for patient and family members

Homecare Assessment Tool

Patients should be screened to ensure they are a good fit for homecare. Not all patients are good candidates as they, along with their caregiver, must learn new skills and make changes in the home in order to accommodate special equipment and procedures. To help you identify whether or not your patient is a good candidate for homecare, go through the following list of questions:

- is there a working phone?
- is there a working refrigerator?
- is there a family member, friend or neighbor to act
    as the caregiver?
- is there space in the home to create a clean, clutter-free
    area away from pets and children?
- can your patient thread a needle? (corrected vision okay)
- can your patient program a pump and/or use a calculator?

Key Components: Discharge Planning and Interdisciplinary Team

Before your patient is discharged from the hospital, a comprehensive discharge and continuing care plan should be developed by a qualified clinician. An interdisciplinary "team" should be developed and is critical to ensure medical and quality of care standards are in place. An interdisciplinary team should include:

-physician
-patient / family members
-primary care nurse
-social worker or discharge planner
-case manager from insurance company
-therapy provider(s) of home services

Home infusion therapies should ONLY be provided by an accredited provider. If you would like assistance identifying your workers' comp patients that may be candidates for home infusion therapy, or to schedule a Continuing Education workshop for your nurse case managers, RNs or adjusters, contact Total Medical Solutions at 1-800-700-9393.

Here's a success story we couldn't pass up sharing. A four-year-old miniature horse in Texas named Midnite surpassed expectations when he received a $14,000 prosthetic leg. Ranch Hand Rescue, a non-profit organization that rescues ranch animals in distressed situations, acquired Midnite after law enforcement removed him from a neglectful owner. "Midnite was in really bad shape," said Bob Williams, who runs the animal farm. "I would say critical condition."

The ranch contacted a local Fort Worth company, Prosthetic Care, who was eager to help and up for the challenge. "Prosthetic care had never built a leg before, they'd built them for humans but they'd never build them for horses," Williams said. What happened next exceeded the expectations of Williams and the rest of the Ranch Hand Rescue staff. "Our hope was that with a prosthetic leg he would be able to walk and be out in the pasture with the other horses and just enjoy being a horse," Williams recalled, "When he ran and when he jumped we all cried, it was just the most amazing thing I'd ever seen in my life."

Check out Midnite's galloping success in this heart-warming video below: