Hands to Help Seniors

View From A Non-Profit Serving Carmel, Carmel Valley, Gonzalez, Greenfield, King City, Marina, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Pebble Beach, Salinas, Seaside And Soledad California

I have written many times on my blog about recent issues with medical devices not working properly.  The New York Times has now reported that the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) is moving to strengthen regulations on manufacturers of defibrillators.  The story pointed out the sad story of a nurse who tried to hook a defibrillator up to someone going into cardiac arrest when the device gave her the message "memory full" and proceeded to turn itself off.  The patient died.  In another case, the device displayed the message "equipment disabled" and then shut down.  This patient also died.  Although it's a good thing that defibrillators are now commonly seen in airports, restaurants and other public places (there are about 2.4 million of them in service), this is not acceptable that a device could shut down in the middle of using it.  About 400K people die each year from cardiac arrest, and none of them should because a defibrillator is failing.  It's estimated that there are a whopping 45,000 failures of defibrillators between 2005 and 2012.  Although some of this has been due to something simple like battery failure, manufacturers have recalled the devices 88 times during the same time period.  The FDA is now requiring some manufacturers to go through an expensive testing and research process.  Although these companies will complain, I don't think the 45,000 people hooked up to a defibrillator which failed will. 

Please note that this blog reflects my personal opinion and may or may not reflect the opinion of Hands to Help Seniors and the individual members comprising the Board of Governors. 

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View From A Non-Profit Serving Carmel, Carmel Valley, Gonzalez, Greenfield, King City, Marina, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Pebble Beach, Salinas, Seaside And Soledad California

Budget cuts are hitting virtually every aspect of our lives, and Veterans are being extremely hard hit.  I wrote recently on my blog about the huge impact the change from the CPI to the chained CPI will have on Veterans disability.  An article in the New York Times says that one Veteran's hospital is in a sad state of affairs and that the conditions reported may exist at many other hospitals across the country.  A whistle blower has reported that problems include poor sterilization procedures, chronic understaffing of the primary care unit and missed diagnoses by the radiology department.  The hospital in question admitted that it sent instruments to its podiatry clinic that were blood and rust stained and contained dirt particles.  And that was before the sequestrations started to kick in.  One doctor who worked at a Veterans hospital for 30 years says one of the worst problems was that the hospital wouldn't even notify patients after they realized that their X-rays and CT scans had been improperly read.  A physician who worked at the hospital said a radiologist regularly marked many scans as read when in fact he hadn't even looked at him.  This is shameful that this kind of neglect is happening in hospitals serving those who have risked their lives for our country.  I hope Veterans hospitals across the nation are scrutinized closely after this report was made public.

 Please note that this blog reflects my personal opinion and may or may not reflect the opinion of Hands To Help Seniors and the individual members comprising the Board of Governors. 

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View From A Non-Profit Serving Carmel, Carmel Valley, Gonzalez, Greenfield, King City, Marina, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Pebble Beach, Salinas, Seaside And Soledad California

The budget drama continues to play out in Washington D.C., with both the House and the Senate passing stop gap legislation this week which will avoid a government shutdown, through December at least.  Republicans were able to get across-the-board spending cuts (known as sequester) without having to make any major concessions to the Democrats.  President Barack Obama argued strenuously against allowing the $85 billion in budget cuts go through because of the negative impact that it would have on our economy, but he was unsuccessful.  Sadly, as usual, the ones hit the hardest by the budget cuts will be the ones who can least afford it.  In just one example, the Monterey Herald reported today that the Housing Authority of Monterey County will lose about $850,000 in federal money because of the sequestrations, and they are not prepared for it.  "We're operating in the blind," the authority's finance director, Lynn Santos, told the Herald.  This is money given to landlords for individuals who need assistance paying their rent.  About 3,700 people rely on the Section 8 funds and the agency will be hard hit staff wise because 31% of its administration fees, which pay primarily for its 82-person staff, are being slashed.  The Area Agency on Aging, which is trying to implement its 2012-2016 plan to help low-income senior citizens, has also been hit hard by budget cuts.  Virtually every agency helping low-income seniors is being hit by the sequestrations.

Please note that this blog reflects my personal opinion and may or may not reflect the opinion of Hands To Help Seniors and the individual members comprising the Board of Governors. 

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View From A Non-Profit Serving Carmel, Carmel Valley, Gonzalez, Greenfield, King City, Marina, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Pebble Beach, Salinas, Seaside And Soledad California

The on-again, off-again process of getting approval to build a veterans cemetery on the old Fort Ord site moved one step closer to being a reality this week.  The Seaside City Council on Monday unanimously approved the transfer of 32 acres of land to the state Department of Veterans affairs.  Another 46 acres which is in Monterey County just outside of Seaside, is scheduled to be transferred as well, although the Monterey County board of supervisors will need to vote on that.  There are another 100 acres of land that are to be sold in order to set up an endowment to pay for ongoing operations at the cemetery.  It's about time.  This project has been in the works for more than a decade and we need a local veterans cemetery badly.  The only opposition came from an attorney for Keep Fort Ord Wild, a group critical of development projects on the old Fort Ord site.  She said the meeting by the Seaside Board of Supervisors violated the state open meeting law and that she believes the land transfer required environmental review. 

http://www.montereyherald.com/news/ci_22826969/seaside-approves-transferring-land-vets-cemetery-state

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View From A Non-Profit Serving Carmel, Carmel Valley, Gonzalez, Greenfield, King City, Marina, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Pebble Beach, Salinas, Seaside And Soledad California

No one has figured out why, but researchers have concluded that the average life span is actually declining for women aged 75 and younger in almost half of the nation's counties.  Many of the geographic regions are in rural areas in the South and the West.  The same study found the trend is the reverse for men, with the average life span increasing or holding steady in almost all counties.  Some researchers have speculated that higher smoking rates, lower education and high levels of obesity could be at the core of the problem, but these theories have not been proven.  Women still living longer than men, with a baby boy born today expected to live to 76, and the average girl to 81.  This recent study is the second in recent years to show the same trend, and more research projects are expected to get started in this perplexing arena.  At Hands To Help Seniors, we are working hard to help seniors struggling with many health and dental issues.  It's important that as we age, we follow healthy lifestyles, getting enough exercise and nutritious meals.

Please note that this blog reflects my personal opinion and may or may not reflect the opinion of Hands To Help Seniors and the individual members comprising the Board of Governors.

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