Announcements
(Notes provided by Allan Penwell)
Penn is selling raffle tickets at $20.00 each for the Champaign Park District Foundation. The winner gets a new car from Worden-Martin, and the drawing is on August 16th as part of the Taste of C-U. There are only 3,500 tickets available so break out your wallets now!
Program
Our speaker on June 12th was Daniel Bronson-Lowe, Ph.D., who is a senior infections preventionist at Carle Hospital. Infection preventionists are experts on practical methods of preventing and controlling the spread of infectious diseases with patients, staff, and visitors. Infection control practices include surveillance, investigation of cases and outbreaks, training of staff members, the development and enforcement of infection control policies, and evaluation of the effectiveness of infection control efforts. Daniel also teaches statistics at UIUC.
It was the 1840’s when a doctor first realized that there were significantly fewer infections in delivering babies by mid-wives than from surgeons. The reason was that surgeons often came right from surgery to the delivery room whereas the mid-wives did not and were clean. After surgeons began washing their hands and wearing clean clothes, then infections dropped dramatically. This is probably the reason your mom told you to wash your hands before supper and sing two “Happy Birthdays” before finishing.
Hospital rooms have many sources of infections so the rooms have to be cleaned thoroughly between patients. Other means of prevention are patient isolation, wearing of face masks, and precaution signs. Daniel also recommended that people pay attention to signs as they go into a room for the safety of the patient as well as the visitors. Lastly, using an anti-biotic hand wash while with a patient is an important method of reducing hospital infections.
Infections such as MRSA (methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus) can be a nightmare for hospitals as staph bacteria become resistant to treatment (it’s similar to the way Donna is resistant to the heckling she receives during her movie reviews). Infection preventionists study where the MRSA virus occurs. For example MRSA was found in 3% of Chicago ISU’s, and in some long-term care units, there was a 30% occurrence. All are problems for the preventionists to deal with.
Another nightmare bacteria is the C. difficile bacteria which can be a life-threatening inflammation in the colon. It tends to occur in older patients but can also affect the young. One problem with this infection is that anti-biotic hand lotion doesn’t seem to help.
A third bacteria is CRE, which stands for carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriaceae. This is a family of germs that are difficult to treat because they have high levels of resistance to antibiotics. It especially is prevalent in urinary and blood infections.
Along with general cleanliness, there are some simple measures you can take before surgery to reduce infection: bathing, wearing clean clothing, don’t use lotions, and use special soaps. And remember—wash those hands after you use the bathroom.
—
| June 19th | June 26th | July 3rd | July 10th | |
| Introductions | Oktay Baran | Eric Batsie | Keith Brandau | Alan Chalifoux |
| Invocation | Dave Krchak | Bob La Charite | Barb Lintner | BJ Lytle |
| Greeters | Oktay Baran | Eric Batsie | Keith Brandau | Alan Chalifoux |
| Larry Johnson | Nick Jungels | Dave Krchak | Bob La Charite | |
| Song Leader | Ata Durukan | Bruce Hatfield | Mary Hodson | Phillip Holthaus |
| Notetaker | Perry | Penwell | Hodson | Lintner |
| Rotary Minute | Curt Anderson | Oktay Baran | Eric Batsie | Keith Brandau |
| Decker Weeding | Roberts | Johnson | Chalifoux | LaCharite |
| Next Weekend | Baran | Johnson | Family | McDaniel |
| Decker Garden | Simpson | Johnson | Johnson | Reifsteck |
| Watering |
—
Upcoming Schedule
June 19th – Carly McRory, Communications Director, Champaign County Economic Development Corporation
June 26th – Pass the Gavel (Reign of Chuck the Terrible ends)
July 3rd – Susan Warsaw, September 11th volunteer from Champaign
July 10th – Lacey Rains-Lowe, City of Champaign Planner, will discuss the city’s Environmental Sustainability Plan
July 17th – TBD
July 24th – TBD
July 31st – TBD
August 7th – TBD
