Protecting Our Kids for Nearly 20 Years

Over the past 18 years, nearly 5,000 area third graders have received a free bike helmet specially fitted to each student. It’s all part of an effort started by the medical staff at Grinnell Regional Medical Center to try to reduce head injuries for children in the area.

Volunteer Miranda Jones fits a
helmet for a student.

Helmets are given out at 12 schools  – BGM, Central Iowa Christian Academy, East Marshall, Green Mountain Garwin (GMG), Grinnell/Newburg, Lynnville/Sully, Meskwaki Settlement, Montezuma, North Mahaska, Sully Christian, South Tama, and Victor (HLV).

Craig Cooper of Bikes to You, GRMC employees and medical staff, and in some communities like Grinnell, the Grinnell Police department staff, will visit the schools and fit a helmet to each third-grade student as well as discuss the importance of preventing head injury.

Children who use helmets as soon as they begin riding are more likely to continue that healthy behavior throughout their lifetime.

A report by the University of Iowa Injury Prevention Research Center cites that wearing a helmet can reduce the risk of head injury by as much as 85 percent. Additionally, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration notes that bicycle riders who are not using a helmet are 14 times more likely to die than those who are wearing a helmet.

Those who ride bicycles are not the only ones who can benefit from protective head gear. In-line skates, skateboards, scooters, motorcycles, mopeds, and ATVs all pose serious risk of head injury.

Craig says it best. “When you have wheels under your feet, you need a helmet on your head.”

Grinnell Chief of Police Dennis Reilly
adjusts the helmet for a good fit.

This program is entirely funded by donations with lead gifts from the GRMC Medical Staff, area businesses, organizations, churches, individuals, and families.

A very special thank you to our current list of donors: Anonymous, Duane Blagden, C & K Transfer, Cirks Financial Services, Charlie Clements and Denise Lamphier, Curt’s Collision Center, Ellis Home Interiors, First State Bank of Lynnville, Grinnell State Bank, Heater Lawn Care, Lynnville Women’s Club, Medicap Pharmacy – Jennifer and Kevin Stallman, Ramsey-Weeks, Inc., and State Bank of Toledo.

If you would like your name to be added to this list of donors, we would greatly appreciate your financial gift. You may send your donation to GRMC Communications and Development, 210 Fourth Avenue, Grinnell, IA 50112. Questions? Call Denise Lamphier at 641-236-2589.

I Want YOU

Throughout the United States, communities have created groups of medical professionals and other trained volunteers as units of the Medical Reserve Corps. Established in 2002, the Medical Reserve Corps is sponsored by the Office of the Surgeon General. The events of September 11, 2001 inspired the creation of the MRC. Units are community-based and function as a way to locally organize and utilize volunteers - medical professionals and others - who want to donate their time and expertise to promote healthy living throughout the year and to prepare for and respond to emergencies.

MRC volunteers include medical and public health professionals such as:

• nurses
• pharmacists
• dentists
• veterinarians
• epidemiologists

And other community members who can fill vital roles such as:

• interpreters
• chaplains
• office workers
• legal advisors

In addition to promoting disease prevention and improving health literacy, units also assist local hospitals and health departments with surge capacity in the event of an emergency, help with vaccination clinics, and train with local emergency response partners.

Does this sound like something you would be interested in joining?  Need more information?

Please call Patty Hinrichs, RN, Grinnell Regional Public Health Coordinator at 641-236-2385 to learn more.

Got Sleep?

A good night’s sleep is one of those things that we just might take for granted.

A lack of adequate sleep can have immediate effects, causing accidents, impairing job performance, increasing blood pressure, and a host of other unsavory things.

In our 24/7 world, the tools we have at our disposal to make life “easier” tend to make us work longer hours instead of fewer. Stress is a big factor in our collective lack of good sleep.

You may not realize that sleep issues are often symptoms of other health problems that require medical attention. Some reports indicate that as many as 90 percent of people who have insomnia have some other health condition.

Lack of good, restful sleep on a regular basis puts us at risk for some pretty serious issues. Our risk for heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, and diabetes increases. Insommia and depression tend to go hand-in-hand and feed off of each other, creating a downward spiral.

Talk to your doctor if you have any of these signs of a sleep disorder:

(from the National Institutes of Health/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)

·       You consistently take more than 30 minutes each night to fall asleep.

·       You consistently awaken several times each night and then have trouble falling back to sleep, or you awaken too early in the morning.

·       You often feel sleepy during the day, you take frequent naps, or you fall asleep at inappropriate times during the day.

·       Your bed partner says that when you sleep, you snore loudly, snort, gasp, make choking sounds, or stop breathing for short periods.

·       You have creeping, tingling, or crawling feelings in your legs or arms that are relieved by moving or massaging them, especially in the evening and when trying to fall asleep.

·       Your bed partner notices that your legs or arms jerk often during sleep.

·       You have vivid, dreamlike experiences while falling asleep or dozing.

·       You have episodes of sudden muscle weakness when you are angry or fearful, or when you laugh.

·       You feel as though you cannot move when you first wake up.

Grinnell Regional Medical Center offers comprehensive sleep lab services for the diagnosis of sleep disorders. Mercy Sleep Center operates the sleep lab at GRMC with sleep tests completed three nights per week.

Melisa Coaker, MD, MA, with Mercy Sleep Center, provides consultations and diagnosis for patients. She sees patients the first Tuesday of each month in Grinnell.

For more information on sleep disorders, sleep studies, or to schedule a sleep test, please call Mercy Sleep Center, at 515-358-9640.

For more information on healthy sleep, check out these websites:

http://sleepfoundation.org

http://healthysleep.med.harvard.edu/healthy/

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/sleep/healthysleepfs.pdf

What's the Number One Way to Train for a 5K?

Mondays and Wednesdays

5:15 p.m.    FREE

Call GRMC Wellness at 641-236-2999 to register by April 11.

Maybe you’ve noticed that your pants fit a little tighter this spring than they did last year?

Maybe you’ve been walking for years and are ready for a new challenge?

Maybe a friend has encouraged you to join her in a 5K walk/run for the Grinnell Games?

Whatever your motivation, we have the best way for you to get ready.

Wherever you are on your fitness journey, we’ve got the answer for you.

If you have ever met Holly Pettlon, GRMC wellness specialist, you know that she is fun, energetic, and passionate about fitness. Holly is leading a “Couch to 5K” program starting Monday, April 14.

Holly will take you from the couch, if that is where you are, and will get you ready to walk or run the 5K at the Grinnell Games June 13-14. The program is geared to the beginning or novice runner and will start with the basics. Holly will focus on walking, jogging, and running schedules and setting goals. It's all about having fun. Bring a friend along and join together!