Pulse

February 2, 1999 PULSE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH HEALTH SCIENCES CENTER Donation Helps UH Babies Have a Seat University Hospital is one of several organizations to receive a donation of infant car seats from the Automobile Club of Utah (AAA Utah). The recent gift presentation kicked off AAA Utah's participation in the national " Have A Seat" program. The donation also helped the University Hospital Foundation to fully fund UH's infant car seat program. Pictured ( left to right): Janet Brook, Primary Children's Medical Center; John Geigle, AAA Utah; Bill Shelton, SLC Police Dept.; and Leigh Pugh, Perinatal Education. Health Fair This Thursday in Cafeteria As part of its observance of American Heart Month, the Edwin L. & Grace G. Madsen Preventive Cardiology Program will hold an employee health fair this Thursday, from 10 a. m.- 2 p. m., in the hospital cafeteria. The fair will feature free blood pressure checks, free blood sugar testing, fitness/ exercise counseling, body fat measure-ments, cardiac risk screening and information about programs for employees. In Memoriam The Health Sciences Center community expresses its condolences to the family of Anne Marie Sleater, who died Jan. 22, from injuries received during a shooting at the Triad Center in Salt Lake City. Sleater's mother Grace Jahries and aunt Dorothy Webster are long- time volunteers at University Hospital. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Anne Sleater fund, Bank One, 80 West Broadway, SLC, UT 84101. Vice President's Office Spearheading HSC Disaster Planning Effort If a major disaster struck the University's upper campus tomorrow, would we be prepared to respond? We will if the Office of the Vice President for Health Sciences has anything to say about it. " It's clearly time for all of the Health Sciences to renew our disaster planning efforts," says Associate Vice President Linda Amos, Ed. D., who leads a task force charged with bolstering HSC disaster planning. She says continued growth at the HSC, coupled with new chal-lenges such as the 2002 Olympics, Y2K issues, the increased potential of biological and chemical terrorism, have pointed up the fact that past plans do not meet the needs of facilities or personnel. Amos' group is working with UH's Emergency Management/ Hazmat Programs coordinator Debbie Kim, R. N., and Marty Shaub, director of the University's Environmental Health and Safety Office, to make sure all planning is coordinated. " We're pleased to have exceptional resources and assistance," says Les Chatelain, College of Health Emer-gency Safety Program Coordinator, who is on assignment to the Vice President's office to oversee disaster preparedness planning. He says that representatives of all HSC units have been involved in development of a HSC disaster prepared-ness and response plan. Each department and division will be contacted in the near future to assist in updating its plan and to coordinate a Health Sciences recovery program and medical response plan for the campus. For more information regarding the HSC effort contact Les Chatelain, xl- 4512 or les. chatelain@ health. utah. edu. For details about the University Disas-ter Plan see the Environmental Health and Safety website at www. ehs. utah. edu/ emergency/ index. htm. The University Hospital plan is available for view on the Intranet using EMAN ( Safety Plans section). A Guide to Hospital Overhead Pages YELLOW ALERT- is announced in the event of a mass casualty or an environmental/ man- made emergency. CODE PINK- in the event of a suspected abduction of an infant or pediatric patient or visitor. RED SIGNAL- is announced when a potential fire exists and is followed by the location. PA Exchange Program Honored With ' Innovation in Health' Award A medical exchange program for U of U physician assistant students and health extension officers from Papua New Guinea is among four winners in a national program recognizing innovations in health care. The U's International Physician Assistant ( PA) Medical Exchange Program is offered by the Physician Assistant Program in the medical school's Department of Family and Preventive Medicine. The 1998 Innovations in Health Recognition Program, sponsored by the American Academy of Physician Assistants, Physician Assistant Foundation and Pfizer Inc., recognized out-standing health- care initiatives designed to improve the health and well- being of individual communities. In the U's exchange program, established in 1997, second- year PA students travel to Papua New Guinea to participate in five- week tropical medicine rotations, and health officers from that country come to the U. Accord-ing to Donald M. Pedersen, Ph. D., PA- C, associate professor of family and preventive medicine and PA program director, health extension officers learn more effective use of pharmacotherapeutics to combat tropical and infectious diseases that cause a high mortality rate ( particularly maternal and infant) in Papua New Guinea. The recognition marks the fourth year the $ 5,000 awards have been made to outstanding PA practices or academic institutions to further develop or enhance the curriculum. Medicinal Chemist Wins Award to Study New Selenium Supplements The study of novel selenium supplements for possible use as cancer chemopreventive agents will be the focus of research by Jeanette C. Roberts, Ph. D., associate professor of medicinal chemistry at the College of Pharmacy, who has received an award for her investigation. The one- year, $ 32,000 grant was given by the Cancer Research Foundation of America, a public, non- profit organization whose mission is prevention of cancer through scientific research and education. Selenium is a micronutrient, required for normal functioning of the body. According to Roberts, selenium supplements have been shown to prevent the incidence of cancer in a variety of organs, but the substance is also known to produce toxic side effects near the levels required to prevent cancer. Currently available supplements can prevent selenium deficiency but are probably not appropriate for sustained use in cancer prevention. Roberts will study new selenium-containing agents, based on the naturally occurring amino acid selenocysteine, that will provide selenium tc the body in a sustained fashion but will not reach the toxic range. She hopes to synthesize new compounds that will provide higher levels of selenium over extended periods of time, with the goal of reducing the incidence of cancer without unwanted side effects. C) PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER Second- year PA student Paula Schermerhorn examines a patient during her rotation in Papua New Guinea. Electronic Medical Record Update The following is special to Pulse from the Office of Information Resources ( OIR). Phase one of the implementation of UH's electronic medical record ( EMR) is on schedule for an inpatient pilot of the system during August. All inpatient areas will receive the system by the end of the year. EMR is being implemented in inpatient areas first, so that StatLAN can be discontinued by the year 2000. The target is to have StatLAN and ACIS removed from inpatient areas by Thanksgiving of this year. Phase one of the EMR system includes replacement of StatLAN and ACIS. The Oacis EMR system provides enhanced functionality for reviewing results and data entry. Oacis EMR is a Windows 95- type program. If you have not learned a Windows- based computer application, or feel you need more skills, now is the time to sign up for computer training. To register for a class at the OIR training center, call x5- 1535 or visit the computer training website at www. med. utah. edu/ oir/ training. You know need more computer training if: 1 . You think a Window is a piece of glass. 2. You think that a Status Bar is where the celebrities go after a premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. 3. You think Icons are the most famous celebrities in the Status Bar. 4. You think a Menu is something a waiter gives you at a restaurant.