Health

The members of the Auxiliary of Veterans Memorial Hospital are actively recruiting new and returning members to join them during their annual membership drive.

The Auxiliary of Veterans Memorial Hospital is devoted to providing the hospital and its patients and visitors with many services. The Auxiliary also holds annual fundraisers, such as the Women’s Health Day Luncheon each fall, the Pillow-Perk in early November, the Masquerade sales and their annual membership drive each July.

The next local LifeServe Blood Center blood drive will be held Monday, August 7, 12-5 p.m., at First Baptist Church in Waukon. Blood drives are held every month in Waukon, to allow for more donors to give. LifeServe Blood Center supplies Veterans Memorial Hospital with its blood and blood products.

Anyone who lives to the age of 72 will have a 95% probability of needing blood or blood products at sometime in their life, so blood donors are greatly needed.

Regular blood donors may donate blood as often as every 56 days. First-time donors will find donating blood is a safe and easy way to save lives and make a difference in the community. A single blood donation can save the lives of up to three sick or injured hospital patients. Ninety percent of first-time donors give at blood drives in their community. This is a great opportunity for first-time donors to see how easy the blood donation process is. The donation process is simple:

The Auxiliary of Veterans Memorial Hospital is devoted to providing the hospital and its patients and visitors with many services. Their annual membership drive is on now.  Auxiliary membership dues are just $5.00 for active members and $12.00 for inactive members. Pictured are some members of the Auxiliary of Veterans Memorial Hospital knitting baby hats for the infants born at the hospital. Some of these hats are also available in the Auxiliary gift case for purchase as gifts for newborns. The Auxiliary meets monthly the second Monday of each month, at 1 p.m., in the ICN Conference Room at Veterans Memorial Hospital. They also hold a monthly Euchre Marathon tournament the third Thursday of each month at the Senior Citizens Room at the Waukon Wellness Center. For more information on how to join the Veterans Memorial Hospital Auxiliary, call Nona Sawyer at 563-568-3105 or Lillian Larson at 563-568-2330. Submitted photo.
 

Veterans Memorial Hospital is requesting that all hospital patients, even emergency patients, enter through the main entrance of the hospital  Friday, July 28 during RAGBRAI’s visit to Waukon. The reason for this is to keep the Emergency Room (ER) parking area clear in case the helicopter would need to land for a patient. If vehicles other than hospital staff and patient vehicles would be parked in that area, there would be no way to move them in just the few short minutes it takes the helicopter to arrive.

Veterans Memorial Hospital will be providing and staffing three different medical tents throughout Waukon during RAGBRAI for emergencies, leaving the hospital emergency department for the more serious patients.

The hospital asks that anyone needing emergency care call 911 during the RAGBRAI event as with all emergencies that happen at any time of year.

The local Grief Support Group will hold its monthly meeting at Veterans Memorial Hospital Wednesday, August 9, at 2 p.m. This informal meeting is open to anyone suffering from any type of loss whether it be death, divorce, illness or some other grief. Feel free to attend and bring a friend. This grief support group meets the second Wednesday of each month at Veterans Memorial Hospital.
 

The next LifeServe Blood Center blood drive will be held Monday, August 7, from 12-5 p.m., at the First Baptist Church located in south Waukon. Blood drives are held once a month in Waukon, to allow for more donors to give. The LifeServe Blood Center supplies Veterans Memorial Hospital with its blood and blood products.

Blood centers across the United States see a decrease in blood donations during the busy summer months. During the summer, people become more active, have busier schedules, spend more time outdoors and take vacations. While donations decline, hospitals see an increase in the need for blood. More driving can mean more automobile accidents. A person who has suffered severe injuries from an automobile accident can need up to 50 units of blood.

Veterans Memorial Hospital, in cooperation with the American Heart Association, is offering a course in cardiopulmonary resuscitation for lay people (those not working in healthcare), which includes child care providers, Monday, August 14, from 5:30-8:30 p.m.

The CPR class, which will cover adult, child and infant CPR, will be held in the Large Conference Room located on the lower level of the hospital. The cost of the class, for certification or recertification, is the same. The card received with the course does certify attendants in CPR for two years.

CPR is administered when someone’s breathing, pulse, or both, stop. When both of them stop, the victim has suffered sudden death, which can be caused by poisoning, drowning, choking, suffocation, electrocution, smoke inhalation, or the most common cause, heart attack.

Veterans Memorial Hospital is requesting that all hospital patients, even emergency patients, enter through the main entrance of the hospital  Friday, July 28 during RAGBRAI’s visit to Waukon. The reason for this is to keep the Emergency Room (ER) parking area clear in case the helicopter would need to land for a patient. If vehicles other than hospital staff and patient vehicles would be parked in that area, there would be no way to move them in just the few short minutes it takes the helicopter to arrive.

Veterans Memorial Hospital will be providing and staffing three different medical tents throughout Waukon during RAGBRAI for emergencies, leaving the hospital emergency department for the more serious patients.

The hospital asks that anyone needing emergency care call 911 during the RAGBRAI event as with all emergencies that happen at any time of year.

The members of the Auxiliary of Veterans Memorial Hospital are actively recruiting new and returning members to join them during their annual membership drive.

Veterans Memorial Hospital will be offering a variety of free health tests and education at the 2017 Allamakee County Fair. Testing and educational materials will change daily and will include the following schedule:

• Wednesday, July 19, 6-9 p.m. - Massages by Veterans Memorial Hospital certified massage therapists Edna Wyninger and Shannen Mezera.
• Thursday, July 20, 4-8 p.m. - Free blood sugar and diabetes testing by Teresa Myers, RN, Certified Diabetes Educator, and Angie Mettille, R.N., of the Veterans Memorial Hospital Diabetes Department.
• Friday, July 21, 4-8 p.m. - Free Hemoglobin testing by the Veterans Memorial Hospital Laboratory Department.
• Saturday, July 23, 4-8 p.m. - “Screen Time: How Much is Too Much?” by Steven Breitenfield, Speech Therapist at Veterans Memorial Hospital. 
• Sunday, July 23, Noon-4 p.m. - Free blood pressure checks by the Veterans Memorial Hospital Community and Home Care Nurses.