Mental Health Services

Pulled from the Brink: Remember the girl who survived rabies? How's she doing? Very well:

Twenty-seven months after exposure, the patient continued to have fluctuating dysarthria and gait difficulties, plus an intermittent sensation of cold in the feet. She had no difficulties with her instrumental activities of daily living, including driving. In high school, she took college-level courses in English, physics, and calculus. She scored above average on a national college achievement test, graduated from high school in 2007, and planned to attend a local college in the fall. She had no problems with peer relations or mood disorders.

Alas, others have been unable to duplicate the success of her treatment, so if you are bitten by a bat be sure to get your rabies shots.

Remembering Katrina: The medical feats we didn't hear about:

Besides rescuers and local first responders, another big story at the Dome was the medical center. Like a Chinook helicopter landing on your roof, that sure was hard to miss. Fifteen doctors and a total of 65 medical personnel set up at the New Orleans Arena, within spitting distance of the Dome. It was primarily for survivors brought in by air and boat, but also for people in the Superdome with medical problems. There was never any shortage of medical care, Dressler and Bush both said.

The Arena medical center cycled through triage and treatment of up to 5,000 injured or sick victims, Dressler said. Those in the worst shape were evacuated to the New Orleans airport and out of the region, those in good shape hydrated and sent to the Superdome. The success of the makeshift medical center was such that there were just six deaths at the entire Superdome complex: four of natural causes, one drug overdose, and one suicide during the week of supposedly rampant anarchy and death.

Triage (there was another medical facility at the airport) may have been the most critical element in limiting deaths once the levees broke and the city flooded. Rescue operations were brisk, but survivors of that kind of trauma aren't always coherent or aware of their own life-threatening injuries, particularly dehydration. Absent care, hundreds if not thousands could have died even after they were rescued and brought to the Dome.

Most of the national media also neglected to mention the seven babies that National Guard physicians delivered, something Maj. Ed Bush said he pointed out repeatedly. Overall, the false claims of up to 200 dead at the Dome, including murder victims, had clueless FEMA officials showing up at the end of the week with a refrigerated 18-wheeler to claim the stacks of bodies.

And questions unanswered.

The 2007 Farm Bill isn't just the business of farming states; it affects what everyone eats, both in the U.S. and overseas. Guests discuss nutrition, and how we can be sure that we're eating what's best for us. A Nashville farmer gives advice on how to eat only locally grown food.

» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

Researchers have been able to extract frozen bacteria from Antarctic ice samples ranging in age from 100,000 years up to 8 million years old. Working in a lab, they were able to revive the bacteria -- with warmth and food, the ancient bacterial colonies began to grow again.

» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

Could ocean waves be the next renewable energy source? A new bill in Congress proposes spending millions of dollars a year to harvest marine energy. How much renewable power lies in the sea surf? Guests discuss what it will take to bring the technology into use.

» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us