Day: 08/21/2015

Annual drunken driving campaign begins

https://www.consumeraffairs.com/news/annual-drunken-driving-campaign-begins-082115.html

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is launching its annual law enforcement crackdown on drunken driving today. The crackdown, which runs through Labor Day, involves more than 10,000 law enforcement agencies across the country that will be out in force zeroing in on drunken drivers, with zero tolerance for anyone caught with a BAC of .08 or higher — the legal limit…

While the number of drunken drivers on the road has been sharply reduced, motorists are still at risk for encountering someone driving drunk at any time of day. That risk rises exponentially between the hours of 6 p.m. and 5:59 a.m. …

NHTSA reminds motorists that their best protection against a drunken driver is a seat belt. And for those who find themselves too drunk to safely drive, NHTSA’s SaferRide app will help keep drunken drivers off the roads by allowing users to call a taxi or a friend and by identifying their location so they can be picked up.

This free app is available on Google Play (for Android devices) and on the iTunes Store (for Apple devices).

Don’t drink and drive. Don’t text and drive. Don’t drink, text and drive at the same time. Don’t talk on the phone or surf the internet and drive. Don’t have sex while driving. Don’t put on make-up while driving. Don’t read or watch a movie while driving.

Seriously, driving is for driving. (And maybe singing to the CD playing just loud enough to drown out your voice.) If you’re in bumper-to-bumper traffic, sure, feel free to read bumper stickers and billboards — but in the name of all that’s holy, put down your device.

(Photo taken 8/16/2015.)

Search Tool Shines Light on Docs’ Backgrounds

http://www.medpagetoday.com/PublicHealthPolicy/Ethics/53164?xid=nl_mpt_DHE_2015-08-21&eun=

The Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) has launched docInfo, a publicly accessible physician search tool containing licensing and state medical board disciplinary information on more than 900,000 physicians and physician assistants nationally…

75,000 deaths related to healthcare-associated infections

http://annals.org/article.aspx?articleid=2424875

(8/11/2015) Cleaning Hospital Room Surfaces to Prevent Health Care–Associated Infections: A Technical Brief

Health care–associated infections (HAIs) are a leading cause of illness and death in the United States and worldwide. In 2011, an estimated 721,800 HAIs occurred in the United States, leading to 75,000 deaths (1). A multifaceted approach to preventing infection is critical to reducing the risk for HAIs, including hand hygiene practices, antimicrobial stewardship, and environmental cleaning and disinfecting…

Has this been declared an epidemic like opioid-related deaths? No, because we’re not talking about the drug war. How many billions to fight the failed drug war, and how much to fight infections?