THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 1, 1995 TAG: 9509010482
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARIE JOYCE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines
When the state guardians of public health gathered in Norfolk this week for their annual state conference, they didn't talk about tools like measles vaccinations, tuberculosis treatment and condoms as barriers to AIDS.
Instead, they said, their tools are a police officer who does something about a vacant lot on his beat, a coach who has a kind word for a troubled child, a nurse who recognizes when headaches are a symptom of domestic violence, not the flu.
They did discuss vaccines, as in: Which type of tetanus vaccine should be used on rescue workers pulling victims from a bombed-out federal building?
Public health departments originally concerned themselves with controlling infectious disease, said organizers of the Virginia Public Health Association and the Southern Health Association annual meeting. But preventing violent injuries is a big part of their jobs, and that means not only urging medical check-ups for children, but urging their parents to strap them into seat belts.
``What do seat belts have to do with public health? Well it keeps you from getting banged up,'' said Dudley Connor, president of the Southern Health Association. And, he said, think about the rough highway shoulders that wake up sleepy, wayward drivers. ``How much did that save in (bills for) the emergency room, disability, doctors, social security payments and everything else down the road?''
The meeting of the professional group drew public health advocates from around the state to Norfolk's Omni Waterside Hotel to talk about violence prevention.
Among other things, participants learned about:
Portsmouth's new Reverse 911 system, which will use a computer to phone residents when there is danger, like a rash of burglaries, in their neighborhood. They also heard about the city's community policing plan, in which officers will become familiar faces in neighborhoods and concern themselves with quality of life issues as well as making arrests.
Child abuse. Social worker Richard Tumblin of the Child Abuse Center of Hampton Roads talked about why some children overcome the trauma of abuse while others don't, and he discussed the importance of early intervention. Children who have a supportive relationship with another adult, such as a family member or a teacher, tend to do better, he said.
Recognizing domestic violence. Diane Hall, executive director of the Genieve shelter in Suffolk, told health care workers how to look for signs of domestic violence besides bruises and cuts. ``They just ache all over, and it's not flu time.'' Or a child who witnesses the abuse might develop a sudden problem like bed-wetting.
The chief of nursing services for Oklahoma's health department talked about how she dealt with one of the most infamous acts of violence in modern America: the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma city.
Immediately afterward, said Toni D. Frioux, medical tents popped up spontaneously at the site and filled with volunteer workers ready to vaccinate people who were helping at the disaster site. The tents helped at first, she said, but soon there were complaints of workers delivering the tetanus vaccine incorrectly. The injection must be given deep in a muscle in the upper arm, she said. If it's too shallow, it causes a lot of soreness - so much that some workers could barely move their arms.
Then there was the phony ``emergency medical technician'' who showed up at the tents. When Frioux told him she was shutting the tents, consolidating operations - and demanding proof of credentials - he got so angry she had to call for law enforcement officers.
Frioux gave listeners advice on dealing with disasters - handling schedules, screening volunteers, choosing vaccine and dealing with FBI security checks. by CNB