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Officials from disaster-struck schools offer advice

May 25, 2009 By

Aplington-Parkersburg High School visible in background of tornado debris. Officials from four Iowa school districts that were struck by disaster last year are offering some sage advice to other educators around the state.

Advice from school officials who waded through flood damage or picked through the aftermath of a tornado is included in a new "toolkit" that’s being distributed by the Iowa Association of School Boards.

The association’s Megan Hawkins says natural disasters occur so infrequently, the details of how to react aren’t at the forefront of people’s minds. "When the disasters struck last year, our staff right away started fielding questions from a lot of school districts and A.E.A.’s about everything from what funds they could use to recover, different policies, all kinds of things," Hawkins says. "That really showed a need for some kind of tool to be out there for schools."

Hawkins and others spoke with officials from Cedar Rapids, Dike-New Hartford, Waverly-Shell Rock and Aplington-Parkersburg school districts. They learned it was lucky last year’s tornado happened on Sunday, when students weren’t inside the high school building in Parkersburg.

"In Parkersburg, for example, the area where they had been told was a safe area, if there had been students in the school and that tornado struck, they would have been in the hallway," Hawkins says, "and the tornado ripped right through that."

The "Lessons Learned" toolkit suggests school officials bring in engineers to make sure the "safe zones" where students go in safety drills are indeed the safest place in the school if a tornado or other disaster were to strike.

"That’s one thing we really want to get out to people is things like that," Hawkins says. "You need to know to ask these questions and really prepare better."

Aplington-Parkersburg superintendent Jon Thompson says the damage to the school shows students and staff should stay away from the gymnasium if there’s another tornado.

"The big steel beams that support the ceiling structure actually not only collapsed, they moved great distances and where they landed was in some of our safe areas," Thompson said during an interview featured on the Iowa Association of School Boards website.

The disaster guide for schools also recommends setting up a system to preserve student records at another, site away from the school, in case the paper records or computer discs with digital student records are damaged or destroyed. In addition, Hawkins says teachers need to help keep an up-to-date inventory of what’s in their classroom.

"Ideally, you want to have inventories of every area of your school, but…some insurance experts…were finding, really, is that a lot of teachers just get wrapped up in things and they don’t keep a good inventory," Hawkins says. "Same thing happens sometimes with other out-buildings or your concession stands or your stadium equipment — that kind of stuff. It really is key to know exactly what you have."

Teachers who bring personal items into the classroom need to check to see if that stuff would be covered by their homeowners policy.

"Teachers bring in all kinds of their own stuff into the classroom and it really just depends on their policies, if they’ve got homeowners that will cover that," Hawkins says. "And if they don’t, it’s important that they ask that question of their employers — their school district — to make sure that they’re covered somehow."

The Grant Wood Area Education Agency in Cedar Rapids was also heavily damaged by flood waters and officials from the A.E.A. offered their advice to the Iowa Association of School Boards. Hawkins says the advice covers about a dozen different areas.

"Everything from how to keep student records safe to how to deal with volunteers and donations — and even the emotional and personal impact for students and staff," Hawkins says. "We really tried to make it all-encompassing, so we really hope people will find it useful."

You can see the toolkit for yourself here.

A paper copy of the "Lessons Learned" toolkit has been sent to every K-12 district, all 15 area community colleges and the Area Education Agencies in Iowa.

 

Filed Under: Education, Fires/Accidents/Disasters, Weather

Northeast Iowa remembers one year anniversary of deadly tornado

May 25, 2009 By

Debris in Parkersburg in the aftermath of the 2008 tornado. On this date one year ago, a mile-wide tornado dropped from the sky in northeastern Iowa and carved a long path through several communities, killing eight people, injuring dozens and leaving a wide trail of destruction.

Parkersburg Police Chief Chris Luhring says this Memorial Day holiday is particularly poignant for his recovering community, which lost six of its residents and about one-third of its homes and businesses to the violent storm.

"We have special services every year on Memorial Day that are done by our American Legion and this year, Governor Culver will be the keynote speaker," Chief Luhring says. "This is all staged in the same area where our Veterans Memorial building became a very, very important asset that we kept after the tornado. It wasn’t completely leveled."

Today’s service caps a weekend full of events in Parkersburg which aim to express gratitude to those who have helped — and are still helping — residents to rebuild their homes, businesses and lives. Luhring says he’s hoping some of those vital first-responders will respond — again — today in Parkersburg.

"We’re hoping the medics, the firemen, the police officers, National Guardsmen and women will show up and just allow people to tell them thank you face-to-face," Luhring says.

"Maybe some of those volunteers will meet up with people that they helped in the immediate aftermath, too." He says the community will never be the same as it was before the monster storm, but in many ways, it’s being rebuilt better and stronger.

Organizers of today’s events believe the one-year mark will help residents to recognize how far they’ve come in the rebuilding process. Luhring says the final ceremony is this afternoon.

"At about 4:30, there’ll be a community service, a remembrance service for those who lost their lives," Luhring says. "It’ll probably be a solemn time as far as the remembrance is concerned but at 4:59, we’re going to be ringing the church bells of Parkersburg and just remember the exact time that the tornado struck." For more details, visit the Parkersburg website .

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters

Launch of www.countthekicks.org

May 25, 2009 By

Five Iowa women who lost their babies to stillbirth or infant death are launching a new phase in their campaign to encourage pregnant women to keep track of how often their unborn baby kicks.

Janet Petersen of Des Moines is one of the leaders of the "Count the Kicks" campaign.

"On June 4th, we’re going to introduce the educational materials that we’ve created that we’re hoping to get in every health care provider’s office that delivers babies so that all parents in Iowa have access to information about how to count the kicks in the last trimester," Petersen says.

Petersen’s group has created a colorful pamphlet for doctor’s offices. It includes the testimonial of a woman who noticed her unborn baby wasn’t kicking very much, called her doctor and an exam discovered the umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck four times — so an immediate c-section was performed and the baby was saved.

"Most people don’t realize that stillbirths still occur fairly frequently. One out of every 150 pregnancies in the United States ends in stillbirth," Petersen says. "One way that we can help prevent stillbirth is by counting the kicks and if there is any significant change in fetal movement, calling a doctor or medical provider right away to make sure that your baby is o.k."

Petersen is the mother of Grace Elizabeth, who was stillborn in 2003. Four other Des Moines-area women who experienced the stillbirth or infant death of a daughter joined with Petersen to found a volunteer organization to try to help others learn the warning signs. The five are now launching this "Count the Kicks" campaign and they’ve developed a chart to help pregnant moms track their baby’s movement in the womb.

"You know, even in some of the pregnancy books, they I think misinform people by saying there’s not as much room for a baby to move," Petersen says. "But babies do move all the way through pregnancy and it’s just important to track how your baby moves. Some babies move a lot and some babies don’t move that much, but to know the patterns that your baby is showing."

You can find the "count the kicks" chart on-line at www.countthekicks.org .

About 18 months ago, First Lady Mari Culver and Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz recorded public service announcements that encouraged pregnant women to "count the kicks" in the last trimester of their pregnancy.

"One thing I know about Iowans is we’re not complainers and we hate to bother our health care providers, but this is one thing that we really do want expectant parents to call their providers, if they do notice a significant change in the movement of their babies because it could alert them to a problem that they can fix," Petersen says.

Petersen is a state representative and in 2004 she shepherded a bill through the legislature which created a stillbirth registry in Iowa. For the past five years, researchers at the Centers for Disease Control have been reviewing the stillbirth statistics from the state of Iowa and the city of Atlanta, Georgia.

"Now it’s time for them to start looking to see what are the common threads…Is there a difference between urban areas (and) rural areas? Young (and) old?" Petersen says. "…We’re also hoping to get more states involved because the more data that we have, the easier it will be to find those common threads."

Last year there were 26,000 stillborn babies in the United States.

Petersen and the other four women who are part of the "Count the Kicks" campaign will host a fundraiser on June 4th to finance their volunteer effort. Learn more on-line at www.countthekicks.org .

 

 

Filed Under: Health & Medicine, Human Interest Tagged With:

Goldstar Museum holding Memorial Day open house

May 23, 2009 By

Vintage military equipment at Iowa Goldstar Museum. The Iowa Gold Start Military Museum is hosting an open house today for Memorial Day and as part of the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the creation of Camp Dodge.

Retired Colonel Russ Bierl, the director of the Gold Star Museum says those who visit the open house will see a showcase some of the many things they have for display, including current and past military equipment.

There will also be reinactors from World War One and World War Two. They set up the open house in the new Freedom Building Armory, as work is currently underway to renovate and expand the museum building. He says it will be an 18,000 square foot addition that will allow them to show off large equipment, such as the Cobra helicopter, the M-1-5-1 jeep and a personnel carrier, that they have not been able to display in the past.

The state took over the land near Johnston for Camp Dodge on April 12th of 1909, and the open house is one of several events to celebrate the centennial of the facility. The Gold Star museum was established there in 1985 and is the only federally-recognized repository for military artifacts in the state of Iowa.

Bierl says museum is a state facility and it is free to visit the museum. They museum is normally open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday. For those who want a real "taste" of life in the military, there’s a free breakfast today. He says it starts at 5 a.m. with S-O-S "Stuff on a Shingle" breakfast that’ll be served until 9 a.m. The museum open house is free and all you need is a photo I-D to show at the gate of Camp Dodge to get in. The open house runs through four o’clock today.

Filed Under: Human Interest, Military Tagged With:

Propane prices drop

May 23, 2009 By

Those who filled up the propane tank on their camper or barbecue grill for the summer have been finding it takes less money than it did last year. Department of Natural Resources energy analyst, Tommi Makila, says the drop in propane prices has been slow in coming.

He says wholesale prices dropped last fall, but many dealers had already locked in their prices prior to the summer. Makila says the old contracts have expired and we’re seeing the result.

Makila says the prices have been going down. The D.N.R. survey found propane selling for $1.33, down 82 cents from the same time last year.

 

Filed Under: Human Interest Tagged With:

Hospice industry decries Medicare cuts

May 23, 2009 By

The president of a group representing the nation’s hospice care industry says one of Iowa’s two senators is supporting a bid to rescind a rule that cuts federal payments to hospices.

Don Schumacher, president of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, says last year the Bush Administration enacted a rule which cut payments to hospices for treatment of elderly patients who’re on Medicare.

"We’re trying to make consumers aware all around the country that hospice care, which is one of the most successful choices for care at the end of life, is experiencing some potential difficulty in that as the Bush Administration left office last year they instituted a regulation that’s cutting hospice reimbursement by $2.2 billion," Schmacher says.

Specifically, Medicaid payments for hospice care were cut by just over four-and-a-half percent.

"We did an economic survey of our members over the last couple of months and it shows that even without this rate cut the economic picture right now has hospice programs struggling ’cause of the tremendous costs and the reimbursement really, essentially being on the low end as it is," Schmacher says, "and this is an additional cut to us which will cost us dramatically."

Congress reversed the reduction in Medicaid payment rates for hospice care for this year, but Schmacher’s group is now lobbying congress to keep hospice care rates the same for the next two years. Iowa Senator Tom Harkin has signed onto a letter, urging the Obama Administration to make the move. Hospice groups are asking Iowa’s other senator, Chuck Grassley, to join the effort to keep hospice care payments for Medicare patients the same for the next two years.

"It’s quite a bit of change for programs to lose," Schmacher says.

According to Schmacher, it makes economic sense for Medicare patients to choose hospice care.

"A study came out of Duke University two years ago and it shows that for every patient admitted to hospice, we save the Medicare system about $2200 to $2500 when compared with patients of similar disease and life trajectory," Schmacher says. "…Everybody who goes through hospice, for the most part, feels as though they received the opportunity to say good-bye in the most appropriate way possible."

The Hospice and Palliative Care Association of Iowa represents 74 hospice agencies providing end-of-life care at 103 different facilities in Iowa. Schumacher leads the national group which represents about 80 percent of the hospices in the United States.

 

Filed Under: Health & Medicine, Human Interest, Politics & Government Tagged With: , , ,

Rosenfels ignores Favre speculation, prepares to be Vikes QB

May 22, 2009 By

Sage Rosenfels is trying to learn a new system and avoid speculation on Brett Favre at the same time. The Maquoketa native and former Iowa State quarterback is competing for the starting job in Minnesota after being traded to the Vikings from the Houston Texans. There is a chance that Favre may come out of retirement, again, and sign with the Vikings for the upcoming season.

Rosenfels says there’s only so many things he can control in life and he can’t control what Favre does. He says he just keeps working to learn the offense. Rosenfels says it’s never discussed by players as it’s not something they can control.

Rosenfels is entering his ninth season in the NFL and is happy to be closer to home. He says being back in the midwest is great, as his parents can now drive to see him. Before he says they had to take flights to see him in Miami or Houston. And he says it’s a good team with several veterans back from the team that went 10-6 last year.

Rosenfels is competing with Tavares Jackson for the starting job. He says Jackson can help him with certain things in the offense and he can help Jackson with other things. Rosenfels says the competition can only help the football team. 

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: ,
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