<9/4 More Heat

Unusually warm temperatures are expected to continue to:

• Exceed 100°F through the rest of this week in much of Southern California, and exceed  110°F in desert areas
• Exceed 100°F into next week in inland Southwestern Oregon
• Approach 100°F into next week in the Willamette Valley and inland Southwestern Washington
• Be hotter than usual into next week in the rest of inland Western Washington

Fire danger will remain high, and many areas have air quality issues from existing wildfires.  Monitor your local conditions and warnings by navigating the map at http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lon=-122.73158194273302&lat=45.50278002631191#.WahtM4U_fH8 and clicking on your specific location.

Networks are required by CMS to track the status of facility operations and patient access to treatment during emergency events.  If the operations of your facility, or ability for patients to have access to dialysis are impacted by emergency events, please let your Network know right away.

In Southern and South-Central California (Network 18), contact Eileen Rhodes or Julie Aguilar at 888-268-1539 or by email at ERhodes@nw18.esrd.net or JAguilar@nw18.esrd.net , and fill out the form at http://www.esrdnetwork18.org/machform/embed.php?id=16298 .

For Washington and Oregon (Network 16), contact Lisa Hall at LHall@nw16.esrd.net or 206-923-0714.  We also ask that you fill out and submit the Network Disaster Reporting Form, which you can find at https://nwrn.org/files/E/Interruptions.pdf .

Patients and facility staff may find these resources useful:

• To avoid heat stress; see https://www.ready.gov/heat   
• Dialysis patients must still control their fluid intake; for tips on Fluids Management, see:
  • In English – https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/nwrn.org/files/NW18/Fluids.Eng.pdf
  • In Spanish – https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/nwrn.org/files/NW18/Liquidos.esp.pdf
• To identify signs of heat exhaustion or heat stroke, and what to do about it; see http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/heatstress/heatrelillness.html

12/10+ IHI Nat’l Forum Agenda

The Institute for Healthcare Improvement has published the agenda for their December 10-13, 2017 IHI National Forum on Quality Improvement in Health Care; see http://www.ihi.org/education/Conferences/Forum2017/Pages/agenda.aspx .

 

CDC Infection Webinars

 The CDC/Medscape free CE/CME series on Infection Prevention and Control includes five online recorded webinars:

• Risk Recognition in Healthcare Settings
• Environmental Services and Infection Prevention
• Recognizing Infection Risks in Medical Equipment
• Infection Transmission Risks Associated with Nonsterile Glove Use
• Infection Prevention: A Hierarchy of Controls Approach

And one additional webinar planned for September:

• Injection Safety: A Systems Approach

The series is intended for physicians, nurses, and other healthcare workers.  Find links to the webinars at https://blogs.cdc.gov/safehealthcare/latest-release-in-free-ce-and-cme-series-on-infection-prevention-and-control-from-cdc-medscape/ .

Communication Webinar Recording

DPC’s August 17, 2017 webinar on Communicating Effectively With Your Health Care Team has been recorded and can be viewed at http://www.dpcedcenter.org/august , along with the supporting ESRD Network Grievance Toolkit, an ESRD Network Fact Sheet, and the slides from the webinar.  Previous DPC webinars can be found at http://www.dpcedcenter.org/education-seminars .

KidneyTalk on Antibodies

The Renal Support Network’s most recent KidneyTalk podcast is on Breakthroughs in Antibody Desensitization Therapy.  Antibodies can prevent Transplantation, but recent medical advances can help manage them.  Find an introduction to KidneyTalk and a link to the extensive list of KidneyTalk podcasts at http://www.rsnhope.org/kidneytalk-podcast/ , including the recent discussions on Joining Forces between RSN’s Lori Hartwell and Network 18 Patient Services Director Eileen Rhodes, MSW.

<8/31 Heat Advisories

High temperatures this week are expected to be:

• Well over 110°F in the Coachella and Imperial Valleys through Wednesday
• Over 100°F in most of the rest of Southern California through Wednesday
• Approaching 100°F in San Diego, the Owens Valley, and San Luis Obispo County through Wednesday
• Over 100°F in Southwest Oregon through Tuesday
• Approaching 100°F in the Willamette Valley on Monday.
• Near or above 100°F in Eastern Oregon and Eastern Washington this week

While no significant wildfires appear to be causing evacuations or disrupting transportation at this time, many populated areas in the Pacific Northwest have air quality warnings from fires in their hinterlands.

Networks are required by CMS to track the status of facility operations and patient access to treatment during emergency events.  If the operations of your facility, or ability for patients to have access to dialysis are impacted by emergency events, please let your Network know right away.

In Southern and South-Central California (Network 18), contact Eileen Rhodes or Julie Aguilar at 888-268-1539 or by email at ERhodes@nw18.esrd.net or JAguilar@nw18.esrd.net , and fill out the form at http://www.esrdnetwork18.org/machform/embed.php?id=16298 .

For Washington and Oregon (Network 16), contact Lisa Hall at LHall@nw16.esrd.net or 206-923-0714.  We also ask that you fill out and submit the Network Disaster Reporting Form, which you can find at https://nwrn.org/files/E/Interruptions.pdf .

Patients and facility staff may find these resources useful:

• To avoid heat stress; see https://www.ready.gov/heat   
• Dialysis patients must still control their fluid intake; for tips on Fluids Management, see:
  • In English – https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/nwrn.org/files/NW18/Fluids.Eng.pdf
  • In Spanish – https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/nwrn.org/files/NW18/Liquidos.esp.pdf
• To identify signs of heat exhaustion or heat stroke, and what to do about it; see http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/heatstress/heatrelillness.html

Recalls: Baxter PD Systems

Because of instruction-manual issues which may lead to cassette damage that could result in the delivery of air into patients, the FDA has announced Class II recalls of:

• Baxter HomeChoice Pro Automated PD system Model numbers: 5C8310, 5C8310R – https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/ires/index.cfm#Product_157849 .
• HomeChoice Automated PD system Model numbers: 5C4471, 5C4471R – https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/ires/index.cfm#Product_157690 .