Category: Health

Tips on safe Halloween offered by Poison Control Center

Some tips from the University of Kansas Health System Poison Control Center:

Medications looking like candy is a common issue at the poison control center, Dr. Elizabeth Silver, managing director of the center, said.

Doctors recommend locking up your medications and keeping them separate from candy to reduce the risk of kids getting into it. Sometimes kids can’t tell the difference.

The DEA has released warning statements and precautions of rainbow fentanyl disguised as colorful candy, Dr. Silver said. From the poison center perspective in Kansas, they have seen no evidence of this actually being given to children. However, a lot of these medications and drugs sold on the street are meant to stand out in a colorful, fun way and are very dangerous.

Edibles are another concern because they can be mixed up with what kids can get – baked goods, gummies, and specifically branded candies that are THC-infused.

There’s a wide range of symptoms that they see from kids eating edibles. So depending on how much they get in the dose, and how old the child is, you can see signs of confusion, but they can have changes in their vital signs – heart rate, blood pressure – either increasing or decreasing.


If you think that they did ingest something and they’re not having symptoms, call the Kansas Poison Control Center at 1-800-222-1222. If they’re having severe symptoms – you’re worried about their breathing and their responsiveness – that’s definitely a 911 call.

Glow sticks are nice for Halloween because they can add visibility for others, but if they are tampered with, they can be dangerous, she said. The contents inside can leak out and if they get in the mouth, skin, or eyes, it can be irritating.

For Halloween parties, be careful with dry ice, she said. Make sure that you handle dry ice appropriately – have some sort of protective equipment if you’re going to handle it. Do not put it in drinks. No one should be ingesting dry ice as it can cause severe burns in the mouth and the esophagus. It’s a choking hazard. It’s releasing carbon dioxide, so you’re getting less oxygen and it can cause perforations.

Blood emergency declared in KC area

The Community Blood Center has declared a blood emergency for the Greater Kansas City.

It is the second blood emergency in 75 days and fourth in 2022, according to a spokesman.

The region’s blood supply is at a one to two day supply, the spokesman said.

“It isn’t that folks are not donating blood,” Patsy Shipley, vice president of Community Blood Center, said, “but that there is a small group of loyal blood donors who are representing the entire community and shouldering the burden for all.”

The gap between what hospital patients need and the available blood supply is growing, she added.

For over 2.5 years, blood centers across the nation have been struggling, according to the spokesman. There was always a surplus of blood in the U.S., so if one region of the country was short, not-for-profit blood centers could help one another. There is no surplus in the U.S. anymore, according to the spokesman.

Perhaps the most significant contributing factor is the lack of first-time donors, the spokesman stated. As older generations age out of the donor pool and become ineligible to donate, they are not being replaced by donors from younger generations, creating a significant challenge in our ability to meet hospital need. In 2019, CBC saw over 20,000 first-time donors. Now, they are expected to end the year with approximately 9,000 fewer first-time donors, further burdening a blood supply that is already stretched thin, the spokesman stated.

They haven’t had the ideal blood supply of 5-7 days in over 30 months, according to the spokesman.

Community Blood Center is asking the community, especially youth and first-time or former blood donors who have not given in the last few years, to step up and take some of the burden off those that have been giving blood. Even if you cannot donate, you can help the blood center by spreading the word about the critical national shortage and need for local blood donors. Tell your friends, post on social or bring a first-time blood donor.

CBC holds blood drives every day, in addition to their seven area donor centers, in order to reach donors and meet local hospital needs. They are taking extra precautions to help prevent the person-to-person spread of COVID-19. As always, people are not eligible to donate if they’re experiencing a cold, sore throat, respiratory infection or flu-like symptoms. Additional information on donor eligibility and COVID-19 precautions is available at https://savealifenow.org/donate-blood/covid-19-and-blood-donation/.

To make an appointment at a blood drive, donors can call 877-468-6844 or visit savealifenow.org.

Some of the upcoming Community Blood Center blood drives in Wyandotte County include:

• Thursday, Oct. 20, from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., St. Patrick Catholic Church, parish center, 1086 N. 94th St., Kansas City, Kansas. To make an appointment, call 877-468-6844 or visit savealifenow.org.

• Wednesday, Nov. 2, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., First Christian Church – Bonner Springs, fellowship hall, 148 N. Nettleton, Bonner Springs. To make an appointment, call 877-468-6844 or visit savealifenow.org.

• Friday, Nov. 11, from 7:15 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Turner High School, auxiliary gym, 2211 S. 55th St., Kansas City, Kansas. To make an appointment, call 877-468-6844 or visit savealifenow.org.

For other mobile blood drives, visit savealifenow.org.

Poll: 72% of Kansans back Medicaid reform stalled by GOP legislators since 2017

Kelly to again seek Medicaid reform, Schmidt remains expansion skeptic

by Tim Carpenter, Kansas Reflector

Topeka — A majority of Kansans across the political spectrum endorse expansion of eligibility for Medicaid in a statewide survey also indicating nine in 10 registered voters believe a candidate’s position on health care influenced votes at the polls.

Kansas is among a dozen states declining to broaden access among lower-income people to affordable health coverage under Medicaid. Expansion legislation in Kansas was vetoed in 2017 by Republican Gov. Sam Brownback and the GOP-led Senate blocked a vote on a House-passed bill in 2019. Expansion states include Missouri, Oklahoma, Colorado and Nebraska.

The issue emerged in the campaign for Kansas governor with Gov. Laura Kelly promising to introduce a fifth Medicaid expansion proposal in January if reelected. Republican gubernatorial nominee Derek Schmidt spoke in opposition to substantive enhancement of eligibility for Medicaid.

The poll released by the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, or ACSCAN, of 500 likely Kansas voters showed support to be almost universal among Democrats with backing from majorities of both Republicans and independents.

In the poll, 72% of Kansans favored expanding opportunities for Kansans to participate in KanCare, the state’s Medicaid program. The political breakdown in terms of those favoring reform: Democrats, 98%; independents, 64%; and Republicans, 56%.

The poll conducted by Public Opinion Strategies and Hart Research Associates showed 87% of respondents considered health care a pivotal issue in political elections. The poll for ACSCAN had a 4.3% margin of error.

“Kansans clearly understand the importance of affordable health coverage and want their lawmakers to take action to expand KanCare,” said Megan Word, who works for ACSCAN. “Voters want Kansas to join the 38 other states who have expanded their Medicaid program and they are paying close attention this election season.”

The number of Kansans potentially benefitting from a state law deepening eligibility for the Affordable Care Act has ranged from 120,000 to 150,000. The federal government would be obligated to pay 90% of the increased cost in Kansas.

In the poll, 81% said all Kansans regardless of income, location, race, gender or immigration status ought to have affordable health care.

Kelly, who is seeking a second term in the Nov. 8 election, said during the latest gubernatorial debate in Overland Park that expansion of Medicaid to the underserved would be the most significant health policy change she could champion as governor.

“I have proposed four different expansion approaches,” said Kelly, who claimed Republicans undermined Medicaid bills because the reform was among her top priorities as governor. “I will propose my fifth in January. I think the fact that I never will be on the ballot again can take politics out of it.”

Schmidt said conservative leadership of the House and Senate wouldn’t step aside to allow a Medicaid expansion bill reach Kelly’s desk. He also criticized Kelly for not convincing a GOP majority in the Legislature to approve expansion in her first term.

“It makes a good thing to talk about in the middle of an election,” Schmidt said of Kelly’s advocacy. “At the end of the day, the Kansas Legislature, if anything like its current composition, is not going to go that direction in terms of public policy.”

He said Kansas should focus on retaining the three for-profit insurance companies under contract to operate the privatized KanCare system during a period of inflation in the national economy. He said he would consider modest changes to KanCare such as the 2022 bill signed by Kelly extending Medicaid coverage to new mothers.

Kansas Reflector, www.kansasreflector.com, stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
See more at https://kansasreflector.com/2022/10/10/poll-72-of-kansans-back-medicaid-reform-stalled-by-gop-legislators-since-2017/