- CAPE COkZETTE, Friday, June 2 - June 8, 1995
Health & Fitness
Health To tics
Dennis Fomey photo
M.A.S.H. unit set up at Beebe Medical Center
In honor of Emergency Medical Services Week recently, personnel in Beebe Medical Center's
emergency room set up buffet and break areas decorated and labeled to recall the popular
movie and television show MASH. The emergency party atmosphere was much appreciated by
emergency room personnel and the professional and volunteer emergency people who came to
the emergency room- Shown here in Phe Swamp" are (I. to r.) Frank Shade of the Sussex
County Paramedics, Emergency Room nurses Edie Reynolds and Linda Sapienza, and Sussex
County Paramedic Robert Ross.
Millville Emergency Center opens
Beebe Medical Center's Millville Emergency Cen-
ter opened for the summer season at 7 a.m., Friday,
May 26, 24 hours per day, seven days per week,
through Labor Day weekend.
Located on Route 26, the Millville Emergency
Center provides a full complement of emergency ser-
vices, ranging from ear aches and splinters to more
serious injuries and illnesses, when you don't need to
call 911. Persons with chest pains or other life-threat-
ening illnesses should call 911.
The center has one or more physicians available
during operating hours, and its nursing staff is
Advanced Cardiac Life Support certified. X-ray and
laboratory services are available during peak hours
for both emergency and outpatient cases.
"The Millville Center works closely with Beebe
Medical Center's Department of Emergency Services
in Lewes, Sussex Paramedics and local ambulance
services," said Ann Caputo, charge nurse for the Mil-
lville Emergency Center. "The Millville team refers
and transfers patients to Beebe after stabilization if
further treatment or admission is necessary."
As do most emergency treatment centers, Millville
utilizes the "triage" system of categorizing the sever-
ity of a patient's illness or injury upon arrival. This
means that a patient with a more serious injury or ill-
ness will be seen before a patient with an ear ache or
another non-fife-threatening illness or injury.
"Even though the center is extremely busy during
the summer months, we see patients with all degrees
of injury and illness," Caputo said. "Our goal is to
provide the best possible treatment in the shortest
amount of waiting time." Millville is serviced by
numerous ambulance and fire companies including
Millville, Frankford, Dagsboro, Roxanna and Sel-
byville. Sussex Paramedics will also provide trans-
port services again this summer and a helipad is
available for the trooper medic helicopter.
The Millville Family Health Center, located on Rt.
26, for-and-a-half miles from Route One, Bethany
Beach, also houses family practice physician Dr.
John Giuliano, whose hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.,
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, from 9 a.m.
to 7 p.m., Wednesday, and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Saturday.
Appointments can be made by calling 539-8880.
For more information call 539-8450.
Beebe plans Super Sitter program for teens
Beebe Medical Center is now taking registration
for separate two-day "Super Sitter" babysitter certifi-
cation programs.
They will be held July 5-6 and Aug. 1-2 from 10
a.m. to 3 p.m., at Beebe Medical Center for boys and
girls ages 11 to 14-years-of-age who want to improve
their child care skills.
The program, designed to prepare teenagers for
safe, responsible baby sitting, will include informa-
tion on infant and child behaviors; fire and home
safety; infant and child care as well as Cardiopul-
monary Resuscitation (CPR). The first day of class
covers parents' expectations, babysitting responsibil-
ities, first aid and normal growth and development.
Day two includes home safety, fire safety and infant
and child CPR.
The course is taught by registered nurses and edu-
cation specialists as w.ell as law enforcement officials
and local volunteer fire companies. The cost is $30,
which includes two days of professional instruction,
educational materials and lunch.
"Our goal is to prepare young adults to become a
safe and responsible sitter when caring for infants
and children," said Norene Broadhurst, R.N., pro-
gram coordinator. "Our program helps these young
sitters understand what is normal and how to handle
the unexpected."
Pre-registration is required and registration is limit-
ed to the first 12 participants. Call 645-3248 to regis-
ter.
Sexually transmitted
diseases in children
(This is the first of a two-part
series authored by the physicians
at Bayside Health Association,
with offices in Lewes and George-
town. The physicians include Dr.
Susan h Rogers, family practice;
Dr. J. Eric Hale, family practice;
Dr. Vincent B. KiUeen, obstetrics
and gynecology; and Dr. Newel R.
Washburn, obstetrics and gyne-
cology. For more information,
call 645-4700.)
Over the past decade there has
been an unprecedented epidemic
of sexually transmitted diseases,
especially among adolescents and
young adult women. The health
issues associated with early ado-
lescent sexual involvement are
undisputed, but also under-
acknowledged.
The rate of cblamydia infection,
gonorrhea, herpes and genital
warts has been soaring. Yet,
unfortunately, awareness of their
impact on the health of infected
women has not increased propor-
tionately. Despite all of our edu-
cational focuses on sexually trans-
mitted diseases (STD) and their
prevention among adolescents,
teen-agers till remain at great risk
for acquiring a STD, including
human immuno-deficieney virus
infection (HIV). We, as clini-
cians, now are not only involved
in the treatment of sexually trans-
mitted diseases, but now also in
the management of their long-term
sequelae.
Examples of these sequelae are
the cancerous changes in the geni-
tal tract, infertility and ectopie
pregnancies, as well as transmis-
sion of STDs to newborn babies,
chronic pain caused by the scar-
ring within the female genital
tract, and death related to AIDS.
Sexually active adolescents
have a higher rate of STDs than
any other age group, yet they are
less likely to obtain care. Gonor-
rhea and syphilis rates for sexually
active adolescents are the highest
of any age group. Sexually active
adolescents have the highest rate
of chlamydial infection and asso-
ciated complications for any age
group. It is important to know that
chlamydia is twice as common
among adolescents as is gonor-
rhea, and of the one million
women who have an episode of
pelvic inflammatory disease (PID)
each year, 20 percent are adoles-
cents. The risk of PID in the sexu-
ally active 15-year-old is about
one out of eight. Although hope-
fully not paramount in our area,
the exchange of sex for drugs is an
important factor in the spread of
STDs.
The question that arises is:
What are the reasons for increased
risks of STDs in adolescents?
Basically, this can be divided
into five general categories - the
first being behavioral factors.
Adolescents are having sexual
relationships at an earlier age and
therefore are more prone to having
an increased number of sexual
partners. Although adolescents
are serial monogamists (short-
term partnerships in a sequence),
the adolescent is likely to have
two different partners per year.
Another behavioral factor is that
the adolescent is less likely to use
a barrier Contraceptive. Two
thirds of the adolescents who are
sexually active don't use contra-
ception at all, or if they do, they
use it inconsistently. Also, in the
adolescent' many relationships are
of low emotional commitment. It
is those kind of relationships that
are associated with the lack of
contraceptive use.
The second reason for increased
risk of sexually transmitted dis-
eases in adolescents is the biologi-
cal factors. The female adolescent
tissue provides a larger target for
many of the STDs and this is
because the tissue is still in the
formative years and actively
maturing.
The third reason for increased
risk is the difficulty in the diagno-
sis of STDs. Unfortunately, STDs
have a high rate of asymptomatic
infection. Along with this, there is
a lack of knowledge among ado-
lescents who don't recognize the
signs and symptoms as abnormal.
The adolescent is more likely to
deny the infection.
Also, physicians have a tenden-
cy not to recognize STDs because
of their low index of suspicion. In
many cases, adolescents partially
self-treat and this may cover pre-
senting signs or symptoms. Also,
there are many barriers now to
health care access, two of which
are financially based and confi-
dentiality. These both remain
major concerns in the ability to
diagnose STDs.
The fourth category is difficulty
in treatment of the STD. Needless
to say, incorrect diagnosis results
in an inadequate or incorrect treat-
ment. Also, poor patient compli-
ance is seen much more frequently
in the adolescent population and
the treatment regimen may result
in a relapse. Also, poor follow-up
is likely to increase the risk of
relapse. And there is a high rate of
re-infection because there is a lack
of treatment of the present partner,
or there is a contact with a new
infected partner.
