DeFebbo discovers leader in Childers - Kentucky Press Association

PAGE 4A - SUNDAY, JULY 17, 2011From Page 1ADoctor has seen several cases related to smoking incensesmoke it.“Nobody can smoke that stuff,”Shoraba said. “It’s herbal incense.People are not supposed to smokeit.”Much like with paint or glue,which are manufactured for specificpurposes but sometimes used asinhalants by people looking for ahigh, many people looking for acheap, legal alternative to pot aresmoking 7H.Amy, a pre-med student whotried marijuana on a visit to Amsterdam,where the substance isbought, sold and used legally,thought 7H would produce a similarfeeling.She was wrong.“When my trip started, I closedmy eyes, and then all of a suddeneverything that had happenedbefore, I had forgotten it all. I forgotthat everything existed. Icouldn’t remember who I was,”she said.“It was like I was created in thatmoment and nothing else had everhappened before. I started seeingwhite dots like static. That’s all Isaw. I wasn’t really aware that Ihad a body. I tried to look throughthe static. When I stopped focusing,it started feeling like a sharppain.”Amy started making sounds.“When I made a note, the staticwould change like I dropped a pebbleinto a lake,” Amy said.When Amy’s mother found hermaking the noise, it was screams.Then she noticed that Amyappeared to have stopped breathing.Amy’s mother called for anambulance. Amy spent the nextseveral hours in a hospital bed. Herfeelings cycled from pain, to confusionto paranoia. She then spentthe next several days feeling paranoidand unsure if the thingsaround her were real. Nearly twoweeks later, Amy still experiencessome fear that if she closes hereyes, the static will return.Amy is one of several patients tocome through the emergency roomat The Medical Center after smoking“incense.”“We’ve had several cases lately,particularly younger individuals,under the influence of some sort ofincense or bath salts,” said Dr. BartSpurlin, director of the emergencydepartment at the hospital.“They’re hallucinating, paranoid,acting erratically. As far as I know,there have not been any deaths atour facility due to it. But I haveheard and read about other caseswhere there have been.”Spurlin can’t say for certain thathis recent ER patients were underthe influence specifically of 7Hunless someone tells him. Andbecause no one knows what exactlyis in the incense, it’s difficult totreat patients who react to it aftersmoking it.“It’s frustrating on our behalf,”Spurlin said. “It’s not like treatingsomeone under the influence ofalcohol or narcotics. In this case,we don’t really know (what thesubstance is). We have to treatsymptoms as they arise and monitorlabs and vital signs.“When we call Poison Control,they will tell us they don’t knoweither,” Spurlin said.Mitch Plumlee III, a behavioralhealth specialist at Park PlaceRecovery Center, expressed similarconcerns with 7H and otherincense.“One of the troubles with thesedrugs is they are having somestrange effects, and we’re notalways clear what specific chemicalsare in them that are causingthese effects. The chemicals varyfrom brand to brand and obviously,it’s not regulated.“Nobody knows the long-termside effects because it hasn’t beenaround,” he said.The packaging on 7H lists severalingredients that it does notcontain – recently banned chemicalsfound in synthetic marijuana.The packaging refers to the productas “potpourri” and states that itis 100 percent legal in all 50 states.However, the packaging does notsay what’s inside or where it ismade.That’s troubling to BowlingGreen-Warren County Drug TaskForce Director Tommy Loving,who said his agency isn’t sure if7H is legal because they don’tknow what’s in it.“After receiving complaintsabout it and hearing of emergencyroom visits attributed to it, we havepurchased the product and sent it tothe state police lab for testing,”Loving said. “It’s not clear to us ifit’s one of the new designer drugsmade illegal by the past legislature.“We need to be able to say whatthis product contains, and thenonce we know that, we wouldprobably proceed one of tworoutes. One, if it is an illegal substance,then we can make an arrestfor the sale of it. If it is not an illegalsubstance but creates the problemswe’re hearing about, then wewould work with the KentuckyOffice of Drug Control Policy tohave this declared as an illegal substance.”For Amy, she thought legalmeant safe.“I knew that it was legal, so Ifigured it would be OK,” Amysaid.While Amy’s medical providerstold her she was never near death,her blood pressure and potassiumlevels dropped after she smoked7H in a tobacco pipe. For a periodof time while she was still underthe influence of the incense, shesaid she was wishing that she didn’texist while at the same timebelieving that she was nothing buta thought without a body.Amy said she will never smoke7H again, and she has warned herfriends about it.“Just because these substancesare legal doesn’t mean that they aresafe or nontoxic,” Spurlin said. “Iwould recommend as a doctor thatyou not ingest or smoke any substancethat is not specifically forhuman consumption.“If anyone knows or discovers afriend or relative who has ingestedany of these substances or is abusingthem, they should seek medicalhelp.”WKU MBA WKU MBA WKU MBA WKU MBALocal/region/stateMURFREESBORO, Tenn.(AP) — Dr. David Sellers ends hisshifts when most physicians havetheir morning coffee.A nocturnist at Middle TennesseeMedical Center inMurfreesboro, he’s on the hospitalfloor all night, ready to handlepatient problems that go beyondthe expertise of a nurse.According to The Tennesseannewspaper, nights and weekendscan be dangerous times forpatients. The most recent study –one that tracked the outcomes of30 million patients over a fiveyearperiod – showed that patientsadmitted to hospitals on weekendshave a 10 percent higher deathrate.Sellers works every night of theweek, including weekends.“This has been the most excitingthing I’ve done in medicineB A N K o f E D M O N S O N C O U N T YHonestDAILY NEWS, BOWLING GREEN, KENTUCKYAlex Slitz/Daily NewsBrent Childers of Bowling Green was recently named director of the city’s department of Neighborhoodand Community Services.From Page 1AChilders was initially hired by city in March 2010leadership skills needed to take thedepartment to the next level,”DeFebbo said. “He’s capable ofthe work required and I think peoplewill respect and follow him.That’s important when you reorganize.”Childers played football atSewanee, where he was an allconferenceselection his senioryear.He’s soft-spoken at times andadmittedly laid-back and down toearth.Childers began working withthe city while as a contractor withthe Barren River Area DevelopmentDistrict, assisting the citywith home rehab.The city then hired him as housingand grants manager in March2010, a position he’ll continue.Childers recognizes the challengesmoving forward, and bothhe and DeFebbo acknowledge anumber of uncertainties with federalgrants in the future.WKU MBA WKU MBA WKU MBAWKU MBAWKU MBAWhat Can TheProfessional MBA ( PMBA )Do For You?Our graduates compliment our:• Useful courses taught by an expert faculty• Convenient alternate Saturday formatUnique PMBA features• International study trip included• iPad2 provided (new feature)There is still time to join the new September cohort.Contact us todaymba@wku.edu orCall 1-877-WKU-1MBA Today!www.wku.edu/mba“It’s important to understandthis talk in Washington is going tohave an impact on us,” DeFebbosaid. “We don’t believe we’regoing to have a bunch of grantfunds coming. We feel Brent canhandle that grant function as wellas oversee the department.”Childers said he pays closeattention to what happens on CapitolHill, knowing it will eventuallyaffect the people of BowlingGreen.“That’s something I understand,”Childers said. “But I canalso understand where it’s hard fora person to see that.“There are a lot of challengesthat are out of my control,”Childers added. “Like Washington.... We need additional supportfrom Frankfort and Washington.”DeFebbo expects that the daysof huge grants coming from Washingtonare numbered.“We’re trying to gear up forthat,” he said.Invest In YourselfWKU MBA WKU MBA WKU MBAWKU MBAWKU MBAYour friends are. Your family is. Your bank should be.WKU MBA WKU MBA WKU MBA WKU MBAChilders believes his co-workersare excited following the reorganization.“I’ve been able to build a relationshipwith them over the lastyear and a half,” Childers said.“That will be a great asset movingforward.”Childers has a few goals inmind for the short term. Heexpects the city to hire an internationalliaison, a move that hasbeen largely orchestrated byBowling Green City CommissionerBill Waltrip to continue toimprove the city’s relationshipwith Bowling Green’s internationalcommunity.Being with the city for just overa year, Childers said he has experienceda huge learning curve inunderstanding the depth of thecity’s services.But for now, Childers said hisfocus is making sure the departmentprovides the most professionaland efficient services it can.Nocturnists are becomingmore popular at hospitalsjust because I’m able to focus onvery sick patients, and I feel like Iget them better and get them ontheir way out of the hospital,which is fulfilling,” he said.Hospitals are increasinglycounting on nocturnists to helpthem improve patient safety andresponse times. Dr. John Nelson, apartner with Nelson Flores HospitalMedicine Consultants, coinedthe term nocturnist. By his estimate,there are probably 1,000 to1,500 nocturnists working nowcompared with some 100 a decadeago.A primary-care physician whoused to be in private practice, Sellerschanged course to become ahospitalist who works nights – anocturnist. Hospitalists providecomprehensive care to patients,filling a role similar to that of afamily doctor.While a cardiologist mightfocus solely on a patient’s heartcondition, the hospitalist looks outfor the patient’s total well-being.While the emergency room doctorstabilizes a patient in crisis, thehospitalist-nocturnist providesfollow-up care once the patient isadmitted.Hospitalists have become a fixturein medical centers, but notalways during nights and weekends.The three hospitals operatedby Saint Thomas Health – MiddleTennessee Medical Center, SaintThomas Hospital and BaptistHospital – all have designatednocturnists.“When people are in trouble,we are at the bedside in seconds tominutes, and we see problems inthe night that might otherwisehave gone on for hours,” said Dr.Sally Bullock, medical director ofthe hospitalist program at MiddleTennessee Medical Center.The center has four nocturnists.Generally, the nocturnists arerequired to work fewer shifts andare paid at higher rates.Sellers works one week andthen is off one week.“The reason I did it was qualityof life,” he said. “I have children.My oldest child in the householdis 10 years old. Last year, he wasin the fifth grade. It was veryimportant for me to help him withhis homework. Working nightsallows me to do that because I getup when he comes home fromschool.”Think just a moment: what traits do you expect from your family members? From your friends?At Bank of Edmonson County, we think you deserve the same from your bank. You place trust in us – asyour financial partner – to listen carefully, to act fairly, and to treat you with respect.That’s been our promise to this community since 1925.Come see us at Bank of Edmonson County. You’ll find a comfortable blend of state-of-the-art technologywith old-time values. But above all, you’ll find a place where you are the first priority.BROWNSVILLE | 109 N. Main Street | 597-2175 • BOWLING GREEN | 6780 Louisville Road | 793-0033Member FDICDirect Lines:News Department: 783-3228Classified Advertising: 783-3232Subscriber Service: 783-3200www.bgdailynews.com