Jackson County Emergency Management Agency has just released the following information. The information is up-to-date as of 11:30 a.m., Wednesday, May 13, 2009.

List of Feeding Stations in Jackson County

Murphysboro (please call first)

Murhysboro Christian Academy

Address: 17th Grace (behind American Legion)

Phone: 618-867-2222

Hours: 4-7 p.m.

Murphysboro Middle School

Phone: 618- 684-3041

U of I Extension Service (snacks only)

Phone: 618-687-1727

Carbondale (please call first)

Lakeland Baptist Church

Address: Giant City Road

Phone: 618-529-4906

Hours : 12-2 p.m., 4-6 p.m.

SIUC Trueblood Hall

Address: Near Neely Hall (University Park)

Hours: 11a.m.-3 p.m.

Good Samaritan shelter

Phone: 618-457-5794

Other places to contact for additional resources

Red Cross: 618-303-1147, 618-529-1525

Link Card replacement helpline: 1-800-678-LINK

Carbondale City Hall: 618-549-5302

Makanda Fire Station: 618-713-7684

Murphysboro Police Department: 618-684-2121

Carbondale City Hall: 618-549-5302

U of I Extension office: 618-687-1727

Lodging

Shelter

618-687-2223 (persons with non-medical needs)

618-684-2177 (for persons with medical needs, they must be cleared by sheriff department for a background check)

Carbondale

Century Assisted Living (please call first, must meet criteria)

Contact Person: Theresa Oldfield

Phone: 618-201-6113, 618-549-9898

Good Samaritan

Phone: 618-457-5794

Murhysboro

Jackson County Rehab Care

Phone: 618-684-2136

Availability of Hospital beds with O2
(Please call for availability and criteria for admission and needs)

Jackson County Rehab
618-684-2136
Must be self-sufficient

St. Joseph Memorial Hospital
618-684-3156

Memorial Hospital of Carbondale
618-549-0721 ext.68566

Heartland Regional Medical Center
618-998-7000

Herrin Hospital
618-942-2171

Union County Hospital
618-833-4511

Marshall Browning Hospital, Du Quoin
618-542-2146

Oak grove Rehab

Robin: 618-790-4795; 618-549-3355

For those in need of Oxygen tanks

Apria Health care

800-642-5459

Will deliver

Memorial Hospital of Carbondale has O2 tanks - will loan out

Phone: 618-549-00721 ext. 65866 (Ask for the nursing supervisor)

Southern Illinois Appliance Services (SISA) - only for their patients

Phone: 800-382-5679

A neighbor's house in Carbondale

Its been a crazy few days out here in Southern Illinois. Friday’s storm devastated much of the region and thousands remain without power still.

The newspaper is doing a great job of providing disaster coverage for the region.

Visit our web site to keep abreast of what’s happening.

I was talking to Dr. Terrence Glennon, physiatrist with Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago at Herrin Hospital the other day and something he said struck a chord in me. So I will repeat it here.

“Don’t go hide in the house if you had a stroke. Who cares if you slur a bit?” Glennon said.

Having played a lead role in 25-year-old Anna resident, Rachel Spiess’ stroke recovery - something I wrote about for the Sunday paper - Glennon said society is more and more open to folks who are differently abled.

“The literature is very clear that if you sit someone on a corner and don’t work with them, you miss the boat in terms of recovery,” Glennon said. “As scary and frightening as a stroke is, once you are stabilized medically, rehabilitation can make a big difference.”

This is beginning to look like a bad week.

First the swine flu: With 103 people dead in Mexico and the flu spreading to North America and Europe, we’re all waiting and watching, while holding our breaths and crossing our fingers.

The Obama administration has declared a public health emergency but are calling it a “precautionary measure” and no cause for widespread panic as yet. Experts say its too early to tell if the swine flu will be an epidemic, but its enough for all of us to be on tenterhooks.

Here’s what the CDC says you can do to stay healthy.

Meanwhile both the FDA and the CDC have issued warnings against eating raw alfalfa sprouts because of a possible salmonella contamination.

The April 2009 issue of The Southern Health Magazine was distributed with the newspaper two days ago. If you didn’t get a chance to see it as yet, visit the health web site online and read the stories.

The cover story talked about why you need to have “the talk” with your child.

“So far in the first quarter we have done pregnancy tests on girls as young as 15,” said Marsha Perfetti, executive director of Shawnee Crisis Pregnancy Centers and single parent to two teenagers. “One out of four pregnancy tests we do are on teenagers.”

That’s one reason to start the conversation early and talk about values at the same time.

Also in this issue are reasons why you need to lose weight (and its not what you think).

In his 40 odd years of practice, Dr. Frank Becker, endocrinologist at Community Health and Emergency Services Inc. in Carbondale, said he has seen 20-25 patients who lost a significant amount of weight actually recover from diabetes.

“It does occur,” Becker said. “You have to have people get motivated to lose weight. The wrong way to get motivated is to have a heart attack and stroke! Do it before.”

My mother was recently diagnosed with high blood pressure at the age of 59. Healthy as a horse all her life, the diagnosis sent her into an instant panic.

It didn’t matter that high BP is a fairly common condition affecting some one in three adults in the U.S. alone. What mattered was that it could result in coronary heart disease, heart failure, stroke, kidney failure, and other health problems.

Now MIT engineers have designed a wearable blood pressure sensor that offers 24 / 7 continuous monitoring. The monitor is supposed to be just as accurate as regular cuff devices, but less cumbersome and can be worn for hours at a time or even a few days at a time, to provide continuous monitoring.

This is exciting news to those suffering from serious blood pressure disorders, even though they might have to wait a few years, before a commercial version is out in the market.

Read more about this development on the MIT web site.

American Lung Association’s Smoking Cessation classes are now being offered through the Jackson County Health Department.

Call Angie Bailey at 618-684-3143 for more information.

Today is World Health Day.

What are local hospitals doing to keep themselves safe in emergencies?

I spoke to Bobby Whitledge, director of plant operations, and security and safety officer at Heartland Regional Medical Center in Marion.

Whitledge, director of plan operations and security and safety officer at Heartland Regional Medical Center inspects the hospital's 1000 kilowatt generator, which is used in emergencies. "We actually switch the entire hospital to it once a month," Whitledge said. "At 1000 kilowatts this generator could carry three of these hospitals if need be. In fact when we switch over to emergency power, we only use 30 percent capacity of the generator."

Heartland Regional Medical Center's emergency management trailer was purchaed two years ago with grants through FEMA and HIRSHA. According to Whitledge, the trailer is used extensively in safety drills and contains a range of emergency equipment needed in disaster situations, ranging from radio systems that can be hooked up to car batteries if there is no power source, self contained breathing apparatus, decon suits and tents. "If its a really bad situation we can turn up the air conditioning enough to turn it into a morgue," Whitledge said.

I also spoke to Mike Maddox, POD hospital coordinator for EMS Region 5. Maddox plays a critical role with not only Memorial Hospital of Carbondale, but the 22 other hospitals in Southern Illinois that work in tandem with major disaster preparedness.

"In addition to Memorial Hospital of Carbondale having equipment and preparing staff through exercises (drills) and other training, we keep much of our equipment on trailers so that it can be moved to another hospital should it have a need for disaster supplies," Maddox said.

Click here to read the entire story in today’s papers.

Researchers have found an effective replacement for Pap smears - DNA tests.

A new eight-year study of 130,000 women in India financed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has found that a single screening with the DNA test beats all other methods (including Pap smears) at preventing advanced cancer and death.

Publishing their findings in The New England Journal of Medicine, researchers are hoping the DNA test will eventually replace the Pap smear.

Read more about this exciting development here.

Just saw a hilarious British commercial for a bikini razor. The advertisers use innuendo to get their not-so-subtle message across.

Might be a little off color but its pretty hysterical all the same. Got to give it to the Brits!

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBkR09sP4T4

If this were to air in the U.S. my hunch is it would probably stir up some pretty serious controversy,  unless it aired on Saturday Night Live or a similar late night show.