Tonight’s ‘Hands around the Plaza Candlelight Vigil’ at Smysor Plaza in Murphysboro has been canceled due to the weather.

The vigil will not be rescheduled, but on behalf of the PCAT (Preventing Child Abuse Together) committee, you are invited to attend the Families: Spring Into Fun event on Saturday, April 18 at Attucks Park. If it rains head for Thomas School.

On Tuesday, I spent half a day at the cardiac catheterization lab at Memorial Hospital of Carbondale. The team effort I saw there was pretty impressive and drove home the fact that it takes more than a doctor to save a life.

I met some interesting folks at the lab, including registered nurse, Tina Wilson.

Wilson happens to be a travel nurse, a particular type of nurse who moves from facility to facility on 13 week assignments, to fill in when a hospital is short on staff. Put up by MHC in a furnished apartment, Wilson’s last assignment was in Miami, before she packed her bags for Carbondale in January.

The photograph (by STEVE JAHNKE / THE SOUTHERN) shows Wilson (on the left) assisting cardiologist Dr. Varadendra Panchamukhi as he tries to open a closed artery in a man who was brought to Memorial Hospital of Carbondale after complaining of chest pains while he was chopping wood. Only 23 minutes elapsed between the time the man entered the hospital to the time his artery was cleared.

I wrote about these folks in today’s papers. The story can be accessed here and and the accompanying sidebar is here.

Ever wondered how safe your home is from fires? Are there any fire hazards inside and outside your home you are simply unaware of?

Here’s a great service a lot of us havent heard about:

The City of Carbondale fire department offers a free home safety inspection program in order to encourage residents to take proactive steps to prevent home fires. In addition they also offer a free Household Risk Analysis Checklist.

Call 618-457-3234 if you would like to obtain the checklist or would like to schedule a free home safety inspection. You can also visit the City’s website to learn more.

I recently picked up an infant car seat and stroller system and as I looked through the instructions manual, I wondered how many parents actually understood all the complicated instructions and installed the seats correctly.

That was when I came across this shocking statistic: Apparently nine out of 10 car seats are installed incorrectly. Common errors include not securing the seat into the vehicle properly, facing the child forward too soon, improperly placing or adjusting the harness straps and using a seat that is not the appropriate size for the child.

Sure we all love our children dearly, but an improperly installed car seat can increase their risk of injury in case of a traffic crash.

That’s why Its a good idea to take advantage of free child safety car seat inspections from certified child passenger safety technicians.

The good news is the City of Carbondale Police Department has Certified Child Passenger Safety Technicians who will inspect child safety seats for correct installation and use and provide one-on-one instruction to educate parents and caregivers about the basics of child safety seat installation and use. This is a free service, offered 1-4 p.m. Thursdays or by appointment at The City of Carbondale Police Department. Contact officer Randy Mathis at 618-457-3200 ext. 428 for more information if this interests you.

The March issue of The Southern Health Magazine was distributed along with today’s edition of The Southern Illinoisan newspaper.

Rhonda Ethridge, our design, production and art direction guru did a great job with the cover. I’d wondered what kind of image she would come up with for a subject like brain injuries. And she found something pretty eye-catching, don’t you agree?

Pick up this month’s issue to read all about Angela Moehring, a traumatic brain injury survivor who shares her story.

Also find out why colorectal cancer screenings are really your best defense.

Some interesting health-related Frontline specials are coming up on WSIU TV. If you are interested in aging and healthcare systems around the world and in our own country, you might want to put these upcoming specials on your calendar and take time out to watch them.

FRONTLINE: LIVING OLD
When: Tuesday, March 17, 8-9pm
With 35 million people in America now age 65 and older, “the old old” - those over 85 - are now considered the fastest growing segment of the U.S. population. With families more dispersed than ever and a health care system overburdened, many experts fear that we are on the threshold of a major crisis in care.

FRONTLINE: SICK AROUND THE WORLD
When: Tuesday, March 24, 9-10pm
Can the U.S. learn anything from the rest of the world about how to run a health system, or are these nations so culturally different from us that their solutions would simply not be acceptable to Americans? Frontline correspondent T.R. Reid examines first-hand how other advanced capitalist democracies - United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, Taiwan and Switzerland - deliver health care and what the United States might learn from their successes and their failures.

FRONTLINE: SICK AROUND AMERICA
When: Tuesday, March 31, 8-9pm on WSIU TV
Frontline investigates the failures and future of the private insurance industry, examining the best and worst of U.S. health care by telling the gripping and sometimes tragic stories of ordinary Americans.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpI2aYknKR0

Suicide is a terrible thing. Luckily there are people in the community doing something positive to prevent it.

And that’s why it is a good idea to attend the LifeSavers’ fundraiser and banquet in DuQuoin this Saturday. You will be contributing to a worthy cause.

For those who have never heard of the LifeSavers program, it is a peer-support, suicide and crisis-prevention program developed to train young adults to be caring listeners in their interactions with their peers.

The program is often the first line of defense for high school communities, because it trains selected students from 9-12 grades to be skilled listeners who can responsibly help other students deal with the emotional crises of adolescence.

The banquet and fundraiser will celebrate the program, the LifeSavers themselves and their work, and also raise much-needed funds to reduce costs to the schools for the training retreats.

Rep. John Bradley will attend and present a state House Resolution acknowledging the program. The event includes a live auction, 50/50 drawing, grilled chicken and a pulled pork dinner catered by Ricky Rover Rooter Roasters

Tickets: $25/Person, $15 Student Rate

When: Doors open 5:30 p.m. Dinner and program to begin at 6 p.m. Saturday, March 14

Where: Du Quoin American Legion, 900 S. Jefferson Ave., Du Quoin

Information: Contact Laura Hepp Kessel at 618-615-5753 or Judy Ashby at 618-549-5578 for tickets and information

If you’re trying to lose weight and think cooking at home might be the way to go, think again.

A new study in the Annals of Internal Medicine reviewed classic recipes over the past 70 years and found that there has been a nearly 40 percent increase in calories per serving for nearly every recipe reviewed.

That’s an extra 77 calories (approx.) per recipe.

Pretty significant considering that a change of even 10 percent can affect weight, especially when dealing with high calorie foods.

Read the whole AP story here.

The Egyptian Area Agency on Aging is calling residents of Marion to become community evaluators for the Marion “Livable Communities” survey which will evaluate how well prepared the community is to handle the needs of the burgeoning older population.

According to John M. Smith, executive director of the EAAA, a national survey released in 2006 found that a majority of America’s communities are not yet prepared for the age wave that will soon hit them. With the rapid rise in the number of aging retirees, communities will be challenged to provide transportation, affordable housing options, and other supportive services for their aging citizens.

The Marion Livable Communities project will evaluate how well it addresses the needs of retirees. Community volunteers will help evaluate Marion’s resources and public policies which with help policymakers develop goals and pull resources together.

Resources to be identified by community evaluators include health and human services, land use, housing, transportation, public safety, workforce and economic development, recreation, education, civic engagement, and emergency preparedness. Volunteers will be trained how and where to obtain information about these resources.

If you are interested in becoming a community evaluator and are a Marion resident, call 618-985-8311 to learn more.

If you’ve been watching any TV lately, you’ve probably seen the ad from a local puppy store in Marion, parading a string of cute little puppies with red bows. The pitch is that puppies make great Valentine’s day gifts and you could pick one of them up in the Marion store.

Frankly, I was pretty horrified when I saw the ad.

First, getting a puppy is a big decision. It should never be given as a gift, but rather be a joint decision from everyone in the family.

Second, there are thousands of dogs being euthanized everyday in our local shelters. They may not be as cute as a little puppy, but adopting from a shelter and giving a dog another chance is probably the best thing you can do.

Both my dogs are from local animal shelters. Their previous owners had given them up for reasons of their own. I can honestly say I made the best decision bringing them home. A rescued dog can provide you with the best companionship you could ever wish for.

This Valentine’s day, don’t go gifting puppies or kittens to your loved ones. Remember it is a big decision.

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has a great idea: If you really want to get a pet, why not present your loved one with a Gift-A-Pet certificate to adopt from a local shelter? Or better still, why not take a romantic trip to the shelter together?

Selecting the right pet for your home, and saving a life, ensures a bond that will last a lifetime, a fitting way to remember the patron saint of love.

Click here for the ASPCA guide to a pet friendly Valentine’s day.