Early Heart Attack Care

Early Heart Attack Care

YOUNGSTOWN

Northside Regional Medical Center, 500 Gypsy Lane, is offering a free Early Heart Attack Care and Hands-Only cardiopulmonary resuscitation course for the public from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Jan. 16 in the Community Room located in the main lobby next to the emergency entrance.

The class covers the signs and symptoms of a heart attack along with the necessary immediate actions to take, and participants learn how to administer Hands-Only CPR.

Registration is required, and participants must sign a waiver of liability form. Call 330-884-0829.

Provider picked for Alta Behavioral Healthcare

YOUNGSTOWN

Akron Children’s Hospital has selected Alta Behavioral Healthcare as a provider of mental health services in the hospital’s Austintown and Boardman outpatient pediatric practices.

Together, Akron Children’s physicians and Alta Behavioral health counselors provide on-site integrated care resulting in a highly coordinated and collaborative approach between mental health and primary health care, Alta officials said.

Still time to get a flu shot

COLUMBUS

The Ohio Department of Health says flu activity is increasing in the state and there is still time to get a flu shot.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Prevention and Control says that roughly three out of five people in the United States have not been vaccinated this flu season, and roughly two out of three pregnant women have not received a flu vaccine yet this year, putting themselves and their babies at risk.

In Ohio, during the week that ended Dec. 2, the most recent data available, there were 92 flu-associated hospitalizations in Ohio and 257 hospitalizations since the start of the season in October, and significantly higher than the 19 flu-associated hospitalizations during the same week last year and 83 hospitalizations for the season.

The ODH and CDC recommend that everyone 6 months and older get a flu shot. It takes about two weeks for a flu shot to take full effect.

Flu surveillance data in Australia, where flu season is winding down, suggests that this year’s vaccine has been significantly less effective against one circulating flu virus strain, influenza A (H3N2). However, that may not be predictive of what will happen in the U.S.