Paris Regional Medical Center Laboratory in Paris, Texas receives accreditation based on results of a recent on-site inspection as part of the CAP’s Accreditation Programs.
The facility’s director, Stephen L. Walter, MD, was advised of this national recognition and congratulated for the excellence of the services being provided. Paris Regional Medical Center Laboratory is one of more than 7,000 CAP-accredited facilities worldwide.
The U.S. federal government recognizes the CAP Laboratory Accreditation Program, begun in the early 1960s, as being equal-to or more-stringent-than the government’s own inspection program.
During the CAP accreditation process, designed to ensure the highest standard of care for all laboratory patients, inspectors examine the laboratory’s records and quality control of procedures for the preceding two years. CAP inspectors also examine laboratory staff qualifications, equipment, facilities, safety program and record, and overall management.
About the College of American Pathologists
The College of American Pathologists (CAP), celebrating 50 years as the gold standard in laboratory accreditation, is a medical society that serves more than 18,000 physician members and the global laboratory community. It is the world’s largest association composed exclusively of board-certified pathologists and is the worldwide leader in laboratory quality assurance. The College advocates accountable, high-quality, and cost-effective patient care. More information about the CAP can be found at www.cap.org.
About Paris Regional Medical Center
Paris Regional Medical Center offers some of the most comprehensive health and wellness care in Northeast Texas and Southeast Oklahoma. Its campuses offer general acute-care services including cardiovascular, women’s health, and rehabilitation, surgical, gero-psychiatric and pediatric services. For more information, go to www.parisregionalmedical.com.
A Defibrillator is also known as Automatic Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator or (A.I.C.D)
by Ayesha Shafiq
The eye of the understanding is like the eye of the sense; for as you may see great objects through small crannies or holes, so you may see great axioms of nature through small and contemptible instances.
– Frances Bacon.
Both a Pacemaker and a Defibrillator or (A.I.C.D.) are engineering marvels. These are miniature battery operated computers implanted in millions of patients across the world to regulate their heart rhythm and rate.
After a Pacemaker or a Defibrillator (A.I.C.D) is implanted in a patient’s heart, his/her life becomes better. A patient starts having more energy and is able to continue with his/her regular life style and is able to resume old activities that he/she may have given up due to poor heart condition.
So what are the Differences between a Pacemaker and a Defibrillator (A.I.C.D)?
A Pacemaker is slightly different than a Defibrillator.
Types of a Pacemaker and a Defibrillator (A.I.C.D.)
A Pacemaker comes in the following types:
A Defibrillator or Automatic Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (A.I.C.D.) comes in the following types:
How is a Pacemaker or a Defibrillator implanted?
Under conscious sedation, Dr. Khalid Shafiq an Interventional Cardiologist can implant a Pacemaker or a Defibrillator in a patient in the Cardiac Cath Lab at Paris Regional Medical Center.
A 4/5 cm incision is made either on the left/right side of the chest. Veins that run under the collarbone of the patient are used to access entry into the right side of the heart. The wires are placed in these veins called the subclavian veins. The wires are then attached to the generator and the wound is closed. The patient stays overnight at the hospital.
Follow up after a Pacemaker or a Defibrillator implant:
After Dr. Khalid Shafiq implants a Pacemaker or a Defibrillator in a patient, it requires regular follow up. No one can predict how long will a Pacemaker or Defibrillator last. In general you can predict your Pacemaker or Defibrillator to last several years. Pacemaker or Defibrillator batteries do not stop working suddenly. They give Dr. Shafiq several months warning that they are loosing power. Therefore regular Pacemaker or Defibrillator check ups become essential. Besides checking on the battery, these visits allow Dr. Shafiq to fine-tune your pacing prescriptions or to accommodate changes in your condition.
Dr. Shafiq communicates with your Pacemaker or Defibrillator by a device called the “Programmer”. Attached to the Programmer is a TV remote control size device called a “Wand”. Dr. Shafiq places the Wand on the implanted Pacemaker/ Defibrillator site on the patient’s chest. This procedure is not painful. In fact you will feel nothing as the Programmer and the Pacemaker/ Defibrillator emit signals to communicate.
Programming Pacemakers/Defibrillators can be done in an office visit in a few minutes while a Pacemaker or Defibrillator check-up can be performed remotely from a patient’s home over the Internet.
Life after a Pacemaker or a Defibrillator implant.
Contrary to common beliefs, patients with Pacemakers or Defibrillators can use household appliances, cell phones and microwave ovens. CT scans, ultrasounds and other medical imaging devices are still allowed. A Pacemaker or Defibrillator patient has to be careful only when getting in contact with large magnetic fields like in a setting of an MRI.
Ayesha Shafiq
Ayesha Shafiq, Director of Paris Cardiology Center. Wife of Khalid Shafiq M.D. and mother of their 2 children. Director of Paris Cardiology Center for 11 years. Masters in International Relations. Runs management with the help of 22 employees.
60 to 70 million people are affected by all digestive diseases according to the National Department of Health.
Dinner and a health education seminar on gastrointestinal disorders (GI) will be hosted on Tuesday, April 9, 2013, from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. at PrimeTime, 2218 Clarksville Street, Paris, Texas 75460.
David Stewart, MD, gastroenterologist on the medical staff at Paris Regional Medical Center, will discuss the most common gastrointestinal (GI) disorders, signs, symptoms and treatment options.
Dinner is five dollars and will be served at 5:30 p.m., and the health seminar begins at 6 p.m. Email reservations to Carolyn.Hicks@parisrmc.com or call 903-737-3394 and leave your name and telephone number for confirmation. Seating is limited. For groups of five or more, please pre-pay at PrimeTime Senior Center, 1128 Clarksville, Paris, Texas 75460.
Weakness, fatigue, loss of memory, swelling in the legs and/or feet, nausea, does not sound like a great way to start a Monday. These are all signs — among other potential health concerns — of renal failure. This is a growing diagnosis throughout America, Texas and the Paris area.
These patients seek out treatment as often as daily, but at a minimum of three times a week. Treatment involves going to a dialysis center to have the toxins — in which your kidneys would typically filter out — removed by an artificial process known as dialysis. At the dialysis facility patients spend anywhere from three to five hours, three days a week to sustain their lives.
Physicians Choice Dialysis has completed construction of such a facility in Paris. This dialysis facility has been designed with the patients comfort and quality of care in mind.
The facility, which will be opening in or around April 2013, will feature flat screen televisions, wifi connections, heated and massaging chairs, and state of the art dialysis equipment, all in a relaxing atmosphere.
From the developing stages, patient care and comfort, as well as the access to PCD’s award winning dialysis care, have been at the heart of this new facility serving the Paris area.
Physicians Choice Dialysis will also offer to the Paris area home therapies training. This will allow patients to take control of their care. Home therapies allow our patients to maintain their usual lifestyle with little to no modification. Patients enjoy the flexibility of performing their dialysis treatments in the comfort of their own homes. Frequently this allows the patient to return to work or any other usual daily activities with minimal interruption to their schedules.
PCD has partnered with local nephrologist to provide care in the Bristow area. These nephrologists will come into the facility on a weekly basis to monitor the care of their patients, as well as provide consultations for patients in the area. Their presence in the clinic will assure the patients receive the best in class service and care.
Currently patients in the Paris area — in order to receive care — must go to this life sustaining treatment late in the evenings, which puts a strain on many of the patients who may drive themselves, as well as patients who must utilize transportation assistance in order to get to their scheduled treatment time. This presents a physical challenge to many patients. Therefore, Physicians Choice Dialysis, based on the need in and around the Paris area, began developing and constructing the new state of the art facility in Paris.
Physicians Choice Dialysis of Paris has now completed construction. However, prior to admitting most patients, the facility will need to be approved by a Medicare agency. This approval may take anywhere from one month to six months depending on the patient need and agency availability. The patient need is urgent.
If you are a dialysis patient in the Paris area and wish to reserve a chair in this new state of the art facility please contact us at 1-888-phychoice.
If you would like to set up a tour of the new state of the art facility please feel free to contact the local office at 903-783-3200 or stop in for a visit.
The clinic is conveniently located just across from the hospital at 860 NE Loop 286 in Paris.
More than 2 million Americans use blood thinners on a regular basis to decrease the risk of heart attack and stroke. Pradaxa and all blood thinners are associated with internal bleeding risks that can be life-threatening.
Patients can prepare for their next doctor’s appointment by understanding the connection between Pradaxa and internal bleeding, learning to recognize symptoms of internal bleeding and identifying factors that can contribute to bleeding risk.
The Link Between Pradaxa and Internal Bleeding
Pradaxa was responsible for 542 deaths in 2011, many of which were caused by internal bleeding. The same mechanism that makes the drug successful – stopping blood from clotting–also makes the drug dangerous.
Since blood thinners stop the body from completing its job of naturally slowing bleeding with clots, even minor injuries and small cuts can turn into serious bleeding events. However, Pradaxa is especially dangerous, because once bleeding starts, little can be done to stop it.
Patients taking the most common blood thinner, warfarin, have an antidote available if they experience bleeding. Unfortunately, with Pradaxa there is no antidote available.
For some Pradaxa users who are hospitalized in relation to a bleeding accident, doctors are forced to wait until the kidneys process the remaining Pradaxa in the body. This waiting period can delay necessary procedures, like surgery, and lead to further complications.
Bleeding is the primary cause of Pradaxa injuries, accounting for more than 2,300 adverse events in 2011; the reports were gathered by QuarterWatch, a nonprofit publication for the Institute of Safe Medication.
Symptoms of & Risk Factors for Internal Bleeding
Internal bleeding is a fairly common event. For example, a bruise is one form of internal bleeding injury. A bruise forms when the body experiences trauma.
Internal bleeding can also be the result of damage to an artery. Because the bleeding site is not exposed, these injuries often go unnoticed and worsen before a patient seeks treatment. Recognizing symptoms of internal bleeding can alert people taking blood thinners to seek medical care, before minor accidents become major emergencies.
Symptoms of internal bleeding:
It is important that patients not only know the symptoms of internal bleeding, but also the other factors that can make bleeding events more severe.
Risk factors that increase danger of bleeding:
Taking blood thinners is a proven safeguard against strokes, providing benefits to many. However, the same medication that saves your life should not also severely damage your health. Take the time to ask your doctor questions and carefully consider the benefits and risks of a new blood thinner before filling your next prescription.
Alanna Ritchie is a content writer for Drugwatch.com, specializing in news about prescription drugs, medical devices and consumer safety. This is a special guest contribution article to the eParis Extra!
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