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Using the first day of the Fall season to promote awareness of National Falls Prevention Awareness Week (Sept. 21-25) is a clever and important concept. While past advertising campaigns have turned the plaintive plea of “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up” into a bit of a joke, falls remain the leading cause of injury for people age 65 and older. An estimated 1-in-4 older adults fall every year in the U.S. – that’s about 36 million calls. 

Dear Lompoc Valley Community:

Today we will start a new “feature” …What happened on this date in history?

In 1972, the TV series M*A*S*H debuted on CBS. In 1970, 27-year-old rock star, Jimi Hendrix, died in London. In 1851, the first edition of the New York Daily Times, which became the New York Times, was published.

The vital and hard work of our Environmental Services team was recognized this week by a national distributor of medical supplies. 

The recognition comes during Environmental Services Week. 

In his just more than 70 years of life, John Foust has been an active fellow. He played football in high school and was on an adult softball team for about 16 years. He’s fallen off horses without serious injury and has generally been physically fit. 

In the past year or so, public power agencies have begun conducting what are called “PSPS,” or Public Power Safety Shutoff, during times of extreme fire conditions or excessively high heat and winds. In Santa Barbara County, those conditions are taking place this week, and a power shut-off is possible to help reduce the risk of wildfires.

Dear Lompoc Valley Community:

As this is the anniversary of “9/11,” I will refrain from being my usual sarcastic self, and instead pay tribute to those who lost their lives, or were gravely impacted by the events of September 11, 2001. I will share one quote I particularly like, from Geraldine Brooks, “September 11, 2001, revealed heroism in ordinary people who might have gone through their entire lives never called upon to demonstrate the extent of their courage.”

Residents of Santa Barbara County have had plenty of practice dealing with high temperatures this summer – with a number of heatwaves already descending on our region in the past few months. And this weekend brings another one.

Dear Lompoc Valley Community:

On this Labor Day weekend, I would like to acknowledge our entire LVMC Team for the tremendous work they do for LVMC, our patients and their families, and our Lompoc Valley Community. We very much appreciate each and every LVMC employee!! (And, if I may, a shout out to my Mom, who was in labor on Labor Day…some years ago…which was a waste of a perfectly good vacation day for her.) 

With Flu season approaching, many people may be concerned about being able to tell the difference between whether they have contracted influenza (flu) virus or have COVID-19. Both are respiratory illnesses that are contagious and both are caused by infection. COVID-19, which many may now know, is caused by a person becoming infected with the new (or novel) coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2. 

Dear Lompoc Valley Community:

Now that we have gotten the DNC and RNC conventions out of the way, we can get some normalcy back in our lives by watching Wheel of Fortune. But seriously…no, I actually am serious.

Lompoc Valley Medical Center (LVMC) is committed to providing transparent, useful information to consumers about the quality of its care. This Hospital Quality Institute outlines LVMC’s performance on several recognized quality indicators critical to patient care. We at LVMC strive to continually improve our quality of care and believe providing accurate, detailed information about key quality indicators is critical to that goal.

Dear Lompoc Valley Community:

I will tell you something nobody knows: the Lakers are 1-1 in the playoffs, and the Dodgers have the best record in Baseball. That’s not good for you Giants fans, but at least nobody is paying attention.

With more than a dozen fires raging across California this week, and high temperatures expected for a few more days, it’s important to protect yourself from poor air quality. 

For several years, Lompoc resident “G” suffered from a nagging sensation inside his nose. It caused him problems with breathing and sleeping and he could never get relief. Finally, he was referred to Sheppard Peng, DO, MPH, a Lompoc Health otolaryngologist who treats patients with disorders of the ears, nose, and throat (ENT). 

Dear Lompoc Valley Community:

I am hoping that yesterday’s thunder and lightning unleashed its wrath on the Coronavirus. Perhaps it did, as there have been a few positive “one-week trends” (let’s take the good wherever we can find it)!