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 The Red Cross recognizes local heroes Every year, the Orange County Chapter of the American Red Cross gives the Bravo for Bravery Award to those who perform extraordinary acts of courage to save lives or assist during disasters. This year, the Red Cross honored 12 people in Orange County for bravery, and gave awards to the first responders and supporting agencies that fought the Santiago Canyon Fire. This year’s winners include: Officer Mark Black; lifeguards John Graass, Ryan Carroll and John Moore; Red Cross volunteer Chuck Crockett, Tyron Stern, Fredd Kidd and Mike Dyott from the Boeing Company; blood donor Lee Ruecker; good samaritans Al Malm, Antonio Vasquez and Kyle Lewis; Family Award winners Alex Alvarez and Malena Hernandez; animal care services’ Jennifer Phillips; junior lifeguards Paige Bisson, Carley Zylstra and Kylie Cocinotti; and Orange County Fire Authority Crew One and Helicopter Crews 41 and 241. The Santiago Fire response recognition honored the O.C. Fire Authority and Fire Department, the O.C. Sheriff’s Department, the O.C. Sheriff’s Emergency Management Bureau, the O.C. Emergency Medical Services Team, Community Emergency Response Teams, Ready When the Time Comes, Standard Pacific Homes Corp. and W.W. Granger Inc. Identical triplets born in O.C. On July 5, at Hoag Memorial Hospital in Newport Beach, Dania Reid and her husband were blessed with identical triplet boys: Hunter, weighing 4 pounds, 15 ounces; Raedin, 4 pounds, 1 ounce; and Kaine, the youngest, at 5 pounds, 6 ounces. Triplet births are rare. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, less than 300 sets of triplets are born out of more than 2.7 million births. What makes the boys’ births even more special is that, since they occurred at only 34 weeks, it was completely unexpected – and it was a natural birth. “We didn’t find out until our first ultrasound at 18 weeks that we were having triplets,” says Dania. She was scared at first. Having worked in a neonatal care unit out of college, she knew it would be a high-risk pregnancy. “My doctor and the staff at Hoag have been so attentive and positive. They are just amazing.” Midwives make childbirth safer More than 90 percent of O.C. births are handled by certified nurse-midwives (CNMs). When CNMs are involved, the Cesarean section delivery rate is nearly 5 percent lower, while the mortality rate is nearly zero. The American College of Nurse-Midwives has recognized two Kaiser Permanente CNMs, Connie Swentek and Cheryl Pearce. Swentek, a past president for the California Nurse-Midwives Association, teaches midwifery at Cal State Fullerton. Pearce, a four-year CNM, also teaches at CSUF. On and off the mommy track Fifty-six percent of female entrepreneurs with kids have “off-ramped,” or voluntarily taken six months or more off work, according to a recent survey. The longer moms off-ramp, the harder it is to on-ramp, the survey suggests, espe-cially for women of color. Thirteen percent of Caucasian women said it was very hard to get back into the work force, compared with 20 percent of women of color. More than a quarter of the surveyed moms said they feel very guilty when they bring work home with them. They also don’t spend as much time as they’d like with their spouse. And 41 percent have missed a child’s school or sporting event. Regardless, 58 percent spend time with family on weekends. And nearly half of the mothers surveyed take time out of their work schedules for family activities. There are 10.4 million women-owned businesses in the U.S. Got pet insurance? According to Veterinary Pet Insurance Reports, pet owners are paying big bones for pets’ medical care. Vet expenses might be the last expense you need during this recession, but the VPI data might surprise you. Their analysis shows that California pet owners spend an average of $500 per pet annually – the highest U.S. average amount spent on non-routine care in 2007. Dr. Carol McConnell, VPI’s chief veterinary medical officer, says that pet owners don’t expect to spend much beyond preventive health checks and vaccinations. “Unfortunately,” she says, “that’s not what our data shows.” For details on VPI Pet Insurance, call 800.USA.PETS or visit petinsurance.com. Drink up, kids! The Orange County Department of Education and the Orange County Fire Department are collaborating to launch the Hydrated & Healthy awareness campaign. The message of the campaign is about the importance of children staying hydrated during physical activity. O.C. Superintendent of Schools, William M. Habermehl, says that food is not the most important part of an athlete’s diet; rather, “it may be the amount of fluids they drink.” Habermehl encourages parents and coaches to provide opportunities for drinking and to recognize signs of dehydration. “Don’t hesitate to call 9-1-1,” says O.C. Fire Authority Chief Chip Prather. “We’d rather go out to check on a person and cancel (the call) than miss a true medical emergency.” The Hydrated & Healthy awareness campaign will supply posters, wrist-bands and videos of coaches offering hydration tips for kids. The clips will be distributed as streaming videos to schools and agencies across the county and will be available at hydration.ocde.us. Reported and compiled by summer interns Olga Belogolova and Natasha Thakkar. |
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