Wake Up Tri-Counties RaeAnn Talks September Outreach Event, PSA Test Special, Labor Day Closure, CPR Classes, and Insurance Navigators

0:00Welcome to the Wake Up Tri Counties live morning show. It's time for another interview with Ken Peel on Wake Up Tri Counties. Interviews air on weekdays at 7-11am and 8-30am. Good morning, welcome to Wake Up Tri Counties. Ken Peel here, also ran tuckers here from the Henry and Stark County Health Department. Good morning. Boy, I can feel the palpable excitement at that introduction that I was here today. Hang on, should I redo that? And ladies and gentlemen. Thank you, that's a little bit better. Okay, that way now I know we're going to get to work here. So as usual, a lot of different topics to get to work. Yeah, well that's what I like about it because it's never the same boring thing. Never a dull moment. Right, we never know what's happening. It's a little schizophrenic at times, but that's okay. It keeps everybody. Pay attention. Exactly.

1:00They got to pay attention, right? So one thing that went out yesterday, just at the end of the day, is the fact that in the state of Illinois we've had our first human case of West Nile virus. Yeah. And usually when that announcement is made, it gets people's attention. Sure. And quite honestly, yeah, it's important to note, but we also have to put it in perspective. So this is not an unforeseen thing. This happens about this time with the vector arc that you have with things like West Nile. So what we do know is we have the first human case out of Piot County, but we have as many as maybe three. Where is Piot County? It's up north, I think. Okay. Oh, you had to do a geography team. Do you have any counties in this state? Well, I listened to R.F.D. today. I know a lot. And they say counties I'm going, what? Where is that? I do believe it's more up north. Okay. There you go. I feel safe in that. All right, but please don't do that to me. All right.

2:00So, but there are actually maybe three other probable human cases that they're considering too. But having said that in so far in the state of Illinois, we have 50 Illinois counties that have a positive test pool. Okay. That, you know, either a horse or a mosquito pool that we have activity of West Nile virus. Yeah. In 2025, last year we actually had 73 Illinois counties. Oh, wow. Now they still will pop before the first freeze. Yeah. But we are sitting at 50 last year. It was at 73 counties, but we had 150 human cases last year. Okay. So even though we know of one confirmed, possibly three more, we're still below, but again, we have told the first freeze and then we actually had 10 deaths. So what this does is I don't want people freaking out, but I also want them to keep that in mind that it can affect our health. Last year, 10 deaths linked to this, 150 cases.

3:02So it is a good time to remind people that, you know, to follow, especially going into the holiday weekend. Yeah. So we have to be very careful with the virus, reduce, repel, and report. And especially with the holiday weekend next weekend and a lot of outdoor activities. Yeah. A lot of people are going to be out at different things, especially during, as we like to call it, feeding time. That's right. Yes. Although I have to say I was doing some work outside on my home, not during feeding time. Yeah. And I got it up just as well as any other time. Yeah. I thought, Ryan, go get some repellent because you're always telling people about this. That's right. So keep these things in mind. So keep these things in mind. So keep these things in mind. So keep these things in mind. Not as I do. You know, but you know, you had a paintbrush in your hand. And I got to go down the ladder and stuff like that. But I did, I stopped myself. I was able to do that. So it just keeps people, you know, that on people's awareness. And really mosquitoes are going to be an issue till probably sometime in October when we get our first hard freeze.

4:03Yeah. So keep that in mind. So that was one thing. We do have some exciting news. We have our September 12 communities and 12 months event set. Okay. So this time we are getting to Anna one. We will be at the Purple Onion restaurant on Friday, September the 18th from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. We're going to be offering people when we do these 12 communities and 12 months. We just like to get out to different locales, different communities. We've been doing it since the beginning of the year. And we've gotten out all over the place. We've been down in Stark County. We've been on the west side of the county. We haven't been to the Adkinson Anowon area yet. And our health care navigator had an event there last week. And she said she had such a great crowd. And it was a great site to do. So we've turned that around. And they were willing to let us come. Yeah. So thanking the people at the Purple Onion. And Anna one, we will be there again on Friday, September the 18th from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. When we do these, we offer the free acceptance and disposal of home expired or unused medications.

5:09So especially if you live in the Anowon area. And we always accept them at our office locations in Kiwani, Kelona and Tulan. But sometimes it's like if you can save yourself the drive and you live in the Anowon adkinson area, it's probably worth it to drop by on the 18th at the Purple Onion. And just give us those unused and expired medications. And we will dispose of them correctly. You know, back in the day, used to always be, oh, we'll flesh them down the toilet. Right. We now know that that contaminates our groundwater. Right. And so I would encourage people to go to our social media sites. Also go to our website. Because when you see the announcement release or posting on our 12 and 12 events, you will also have a link that takes you to instructions. Or, you know, really, what can we accept as far as expirator unused medications? How we want them presented to our staff? Yeah. Any personal information taken off, you know, a prescription bottle, what have you. So a couple other things.

6:09We also offer free blood pressure screenings when we're there. We have a lot of giveaways and health information. And these have just been such a fun thing for our staff to go out. Sure. Remind people about the services available through the health department and our first choice healthcare locations. And it's really a boots on the ground kind of promotion, which we like, old school kind of things. Yeah. And getting out to different businesses and we've had a great time. Yeah. Is this the first year you've done the 12 and 12? We did it a couple of years ago right after the pandemic. Okay. And then we took a year off. But it's such a, you know, to try to find different events. Yeah. Obviously during the summer. Yes, good. Yeah, right. We have so many events that you've been doing. There's so many things from. Yes. For sure. And we want to be strategic. So this, these aren't just the events we've done, especially during the summer. Yeah. We've been out to a lot of them. But we want to look like we want to try to get to each area. Yeah. And we started off the year and did some great ones. We got over to areas we didn't, we kicked it off in alpha at the alpha pharmacy, the aloe farmacy.

7:11Yeah. And then we were over an orient at cash cow coffee shop. Yeah. And just it's been so great, you know, supporting small businesses in our communities. There's a lot of these have fallen in that. We went to the coffee shop in Toulin, West Main Coffee. Yeah. A lot of different places, a lot of small town businesses. And just by being there supporting them and hopefully giving them some focus of attention. Sure. And it really is. It's, you know, promoting and protecting the health of our community starts at this kind of ground level. And whenever our staff can go out to events and, and remind people about what we do because we say it every week, what good is it to have this program, or this service, or this grant if people aren't accessing these services and really making a difference in their health. Yeah. So that's really what these 12 and 12 events are about. And we're switching gears again as of Tuesday, a change in our calendar. Okay. So all of those things that we've been talking about in August are pushed aside. In that hard August is almost over.

8:11It's crazy. And yet it's a long month. I know. It's 31. Yeah. But it just seems like we just started August. And it's funny. Just in the last two days, I've had three people say that. Yeah. So you are not in the minority at all. Yeah. I was out at Walmart picking up some supplies for the health department. My cashier said, oh my gosh, you can't believe that August is almost over. Yeah. We tend to fill it a little bit more because of the excitement that's going to be happening next week in Kiwani. Yeah. So we really key into that as well. But September is coming. Yeah. So we're starting on Tuesday. And one of the designations that we really want to push is something that's very important with men's health. A lot of times we focus on family health or women's health or child health. And those are important. Sometimes the men fill a little left out. Well, we wouldn't want to have that. No, we don't want to. We don't want to hear about that. He's like, don't even meltbash. Don't even start. Don't start it. Okay. Well, we have September, which is prostate cancer awareness month. And for the last couple of years, we've been running a special.

9:12We actually do a cash only $10 prostate specific antigen or the PSA test. Okay. So if when talking with your healthcare provider, you've hit one of those ages or looking at your family history, they're like, okay, I think I think it wouldn't be a bad idea to see what your PSA level is. Yeah. Yeah. This is what we're talking about. Now, this can be done at our first choice healthcare locations in Kiwani or Tulan. It can be a standalone test. You can only, you can just do the $10 PSA. But a lot of times people will combine that with a lab special that we will actually be talking about next week. Okay. We're going to be doing the fall special, which is that general health panel for $50, which is a huge savings. Yeah. And we'll talk about that next week. But that you can add it to another screening too. Okay. So really increasing your savings. A lot of people will do this stuff in the spring. When we run that special. Yeah. But this time we're attaching the PSA because of prostate cancer awareness month. So that is, it can be a standalone or it can be cash only now.

10:14Who can actually access this? The PSA test is open to all men ages 50 to 64. Okay. So if you fall in that, no problem. Come into the low locations. Make your appointment. $10. You're good. But we can also open that up based on your family history. So if you're a man younger than 50, but you have a first degree family member, meaning a father or a brother or a son who's been diagnosed with prostate cancer, you can get that test as well. Males under 50, however, will need a physician's order for the screening. That's really not hard. You just call your health care provider. You say, I'm having this PSA test done at first choice in Q1 or two long, whichever one. They will just send that doctor's order either with you physically or they can send it to our offices. So it's a fairly easy thing. With the PSA, there's no fasting, which is necessary. If you combine it with a general health panel, yes, then you will probably have fasting.

11:16And again, they are done at our Q1 location or our two-loan location throughout the month of September. Okay. We're talking about that throughout the month because it's an important thing for people, especially gentlemen. So any wives out there or mothers or aunts or whoever is really prod that male in your life. Yeah, that's what they mean. See how I'm just creating a healthy dialogue in all families. Take out the trash and go get the PSA. Just do it. See, again, I am so, you know, just profiling people to do. But, you know, you do what you can in public health. You use whatever you can if it's emotional blackmail. If it's free giveaways, it's all about protecting and improving the health of our community. I see. Okay. Now that we know what the rules are, now we know we can play. Exactly. I know. But people are used to me by now. Okay. Another thing that we want to remind people about is that we actually do the monthly CPR classes.

12:19Oh, yeah. Throughout, um, through the health department, heart disease is the leading cause of death for men and women in the US. And that's why we encourage people to take a CPR certification class. Now, sometimes you in your job need to have that certification updated or even if you don't, you might be in a job where you're like, you know what? I feel like that would be a good training to have. I feel with the public. It's not a bad thing. It doesn't take a lot of time. We encourage people to learn to save a life and learn, learn CPR. The training will teach participants to recognize and care for breathing and cardiac emergencies in infants, children and adults. Yeah. Instructions also given on how to recognize emergencies and actions to take and understanding the role of AEDs, which is automated external defibrillators. Say that 10 times fast. Uh, in the cardiac chain of survival, CPR classes are held the fourth Tuesday pretty much at the health department. They're held here in Kiwani. Uh, the classes run only from four to six. So it's not a big investment in time.

13:20Yeah. And yet how many times have we seen stories of people having cardiac emergencies and you hear, they might not have survived if someone in the crowd didn't know CPR. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you never know what you never know. And it's something that's important. Now a lot of family members might have a person who it's a good idea because you're your significant other or your father or your mother or your child has maybe hard issues. Yeah. And it's important for family members. Sure. I remember back in the day when my niece was in the NICU. She was a premature baby. And a lot of our family members before she was released at home. A lot of us got that CPR training just to have it. Yeah. You know, it's important. It's one of those things. And the fact that you can get that here locally. We do it once a month is great. An easy way of signing up for the class is actually if you see our post or if you go the website, there's a link right to the page that will you can self register on that link. Okay. Or and you can actually pay on a link as well.

14:20So you would never have to even call or, you know, come to the office itself. We can do that. I'll digitally. But if you do have questions, feel free to give us a call at 8 5 2 0 1 9 7 extension 250. But this is something I encourage people to keep in mind. Yeah. For sure. It's a good thing to take advantage of, especially if you need that kind of training, whether it's professional or personal. Sure. A couple of other quick things. Our insurance navigator, the get covered Illinois navigator is going to be at quite a few different events. The list is fairly long. So I would just encourage people to go to our Facebook, go to our social media presence and look at those. We post those every weekend. Okay. The events that are coming up. And you can, if you're, if you're losing health coverage, if you're looking to change your health coverage, give us a call. We have specially trained health insurance navigators through the state of Illinois that can really help you. That's good. You know, and just ask people who know better. Sure. I'm always reminding people. And then finally, one thing I want to remind people, it's actually happening today.

15:21We talked about it last week. Is we're having an open house at our WIC office. And in Qwani here at 109 Southburg Boulevard. So just down from here. Right. And it's press feeding awareness month. So this open house is from 2 to 4 today, Thursday, August 27th. So any families that are, you know, expecting mothers or new mothers that have questions. About breastfeeding obviously come. We have our new breastfeeding room that is, we'll have our peer counselor there to answer any questions. But really, it's a good time to stop by our WIC office and see all of the services that are available to young and growing families. Yeah. And stop in, pick the brain of our staff and say, hey, maybe there's a program that your family could utilize. One thing especially right now when everybody's filling the crunch at the grocery store. See if maybe you qualify for WIC. A lot of people think, oh, well, I can't qualify for WIC. I'm not a medicaid or that's, that's not a determining factor. They take a look at, um, are you a woman who's pregnant?

16:24Do you have a young child in the age of five? What have you? Are you income eligible? But they also look like, how many kids do you have in your family? What's your income? So working people definitely qualify and, and they can give you that WIC card. You go to the grocery store and it helps you out. And I think everybody could use a little bit of help at the grocery store. Absolutely. And it helps you with the prices of gas and electricity, food and everything else is just crazy. It is crazy. You know, and everybody's filling the pinch. There's not anyone that's not filling the pinch. Mac and cheese and ramen are high sales right now. I can only imagine everybody's on that collegiate diet. Yeah, exactly. We're all thinking back about, we used to eat on those days when you're like, oh, rice and beans, baby. I've got two bucks for the week to get through. How can we make that go farther? Which is an important aspect to the WIC program. To not only do they just give people this help at the store, but they also do a lot of nutrition education. And they help families, okay, what are the items that WIC will help us purchase? How can we make those last longer?

17:25How can we get more bang and nutritional bang for our buck? And so a lot of times when people say, well, you know, that's a handout or what have you. I can't imagine anyone saying that in these days, and age. Food scarcity is something real, and it's really affecting the people out there. But we're also educating. Sure. And that's good. That's a way of creating, you know, healthier families. So anything we talk about again, obviously go to your website, your digital presence. Yeah. Jen's always great about passing that along. Yeah. Go to our Instagram, and our Facebook, and Twitter, and you can hit those links, and you'll learn more about everything we talked about. Yeah. How did your healthcare home healthcare thing go? Yeah, but really well. Yeah. And I've been seeing people go in and out the office, but we're always looking for that. That just because we have that hiring event, this is for the home care assistance. Yes. Those people that help the disabled and elderly in their home. We had an event last Friday. Went really well at the Kiwani location. This is not the end of it. Sure. We are always on the lookout, and it's not just Kiwani area.

18:26Anyone throughout Henry and Stark counties, if you're someone who's retired, if you're someone who just wants to a part-time job that they can believe in, with competitive pay, flexible hours, and rewarding work, give us a call. We're always on the lookout for those home care assistance. Very good. Sounds good. That is Ray Antucker from the Henry and Stark County Health Department. Here on Wake Up Tri Counties. Thank you for listening to Wake Up Tri Counties with Ken Peel. Interviews air on weekdays at 7.11am and 8.30am.