Through my life, I have always been interested in science and medicine, and as such many of the topics that have caught my attention relate to these fields. Currently, many of the most prominent and costly issues are related to public health and education, caused by factors including socioeconomic inequality and health policy. These include health conditions that have become so prevalent they can be classified as epidemics, such as diabetes, obesity, and opioid addiction, as well as problems with policy such as insurance, affordability, and unnecessary care.
Since I work in the emergency department at UPMC Presbyterian and Mercy, albeit not in clinical care, and as an EMT, I have seen firsthand the consequences these problems pose to people, their families, and their communities. From example, diabetes can cause complications including stroke, and dangerously low or high blood glucose levels depending on the situation. Obesity can result in complications such as high blood pressure, heart disease, and coronary artery disease, which require long-term treatment. These issues, which often present in the emergency department, can be largely attributed to a lack of preventative care and general health education.
There are hundreds of issues associated with this field that I could research this semester. However, there are two types of cases that always strike a chord with me: driving under the influence and drug abuse. Car accidents due to driving under the influence occur early every day, especially on overnight shifts. It is important to realize these accidents are easily preventable, and completely change the lives of everyone involved. One incident that stands out occurred around 4 o’clock in the morning, when two drivers involved in a collision were brought to the emergency department as traumas. The drunk driver who caused the crash was quickly stabilized and sent to the ICU, while the other spent hours in the operating room having his forearm amputated.
Similarly, drug abuse is a problem that occurs in any emergency room daily, and affects individuals, their families, and healthcare providers responding to overdose incidents. One of the first things I learned in EMT class was how to use Narcan when responding to an overdose. However, this is much more of a public health issue than drunk driving. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the opioid overdose crisis stems from physicians in the 1990s who were misinformed by pharmaceutical companies that opioid pain relievers would not be addictive, causing large-scale misuse and abuse of these medications. This problem can be put in perspective considering currently, 80 percent of the global opioid supply is consumed in the United States. Most of the public is not well informed on potency and severity of these drugs: for example, several months ago, a police officer died of an overdose from brushing off trace amounts of fentanyl from his uniform after responding to a call. This lack of education perpetuates the already widespread problem, since many people do not realize the precautionary measures that should be taken and the effects of addiction on their physical and mental health.
By learning about these issues and observing them in person, I have developed an interest in public health and health education, which have an enormous impact on the overall healthcare system. Since I have not had the opportunity to explore these topics in depth, I am eager to learn more about the opioid epidemic to better understand its causes and consequences, and in some way contribute to a solution.
Good job narrating through your experiences as a student and EMT that further developed your interests in public health. I was glad that you ended on opioid issues since your writing seemed to have the most energy there, from my point of view. You seemed more invested and better armed with items to explore and problems to confront from your vantage point.
You note at the end that you may focus on education. What might that look like? I thought of several possibilities: what about police officers and other first responders (e.g., anecdote about police officer overdosing by exposure)? Some program to reach this population to educate? Do you want to reach out locally to Pittsburgh? Regionally? Nationally? To whom? Something with families? What about? Perhaps information on hospital visits? Just listing things off, there are many possibilities. Start to think of the attitudes you wish to change and/or the actions you want an audience to take.
Looking forward to seeing where you go with this!
Being a STEM major, I was already drawn in to the article as it pertains to the medical realm. As I was reading this, a couple of ideas sparked my interest. For the First Year Engineering Conference I wrote a paper that described the usage of Radio Frequency Identification Devices (RFID) within a hospital environment. Hospital technicians could place these chips onto medical tools, and this would enable nurses and doctors to track where specific tools were throughout the hospital. The goal was to allow doctors and nurses to spend more valuable time with a patient in need versus wasting time looking for an item. Since you are involved with UPMC Presbyterian and Mercy Hospitals, I am curious if you feel these devices would be vital and important to implement within a hospital.
In addition, another topic that I wanted to touch upon was the opioid epidemic and drug abuse that you mentioned. I agree that it is on the rise and is becoming a larger issue today. I am from a suburban town about 25 minutes outside of Pittsburgh, and earlier this month a woman just up the street from me passed away due to a heroin overdose. Granted, I did not know the woman too well, but she was the mother to a little girl. A lot of times people associate overdoses to a more urban environment, but it is crazy to think that something like this happened right up the street from me. But with the statistic that 80 percent of the global opioid supply is within the United States, it does put the situation into a more localized perspective. Not to mention, I wonder what trauma may happen to the little girl living without her mother. I am curious if you have seen cases like this where a parent overdoses and passes away. If so, do you have any inkling on what happens to the child?
I appreciate your article and look forward to reading more about the medical field!
Working in the Emergency Department allows you to see what a typical person is not able to and I think you are using that to your advantage for this article. I interned in the Emergency Department during high school, and It really allows you to see problems that you didn’t know existed or didn’t realize the severity of them.
I know you are mainly focusing on opioid addiction, but how do you propose how to decrease drinking and driving? Earlier, you mentioned that people have a lack of general health education. It seems like it is common sense that it can be very dangerous to drink and drive, and yet people do it every day. How do you stop this? How do you make people realize the importance of NOT drinking and driving? That they aren’t invincible and they are taking the choice of life out of the rest of the drivers on the road? These are questions I think about often. For either drunk driving or opioid addiction, what age level would you like to target for more education on these topics? Or would your target audience be the general public?
I am interested to see what route your project will take.