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PAGE 2A BARROW NEWS-JOURNAL WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2021 Braselton nurse testifies about workplace violence against health care workers By Tim Darnell Capitol Beat News Service ATLANTA — A veteran nurse who was allegedly attacked by a violent patient was one of sever al speakers Sept. 23 before a state Senate study committee formed to look into violence against health care workers. “I was attacked by a patient who had already attacked one of our technicians,” a nurse who identi fied herself only as Destiny, said. “While I was trying to de-escalate the situation, the patient lunged at me, grabbed my hair and twisted it in her hands. I was punched and kicked several times; I was bit; and she tried to drag me into the bathroom.” Destiny, who works at North east Georgia Health System's Bra selton hospital, said it took five nurses and three security guards to restrain the patient. She said she suffered a back injury, multiple scratches and bruises, and weeks of headaches and anxiety as a court date nears. “I’ve been asked multiple times, am I sure I want to press charges,” she said. “The patient and her fam ily have requested my home ad dress, and now they know where I am. I work 12- and 14-hour shifts, and I have a son and daughter who are sometimes home alone. “We are here to take care of pa tients,” she said. “We are not here to be harmed.” According to a study from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, health care work ers account for approximately 50% of all victims of workplace violence. But Deborah Bailey, executive director of government affairs at Northeast Georgia Medical Cen ter, told the committee 75% of all workplace assaults in the U.S. in volve health care workers. “Only 30% of nurses and 26% of physicians actually report those incidents,” Bailey said. “Violent altercations are so common now that most employees consider them just part of the daily job.” Workers in health care settings are four times more likely to be assaulted than workers in private industry, according to the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. “Alarmingly, the actual num ber of violent incidents involving health care workers is likely much higher because reporting is volun tary.” the commission stated. Kevin August, a veteran former police officer and FBI official and now director of security at Grady Memorial Hospital, said any legis lation addressing attacks on health care workers must come with en forcement powers. “Training and more staffing are imperative, but if police aren't en forcing the laws and judges aren't punishing it, this problem will never be solved,” he said. Lindsey Caulfield, chief mar keting and experience officer at Grady, said health care is the fastest-growing industry in the nation, and health care and so cial service workers are five times more likely to suffer vio lent workplace injuries than other workers. “Eighty percent of these workplace violence incidents in healthcare settings are patient on provider,” Caulfield said. Anna Adams of the Georgia Hospital Association (GHA), said rising cases of violence are occurring throughout the state, not just metro Atlanta. “The pandemic has highlighted our major workforce shortage,” she said. “These types of attacks are often covered under worker's comp, and figures show 22% of these claims are filed due to in juries inflicted by a patient, a member of a patient’s family, or a co-worker.” Dr. Kathleen Toomey, commis sioner of the Georgia Department of Public Health, said stresses brought on by the pandemic, cou pled with easy access to social media, are also factors. “One nurse who was involved in an attack had her home address posted on social media, where the public was invited to harass her,” Toomey said. “At one north Georgia mobile vaccination site, the staff were heckled and intim idated to such a degree they were forced to close the site.” Adams said a GHA survey shows most Georgia hospitals see violence against health care workers from mentally ill pa tients or patients suffering from behavioral health issues. State lawmakers passed a reso lution creating the study commit tee earlier this year. Its mission is to look into the problem of vio lence against health workers in the state. Kemp calls early November special legislative session for redistricting By Dave Williams Capitol Beat News Service ATLANTA - The General Assembly will meet Nov. 3 to begin a special session to redraw Georgia's congres sional and legislative dis tricts. Gov. Brian Kemp an nounced the date for the session in a proclamation Sept. 23. Under Georgia law, the legislature must adopt new district boundaries every 10 years to account for popu lation shifts reflected in the U.S. Census. Two legislative commit tees, one from the Georgia House of Representatives and one from the state Sen ate, held hearings across the state during the summer to gather public feedback ahead of drawing the new maps. Lawmakers heard an ear ful from representatives of civil rights and voting rights groups calling for new dis trict lines that accurately reflect population gains by minority groups during the last decade. But if the past is any in dication, the party in control of the General Assembly — in this case, the Republicans — will draw maps aimed at regaining losses during the last two election cycles in both the legislature and the state’s congressional dele gation. With dramatic growth having occurred in metro Atlanta and some parts of North Georgia since 2010, the maps also are expected to shift more legislative dis tricts north of Interstate 20. Rural counties in the south ern half of the Peach State likely will see a reduction in the number of districts re flecting losses in population sustained by those areas. Among other things, law makers during the special session also will be asked to ratify executive orders Kemp issued in May to sus pend the collection of state gasoline and diesel fuel tax es. The governor acted after the shutdown of the Colo nial Pipeline disrupted fuel supplies. However, the special ses sion will not include legis lative proposals to address the crime wave that has hit Georgia during the past 18 months. Kemp had indicat ed in July that he planned to put crime on the agenda for the special session. Also absent will be dis cussion of whether the state should expand its Medicaid program to cover more un insured Georgians. Demo crats have been calling for adding Medicaid to the spe cial session agenda, but the governor has consistently opposed the idea due to the costs. The special session like ly will run at least into the week of Thanksgiving. The last redistricting special ses sion, which took place in 2010, lasted for two and a half weeks. Red Cross blood drive planned in Auburn The American Red Cross will hold a blood donation drive from 1-6 p.m. Wednes day, Oct. 6, at the Perry Rainey Center, 16 College St., Auburn. The Red Cross announced this week that it is experiencing an emergency blood and platelet shortage and must collect 10,000 ad ditional blood products each week over the next month for the blood supply to recover and meet hospital and patient needs. Donors of all blood types - especially type O - and platelet donors are urged to make an appointment to give now and in the weeks ahead to overcome the current shortage, ac cording to a news release. Blood donor turnout has reached the lowest levels of the year as many delayed giving amid a return to the workplace and in-person learning, as well as a recent surge in COVID-19 cases across the country due to the delta variant, officials said. As cases spiked in August, blood donor participation decreased about 10%, but blood product dis tributions to hospitals have remained strong, significantly outpacing blood donations in recent weeks, officials said. The national Red Cross blood inventory is the lowest it’s been at this time of year since 2015, with less than a day's supply of certain blood types in recent weeks. The supply of types O positive and O negative blood, the most needed blood types by hos pitals, dropped to less than a half-day supply at times over the last month — well below the ideal five-day supply, according to the release. “Fall is typically a time when the blood supply rebounds as donors are more avail able to give than during the busy summer months, but this year has presented a unique and serious challenge,” said Dr. Pampee Young, chief medical officer for the Red Cross. “While it’s clear the pandemic con tinues to weigh heavily on our minds, the Red Cross asks the public to remember do nating blood and platelets is essential to the many patients that rely on lifesaving transfu sions every day.” Make an appointment to give blood or platelets by using the Red Cross Blood Donor App, visiting RedCrossBlood.org or calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733- 2767). Those who come to donate in October will receive a link by email to claim a free Zax- by's Signature Sandwich reward or get a $5 e-gift card to a merchant of their choice, ac cording to the release. (Terms and conditions apply. Additional information and details are available at RedCrossBlood.org/Zaxbys.) To donate blood, individuals need to bring a blood donor card or driver's license or two other forms of identification that are required at check-in. Individuals who are 17 years of age in most states (16 with parental consent where allowed by state law), weigh at least 110 pounds and are in generally good health may be eligible to donate blood. High school students and other donors 18 years of age and younger also must meet certain height and weight requirements. BLOOD DRIVE SAFETY Each Red Cross blood drive and donation center follows the highest standards of safe ty and infection control, and additional pre cautions — including face masks for donors and staff, regardless of vaccination status — have been implemented to help protect the health of all those in attendance. Donors are asked to schedule an appoint ment prior to arriving at the drive. Ossoff, GOP’s Grassley team on bipartisan rural opioid epidemic relief By Tim Darnell Capitol Beat News Service ATLANTA — In a nation’s capital seem ingly more hopelessly split by violent parti san rhetoric than ever, Georgia Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff and Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley from Iowa have introduced a bill designed to help rural communities fight the opioid epidemic. On Sept. 22, Ossoff and Grassley intro duced the Rural Opioid Abuse Prevention Act, which they said would help ensure ru ral communities experiencing a high level of opioid overdoses have the resources they need to respond to the crisis. The program aims to reduce opioid over dose deaths in high-risk rural communities while raising awareness about local opioid use and substance abuse. “Like so many Georgians, I’ve lost friends to the opioid epidemic,” Ossoff said. “My bi partisan bill with Sen. Grassley will fund ef forts in rural communities to prevent and treat addiction and to save lives.” “We’ve made some progress in fighting the opioid crisis, but with overdose deaths rising, Congress needs to act,” Grassley said. “Our bill will help communities in Iowa and across the country to prevent and handle any surge in opioid overdoses. The two senators said their bill would: •identify current gaps in prevention, treat ment. and recovery services for individuals who interact with the criminal justice system in rural areas. •increase or create new efforts to address the opioid crisis in the community. •dedicate funding to local governments and organizations with a documented history of providing services to rural communities or regions highly impacted by substance abuse. Several national health and law enforce ment praised the senators’ effort. “This legislation will help rural commu nities across the nation receive grant fund ing to reduce opioid deaths by formalizing the Department of Justice rural responses to the opioid epidemic initiative,” said Alan Morgan, CEO of the National Rural Health Association. “As the opioid epidemic con tinues to worsen, it is critical that the federal government continues to invest in success ful programs that help save lives, particular ly in rural areas.” “The opioid epidemic in rural America is unprecedented in our history,” accord ing to a statement from the Small & Rural Law Enforcement Executives’ Association. “Many lives have been lost and families tom apart. Rural and tribal communities across our country continue to struggle with this epidemic and the COVID pandemic has made the drug overdose epidemic worse. “Rural and tribal law enforcement are dealing with an increase in overdoses from illicit fentanyl, prescription opioids and her oin. Passing the Rural Opioid Abuse Pre vention Act would provide resources to help rural communities combat opioid overdoses and provide alternatives to incarceration.” “Additional substance abuse and addic tion resources are desperately needed in all communities but particularly in rural com munities where services and resources are lacking,” the Partnership to End Addiction wrote, “We hope this program will help to reduce the devastation of opioid overdoses on individuals and their families in rural communities.” COVID continLied from 1A individuals who received a Pfizer-BioNTech pri mary series at least six months ago. Those guidance for re ceiving boosters includes: •recommended for peo ple 65 years and older and residents in long-term care settings. •recommended for peo ple ages 50-64 with under lying medical conditions. •People ages 18-49 with underlying medical conditions may receive a booster based on their individual benefits and risks. •People ages 18-64 who are at increased risk for COVID-19 exposure and transmission because of occupational or institu tional setting may receive a booster, based on their individual benefits and risks. Only the Pfizer-BioN Tech vaccine has been authorized as a booster dose, and the above rec ommendations will only apply to individuals who received the Pfizer-BioN Tech COVID-19 vaccine for their primary series, according to a news re lease. “DPH continues to stress the importance of vaccination for all Geor gians aged 12 and older,” officials said. “Vaccina tion is our best tool to protect lives and stop the spread of COVID-19 in our state.” Pets continLied from 1A “We urge community members to take advantage of this free resource to ensure the health and wellness of our community's pets.” “It is heartbreaking when any pet suffers or dies from a disease that could have been prevented. It is further exacerbated when un vaccinated pets come into busy shelter ken nels, where these deadly diseases can spread quickly, resulting in multiple deaths, sky rocketing expenses, and hindering saving pet lives,” added Susanne Kogut, president of Petco Love, “By creating greater aware ness and making this crucial preventative care more accessible to pets not currently receiving these lifesaving vaccines, we can prevent the dangerous spread of disease.” For more information about vaccine dis tribution, contact Leftover Pets, Inc. at 770- 307-3499 or clinic@leftoverpets.org. To learn more about Petco Love's lifesaving impact, visit PetcoLove.org. $ 5 00 0FF Ticket 0t s 2(f° Or More. Valid with coupon Mon.-Thurs. only. La Hacienda Commerce La Hacienda Braselton 173 Steven B. Tanger Blvd. 5391 Highway 53 706-335-7458 706-654-0070 I The Original Mexican Restaurant! Not affiliated with any other restaurant. | SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY Applications & Appeals We Do All The Hard Work! 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