Latest news with #Sackman
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
EARH installs 'virtual emergency room' to expand ER care
May 20—RITZVILLE — East Adams Rural Healthcare rolled out a new telemedicine system last month that officials say will improve emergency room responses dramatically. "We've used it probably a good dozen times now," said EARH Chief Nursing Officer Lurisa Sackman. "We have had nothing but positive feedback from the staff in regard to the help that it offers them, and no issues or concerns from patients." The system is called Avel eCare Emergency, and it's a video link between the hospital in Ritzville and a facility in Sioux Falls, S.D., which has on-call physicians and other providers who can talk with the patient and providers, help with diagnosis and take down vital information while the ER staff is doing the hands-on treatment. "(Patients) come into the ER to be treated, and we still will have our own staff come and assess the patient," Sackman said. "We have two cameras in two different areas (and) we will let them know that we're going to notify this telehealth service for assistance in either documentation or with evaluation and assessment. We push a little red button we call the Easy Button. It rings into Avel, and then they will start the camera and will act as if they're right there with the patient, either doing documentation for our in-person staff or actually assessing the patient if the provider needs assistance or questions with what they're seeing and treating." The Avel eCare system doesn't replace the doctors, nurses and staff at the hospital, Sackman said. Rather, it provides another set of eyes and ears, and allows them to administer potentially life-saving treatment more quickly. "When we have a true emergency, we want all of our staff to be hands-on with that patient," Sackman said. "We're going to want that camera there so that ... our patients are being treated by our staff and not sitting at a computer doing the documentation." "We are there sometimes for two-minute-type questions, or it can be upwards of four-, five-, six-hour calls that we're virtually talking back and forth to one another via a two-way audio-visual connection," said Avel General Manager and Vice President Rebecca VandeKieft. East Adams Rural Healthcare is a small hospital in a small town, but it serves an area that contains almost 21,000 people. It's also the only hospital between Spokane and Moses Lake, meaning that if a patient can't get what they need there, it's at least a 45-minute drive to the next-closest emergency room. The emergency room at EAHR averages about five or six patients a day, Sackman said. Avel eCare serves 238 emergency rooms across 15 states, VandeKieft said. Ritzville is Avel's first foray into Washington state emergency care. All Avel eCare physicians, nurses and other professionals are licensed in every state they work in, whether physically or virtually, she added. Besides benefiting the patient, VandeKieft said Avel eCare has gotten good feedback from providers and hospital staff. "We definitely do not want to replace (the local team)," she said. "But in staffing shortages, we've noticed that across the nation, it has helped in recruitment and retention of not just providers, but (also) nurses." 4962120
The Independent
05-03-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Ban criminals from pubs and sports games instead of sending them to prison, minister suggests
Criminals could be banned from pubs, sports grounds and social events under plans being considered to free up prison spaces, a minister has suggested. Courts minister Sarah Sackman said the bans, as well as mandatory work for offenders, were 'very much part of the mix' amid an ongoing government review of prison sentences. The review, chaired by Tory former justice secretary David Gauke, was launched in October to consider ways to punish offenders outside of prisons to ease the overcrowding crisis. It is taking ideas from foreign jurisdictions such as Texas, where authorities have relied on good behaviour credits for early release schemes, as well as considering home detention curfews and sobriety tags. And Ms Sackman confirmed ministers are considering proposals drawn up by the Bar Council of England and Wales to prevent offenders from attending social events. Speaking to The Guardian, she said: 'The Leveson review [into criminal courts] is running alongside David Gauke 's review into sentencing, which is looking at the issue of prisons, at the question of punishment outside of prisons, and how we reduce reoffending. 'The sorts of suggestions that you refer to are very much part of the mix. 'Do we need to make mandatory work part of the picture? All of that will be considered by David Gauke's sentencing review.' At the end of last month, Ministry of Justice (MoJ) figures showed there were 87,199 prisoners in England and Wales, the highest figure since the government's emergency October early release scheme. As well as the ongoing sentencing review, ministers have promised to find 14,000 cell spaces in jails by 2031 and cut reoffending. And the government is speeding up the deportation of foreign criminals using a crack squad of specialist staff across the prison estate to free up spaces in overcrowded jails. As well as overcrowded prisons, ministers are grappling with a staggering 73,105 backlog of court cases. A report on Tuesday warned that the record levels of crown court delays are deepening the trauma of victims and making many feel justice is 'out of reach'. And parliament 's Public Accounts Committee on Tuesday raised concerns ministers had 'simply accepted' the record-high crown court backlog will continue to grow and it will wait for the results of the Leveson Review before planning changes to tackle it. The major review led by Sir Brian Leveson is expected to report on reforms to the court system in the spring. Ms Sackman lashed out at the committee, adding that if the 'members who formed part of the previous government had done anything like what this government is doing, we wouldn't be in the position we're in today'. Justice secretary Shabana Mahmood on Wednesday said judges will sit collectively for 110,000 days in the next year, 4,000 more than allocated for the previous period, to help victims see justice done faster.
