Bath Salts and Synthetic Drugs in Central NY

A few weeks ago, I had a research article published in Clinical Infectious Diseases, "Cardiac Infection and Sepsis in Three IV Bath Salts Drug Users".  It detailed three cardiac infections seen in IV bath salts users over the previous summer in Syracuse.  These patients were terribly sick and likely would have died if they had not been seen and treated as quickly as they were.  All of them first were seen in local hospitals and then transferred to the Syracuse hospitals.  Syracuse and the Upstate/Central NY area has had terrible issues with bath salts and other synthetic drugs in the past few years.  There have been some horrifying incidents and families and individuals have been hurt.  Meanwhile, a local "entrepreneur" managed to make a decent fortune off of this epidemic.  He has since pleaded guilty to drug distribution.

Steuben County did not manage to escape this phenomenon.  I hope that, with the shut-downs of the storefronts that were selling these chemicals, the tide has turned.  Health care is about people taking care of others in their community, and, as someone training for a health care career, it is frustrating to see things like the bath salts retailers attempting to make money off these drug sales regardless of the suffering that it imposes on their customers and their communities.

Healthy Families Steuben

This month I am writing on health care teams in Steuben County, and I'd like to focus on an interesting organization.  Healthy Families Steuben is part of the larger Healthy Families NY group of organizations, funded by the state government.  Starting in the pre-natal period and continuing through to age 5 or pre-school, the organization identifies at-risk families and then works to facilitate "positive parent-child interaction and healthy childhood growth and development".  The team there consists of one Program Manager, three Supervisors, one Family Assessment Worker, and nine Family Support Workers for a total of 14 people.  The Family Assessment Worker assesses whether the program is appropriate for the family situation.  Referrals are received from the two local hospitals, Corning and St. James Mercy.  The goal of the intervention is to improve child mortality and the family environment in the client families.  Steuben has been relatively successful in these efforts.  The infant death rate in the county is 2.6/1000, as compared to 5.1/1000 in NYS as a whole.
By working together in teams, whether between different individuals in an existing group or between organizations, such as the Institute for Human Services, which brings together many human services organizations in Steuben and other areas of the Southern Tier, we can make sure that individuals and communities receive the care they need.