14 People Hospitalized In Serious Carbon Monoxide Leak At Ohio Hotel

ABC News: 14 Guests At Ohio Hotel, Including At Least 6 Children, Hospitalized After Carbon Monoxide Leak
Fourteen guests at an Ohio hotel were hospitalized, including some who are in critical condition, due to a "life-threatening" carbon monoxide leak, police said. Police responded to several 911 calls Saturday evening of people found unconscious around the pool area of the Hampton Inn in Marysville, Ohio, police said. Marysville is a suburb of Columbus. (Pereira and McDuffie, 1/30)

San Francisco Chronicle: The Pandemic Exacerbated S.F.’s Overdose Epidemic. 2021 Data Shows Just How Much
In 2021, preliminary data shows 650 people died of accidental drug overdoses in San Francisco. That’s about 60 fewer than in 2020, when overdose deaths spiked across the U.S. as measures to curb the virus isolated people and shut down or disrupted services for those dealing with substance use. Last year was also a time of a new level of urgency and awareness surrounding the overdose epidemic in San Francisco, with the city implementing new approaches to curb it. It’s not yet clear if the small decline in deaths — about 60 fewer in 2021 than 2020 — is proof that the city’s various response programs are making a dent. (Jung, 1/30)

AP: Study Finds Litany Of Mental Health Issues At Vermont Prison
Staff and inmates at the Vermont state prison in Springfield have high rates of suicidal thoughts, anxiety, depression and other mental health issues, according to a survey conducted by University of Vermont researchers. According to the survey done last June, 49% of staff at the Southern State Correctional Facility developed anxiety since starting their career, 46% developed depression, 43% became overweight or obese, 40% developed high blood pressure and 39% developed post-traumatic stress disorder, The Times Argus reported. (1/30)

WUSF Public Media: This Tampa Nonprofit Uses A Holistic Approach To Treat Vets With Post-Combat Trauma 
In 2019, 6,261 veterans died by suicide, a rate that was 52% higher than that for nonveteran adults. A Tampa nonprofit founded by a former special forces colonel is working to lower the risk to vets by using a holistic approach to help them deal with trauma and continue to find purpose in life after their service. Damon Friedman is president and founder of SOF Missions, which provides free five-day health clinics called “Be Resilient” for veterans. Friedman said that he believes trauma is processed in multiple domains, so he uses what he calls a “whole health” model to address psychological, social, physical, and spiritual wellness. (Bruner, 1/30)

Kansas City Star: Kansas Mothers Want Help Lowering Maternal Mortality Rate
When Stacey Knoell, executive director of the Kansas African American Affairs Commission, gave birth to her second child, a C-section at 39 weeks, she heard the doctor say, “She’s bleeding.” “With those two words, ‘She’s bleeding,’ I feared I would become just another statistic in a long line of Black women who died in childbirth,” said Knoell, who was at high risk of complications because of previous surgeries on her uterus. About 700 U.S. women a year die during pregnancy, child birth or from complications within 12 months. Black women are three times more likely to succumb from pregnancy-related causes than white women, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Maternal mortality can be preventable if correct steps are taken, the CDC said. (Peterson, 1/30)

AP: Universal Health Care Bill Faces Deadline In California
California Democrats must decide Monday whether to advance a bill that would make the government pay for everybody’s health care in the nation’s most populous state; a key test of whether one of their most long-sought policy goals can overcome fierce opposition from business groups and the insurance industry. A bill in the state Legislature would create the nation’s only statewide universal health care system. It’s still a long way from becoming law, but Monday is the last chance for lawmakers in the Assembly to keep the bill alive this year. (Beam, 1/31)