Latest KFF Health News Stories
In Tornado Alley, Storms Are Even More Dangerous For People With Disabilities
As climate change bears down, a haphazard web of weather safeguards is a particular blow to the disabled. In Oklahoma, no state laws require homeowners or landlords to install storm shelters. If a community wants to open a storm shelter for the public, that’s up to local officials, But there’s no database that Oklahomans can consult showing where public or wheelchair-accessible shelters are located.
Coping With (Power) Loss: California’s Hospitals, Clinics, Patients Face New Reality
How are critical medical services interrupted by the loss of power and what can hospitals and clinics do to minimize the impact? This Q&A will give you some answers.
Nursing Home Safety Violations Put Residents At Risk, Report Finds
A federal audit of 19 California nursing homes released today found hundreds of violations of safety and emergency standards, putting vulnerable nursing home residents at increased risk of injury or death during a wildfire or other disaster.
If Power Outages Are California’s New Normal, What About Home Medical Needs?
Those who rely on plug-in health devices or medicine that requires refrigeration are scrambling to find ways to avoid potentially life-threatening disruptions now and in future fire season shutdowns.
California Fires Illuminate Trauma And Resilience
The chaos and evacuations prompted by wind-fueled wildfire in Sonoma County pose special challenges for people in need of ongoing medical treatment. Volunteer medical personnel have stepped up to provide care and a sense of stability.
California: trabajadores agrícolas enfrentan riesgos de salud por incendios forestales
En el condado de Sonoma, la nación vitivinícola de California, trabajadores enfrentan la cosecha de la uva con el riesgo de inhalar partículas peligrosas que genera el humo.
Farmworkers Face Daunting Health Risks In California’s Wildfires
October marks not only fire season in California, but also the peak of the grape harvest. In areas not imminently threatened by the explosive Kincade Fire in Sonoma County’s fabled vineyards, workers labored through heat and smoke, or faced lost wages.
California Hospitals And Nursing Homes Brace For Wildfire Blackouts
Facing billions of dollars in legal claims for the role its equipment has played in a spate of deadly wildfires, California utility giant Pacific Gas & Electric plans to step up efforts to cut power to broad regions of the state during high-risk weather conditions. The potential for prolonged blackouts has prompted disaster preparations by hospitals, nursing homes and home care providers.
The New West: Smoke In The Sky, A Purifier At Home
Amid forecasts for increasingly unhealthy air due to wildfire smoke, residents in Western states are snatching up home air purifiers. With good reason.
Incendios modernos presentan nuevos riesgos de salud para los bomberos
Los bomberos se enfrentan a una peligrosa combinación: la exposición al intenso calor producido por la quema de vegetación, y a los combustibles y carcinógenos más comunes en los incendios urbanos.
Modern Wildfires Pose New Health Risks For Firefighters
Studies long have linked urban firefighters’ on-the-job exposure to toxins with an increased risk of cancer. More recently, as urban-style development reaches into once remote stretches of California’s mountains and forests, wildfire crews are exposed to fuels and carcinogens more typical of urban fires. We talk with Tony Stefani of the San Francisco Firefighters Cancer Prevention Foundation about the health risks that poses for firefighters.
El legado de María: estudiantes en Puerto Rico sufren de estrés post traumático
Casi el 46% dijo que su casa estaba dañada. Más del 32% experimentó escasez de alimentos y agua. Y aproximadamente el 58% informó que un amigo o miembro de su familia se había ido de la isla.
Hurricane Maria’s Legacy: Thousands Of Puerto Rican Students Show PTSD Symptoms
A survey of more than 96,000 students finds that 7.2% reported “clinically significant” symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, according to a study in JAMA Network Open.
Mourning Paradise: Collective Trauma In A Town Destroyed
The depth of psychological damage after the fire in Paradise, Calif., may depend on how much help residents are getting now.
How To Zero In On Your Final, Forever Home While Skirting Disaster
Confronting changing health care needs, fixed incomes and problems created by climate change can be overwhelming when trying to pinpoint that dream location, but taking time and doing research makes it a dream come true, say these seniors.
Paradise Lost: Wildfire Chases Seniors From Retirement Havens To Field Hospitals
Having fled quickly — often without medications, wheelchairs or pets to comfort them — refugees from the Camp Fire manage as best they can in makeshift shelters miles from home. A virus is spreading, and medical attention is spotty.
Durante los incendios, solo ciertas máscaras protegen de las partículas tóxicas
El humo de los incendios forestales es peligroso porque contiene partículas finas que pueden alojarse profundamente en los pulmones, empeorando problemas respiratorios como el asma.
For Wildfire Safety, Only Particular Masks Guard Against Toxic Particulate Matter
As wildfires blaze in Northern and Southern California, millions of people outside of the burn zones are getting exposed to dangerous wildfire smoke. For those donning face masks for protection, only a specific mask will work.
The Storm Within: Protecting Loved Ones With Dementia During Florence
For families living with dementia, natural disasters can be particularly terrifying, heightening confusion, disorientation, anxiety and paranoia.
Podcast: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’ A Detour On A Smoking Off-Ramp
In this episode of KHN’s “What the Health?” Sarah Jane Tribble of Kaiser Health News, Stephanie Armour of The Wall Street Journal, Kimberly Leonard of the Washington Examiner and Rebecca Adams of CQ Roll Call talk about the Food and Drug Administration’s latest actions to address teenagers’ use of e-cigarettes, Arkansas’ Medicaid work requirements and news about the uninsured from the latest federal Census report.
