Agreed-upon procedures report on the City of Harper, Iowa for the period November 1, 2013 through October 31, 2014

Agreed-upon procedures report on the City of Harper, Iowa for the period November 1, 2013 through October 31, 2014

Agreed-upon procedures report on the City of Brayton, Iowa for the period September 1, 2013 through August 31, 2014

Agreed-upon procedures report on the City of Brayton, Iowa for the period September 1, 2013 through August 31, 2014

Agreed-upon procedures report on the City of Hamburg, Iowa for the period July 1, 2013 through June 30, 2014

Agreed-upon procedures report on the City of Hamburg, Iowa for the period July 1, 2013 through June 30, 2014

Agreed-upon procedures report on the City of Mechanicsville, Iowa for the period July 1, 2013 through June 30, 2014

Agreed-upon procedures report on the City of Mechanicsville, Iowa for the period July 1, 2013 through June 30, 2014

Agreed-upon procedures report on the City of Manly, Iowa for the period July 1, 2013 through June 30, 2014

Agreed-upon procedures report on the City of Manly, Iowa for the period July 1, 2013 through June 30, 2014

Agricultural Emergency in Iowa, 1933

This book contains ten articles, originally published as circulars of the Iowa Agricultural Experiment Station dealing with the Iowa Agricultural farm crisis situation in 1932 and 1933.

Agreed-upon procedures report on the City of Lone Rock, Iowa for the period July 1, 2013 through June 30, 2014

Agreed-upon procedures report on the City of Lone Rock, Iowa for the period July 1, 2013 through June 30, 2014

Preserving the health of ambulance personnel : some preliminary results from a study of pre-hospital emergency interventions

Little is known about the health of ambulance personnel, especially in Switzerland. This lack of knowledge is particularly striking in the specific field of occupational health. This study aims to identify and better understand protective and risk factors affecting the health of ambulance personnel. Both mental and physical health are considered. The approach used comprised two steps. The first step began in July 2008 and consisted in a qualitative study of real work activities performed by ambulance crews involved in pre-hospital emergency interventions. Researchers shadowed ambulance personnel for the duration of their entire work shift, in average for one week. The paper-pen technique was used to note dialogues, interactions, postural aspects, etc. When the situation allowed it, interventions were filmed. Some selected video sequences were used as a support for selfconfrontation interviews. Observations were performed by three researchers and took place in eleven services, for a total of 416 hours of observations (including 72 interventions + waiting time). Analysis, conducted by a multidisciplinary team (an ergonomist, an occupational therapist and a health psychologist), focused on individual and collective strategies used by ambulance personnel to protect their health. The second step, which is currently ongoing, aims to assess global health of ambulance personnel. A questionnaire is used to gather information about musculoskeletal complaints (Nordic questionnaire), mental health (GHQ-12), stress (Effort-Reward imbalance questionnaire), strategies implemented to cope with stress (Brief COPE), and working conditions. Specific items on strategies were developed based on observational data. It will be sent to all ambulance personnel employed in the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Preliminary analyses show different types of strategies used by ambulance personnel to preserve their health. These strategies involve postural aspects (e.g. use doorframe as a support to ease delicate manipulations), work environment adaptations (e.g. move furniture to avoid awkward postures), coping strategies (e.g. humor), as well as organisational (e.g. formal and informal debriefing) and collective (e.g. cooperation) mechanisms. In-depth analysis is still ongoing. However, patient safety and comfort, work environment and available resources appear to influence the choice of strategies ambulance personnel use. As far as possible, the strategies identified will be transformed into educational materials for professional ambulance personnel.

Characteristics of highly frequent users of a Swiss academic emergency department: a retrospective consecutive case series.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to describe the demographic, social and medical characteristics, and healthcare use of highly frequent users of a university hospital emergency department (ED) in Switzerland. METHODS: A retrospective consecutive case series was performed. We included all highly frequent users, defined as patients attending the ED 12 times or more within a calendar year (1 January 2009 to 31 December 2009). We collected their characteristics and calculated a score of accumulation of risk factors of vulnerability. RESULTS: Highly frequent users comprised 0.1% of ED patients, and they accounted for 0.8% of all ED attendances (23 patients, 425 attendances). Of all highly frequent users, 87% had a primary care practitioner, 82.6% were unemployed, 73.9% were socially isolated, and 60.9% had a mental health or substance use primary diagnosis. One-third had attempted suicide during study period, all of them being women. They were often admitted (24.0% of attendances), and only 8.7% were uninsured. On average, they cumulated 3.3 different risk factors of vulnerability (SD 1.4). CONCLUSION: Highly frequent users of a Swiss academic ED are a highly vulnerable population. They are in poor health and accumulate several risk factors of being even in poorer health. The small number of patients and their high level of insurance coverage make it particularly feasible to design a specific intervention to approach their needs, in close collaboration with their primary care practitioner. Elaboration of the intervention should focus on social reinsertion and risk-reduction strategies with regard to substance use, hospital admissions and suicide.

Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management Division, Performance Plan, FY2015

Agency Performance Plan

ECIL-3 classical diagnostic procedures for the diagnosis of invasive fungal diseases in patients with leukaemia.

Invasive fungal diseases (IFDs) continue to cause considerable morbidity and mortality in patients with haematological malignancy. Diagnosis of IFD is difficult, with the sensitivity of the gold standard tests (culture and histopathology) often reported to be low, which may at least in part be due to sub-optimal sampling or subsequent handling in the routine microbiological laboratory. Therefore, a working group of the European Conference in Infections in Leukaemia was convened in 2009 with the task of reviewing the classical diagnostic procedures and providing recommendations for their optimal use. The recommendations were presented and approved at the ECIL-3 conference in September 2009. Although new serological and molecular tests are examined in separate papers, this review focuses on sample types, microscopy and culture procedures, antifungal susceptibility testing and imaging. The performance and limitations of these procedures are discussed and recommendations are provided on when and how to use them and how to interpret the results.

Agreed-upon procedures report on the City of Ely, Iowa for the period July 1, 2013 through June 30, 2014

Agreed-upon procedures report on the City of Ely, Iowa for the period July 1, 2013 through June 30, 2014

Agreed-upon procedures report on the City of Remsen, Iowa and the Remsen Municipal Utilities for the period July 1, 2013 through June 30, 2014

Agreed-upon procedures report on the City of Remsen, Iowa and the Remsen Municipal Utilities for the period July 1, 2013 through June 30, 2014

Agreed-upon procedures report on the City of Walnut, Iowa for the period July 1, 2013 through June 30, 2014

Agreed-upon procedures report on the City of Walnut, Iowa for the period July 1, 2013 through June 30, 2014