HHS supports hotline expansion

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (Rockville, Maryland) released “Adapting Community Call Centers for Crisis Support: A Model for Home- based Care and Monitoring,” a new report that recommends expanding the capabilities of poison control centers, nurse advice lines, drug information centers and health agency hotlines to assist persons at home or in public shelters in the event of public health emergencies such as biological attacks or pandemic influenza.

The report and its four appendices include strategies for using these types of community call centers in the event of aerosol anthrax attacks or the outbreak of pandemic influenza, plague or food contamination.

“Community call centers have long been a credible source that people can turn to for health care information,” said AHRQ director Carolyn Clancy, MD. “Leveraging these existing resources will allow clinics, outpatient departments and emergency departments to devote their attention to caring for those most in need of help.”

Toshiba reports X-ray installation

Toshiba America Medical (Tustin, California), a maker of medical and diagnostic imaging equipment, said the first U.S. installation of the Infinix CF-i/SP X-ray system was recently completed at Arlington Memorial Hospital (Arlington, Texas), an acute-care medical center.

Toshiba's Infinix CF-i/SP is a dedicated cardiac cath lab that features a floor-mounted C-arm with five-axis positioner that allows head-to-toe and fingertip-to-fingertip coverage and multiple angles, making it possible to obtain images without re-positioning patients.