Free Health Care for Children and Teens in Las Vegas

Children’s Free Clinic of Southern Nevada is a no-cost children’s healthcare clinic serving the 120,000 Nevadan children with no health insurance and a limited amount of options for preventing sickness. Dr. Noah Kohn is the founder of Clinics in Schools.

 

Children’s Free Clinic of Southern Nevada is a no-cost health clinic for 120,000 children that is 100% funded by donations from the community. Because they refuse to participate in a sliding fee scale they have zero infusion of federal monies. The founders of the Children’s Free Clinic of Southern Nevada believe that the “shared responsibility” platform that a sliding fee in the case of the poor is the difference in them getting check-ups for their children thus alleviating a future financial burden on an already overburdened and understaffed city hospital system.

Children’s Free Clinic of Southern Nevada Medical Director, Dr. Noah Kohn

Dr. Noah Kohn is the founder of Clinics in Schools which focuses on the 120,000 children in Nevada schools that have no health insurance. If these children get sick, their school work suffers and their chance to get out of that economic pit strangles them and another generation is lost to a cycle of poverty and unhappiness. Every human being is entitled to health care especially the youngest and most vulnerable members of society that don’t have any financial way to provide for themselves yet.

Children’s Free Clinic of Southern Nevada

Dr. Noah Kohn left the financially secure world of pediatric private practice and made a commitment to take his knowledge and training and devote his life to the underprivileged children of the world, not just his own neighborhood. He has traveled to Haiti to provide medical treatment to the victims of the Hurricane that devastated the island nation. He has been awarded a “Community Spirit Award,” by Channel 8 KLAS and the United Way of Southern Nevada. He has also been awarded the “Healthcare Headliners Award” by In Business Las Vegas. Swiss watchmaker, Frederique Constant nominated him as one of the seven considered for the 2010 Passion Award.

Services and remedies

It costs $250,000 a year to run the Children’s Free Clinic of Southern Nevada. These monies go towards rent and utilities but more importantly the monies provide children with free prescription medications, free vision screening, immunizations, wellness checkups, routine camp, school and sports physicals, laboratory services, assessment, treatment, and management of acute and chronic illnesses and injuries. Referral services to free and low cost dental and vision providers and pediatric specialists. Additional treatment services for treatment off-site include: pregnancy tests, PAP tests, Testing and treatment for STDs, and teen health exams.

Sponsorships

Many people and companies around the Nevada region donate to keep the Children’s Free Clinic of Southern Nevada financially stable. We all know that medical and prescriptions drugs are not luxuries in life. The sponsors and the companies that give to this worthy cause are owed many thanks by the community. It takes a village to rear a child and it takes a community to care for it’s sick. Nevadans all should seriously consider donating what they can to this fine organization where even a small donation will go a long way and change the life of a child. To become a sponsor of the Children’s Free Clinic of Southern Nevada, click here. To make a donation, click here. A $25 donation pays for the full vaccinations for one child, and $40 pays for acute care for one child. Can’t we all afford to care for one child?

Need care for your child or teen?

Need an appointment to the Children’s Free Clinic of Southern Nevada or more information. Contact the clinic at 702.826.2300 and find it at 1140 Almond Tree Lane, Suite #306, Las Vegas, NV 89104.

 

Sources: Children’s Free Clinic of Southern Nevada, Clinics in Schools, KTNV Channel 13 Action News

 

My Childhood Encounter With Poison Ivy

Don’t Scare a 10-Year-Old and Tell Him He Has Poison Anything!  I was 10 when I got poison Ivy and I thought I was going to die or get acne. Read about my vacation experience with The Itch that won’t quit and what we did to make it better.

 

I was 10 years old, and like every summer, we went on vacation to a place in the Catskill Mountains called the New York City Police Recreation Centre in Elka Park, New York. It was a vacation destination for the families of New York City Police Officers. It was a vacation resort with Bungalows and hotel rooms like any resort. Actually, it was a hotel at one time in its past and the City of New York purchased it for their Police Officers. I’m sure many didn’t know that this existed as it really wasn’t publicized.

Sundays at the Softball Field

A mile north of the main facilities was a ball field and on Sunday’s a casual softball game would be put together and the families would go and there would be a game and plenty of horsing around for the kids. Surrounding the ballfield were a wooded area with fauna and flora native to the Catskill mountains. Having only a knowledge of pavement and buildings, this setting was quite unfamiliar to me and the other children. Like most children at age 10, they are curious by nature and tend to wander off. We did wander off into the woods that day. After a few hours, we returned tired from an exhausting day.

The Itch

It started about a week later. And all of a sudden, I itched and then I itched some more. But my scratching the itch didn’t help, it just got red and nasty looking. So like any kid, I ran and told Mom. She looked and immediately said, “That’s poison ivy, don’t touch it.” I never heard the term but “poison” was definitely a word I knew and that scared me. I thought I was gonna die. My Mom was so calm. I wasn’t as calm cause my skin was turning red, I imagine the frantic itching didn’t help, but I remember small bumps all around the area and that definitely scared me. It scared me because there were a couple of acne faced older kids in the neighborhood and they had it bad and I thought, “Ah, so that’s how they got that acne, they have poison ivy of the face'” I immediately ran to the bathroom and closely examined my face. My mother came in and handed me gloves, they were golf gloves, and told me to wear them and not touch the area. I quickly agreed without hesitation. I didn’t want “pizza” face.

Calamine Lotion, my new best friend

The Police Recreation Centre had a nurse and the following morning; a night of no sleep because of the itch, we went to get me checked out. Sure enough my mom was right, Poison Ivy. The nurse rubbed this pink lotion on the area where it itched and it almost immediately stopped itching and I was relieved. I know now, it was Calamine lotion. I had to continue with the lotion for a week or so afterward and it was gone and I never got acne either. After that, my mom packed Calamine lotion with us when we went away, guess she learned that kids will be kids. I never had an encounter with Poison Ivy again because the City of New York sold the Police Recreation Centre and we never went back to the Catskill Mountains again. I would gladly endure another round of Poison Ivy for another week at the Police Camp. Those were the days!

 

 

Successful Parenting Skills to Rear a Successful Child

Parenting skills are not acquired instantly, they don’t appear overnight the day the child is born. The difference in parenting skills is amazingly wide. Most children grow up and reflect the skill level of their parent(s). If they grow up to be an underachiever, most times, it reflects the parent. If they grow up to be a criminal, most times, that reflects the parent(s). If they grow up to be a success, most times it is a direct reflection of good parenting skills.

 

Anyone see a cop?

Parenting isn’t being a policeman. Keeping guard over their behavior, making sure they do their homework by closely monitoring them, evaluating the people they choose to call friends, checking their facebook, assigning a curfew, etc. If you are doing this stuff and the child is already a teenager, it’s probably a long shot to correct their behavior now and re-boot their brain. You have already made your bed and unfortunately you both will have to lie in it.

 

What age do I start Good parenting activities?

Good parenting starts the day they are born but really kicks into high gear in a few years. A child begins to be able to understand “cause and effect” around the age of 3, as reported by California Department of Education study on child development. At this age they will be able to start predicting what could happen and the cause of why it happened. Age 3 is the exact time that proper parenting techniques need to be started. What you do now for the next decade will define who your child grows up to be in life.

 

The “Book of Rules”

There is no reason to lay out a “Book of Rules.” A simple set of broad boundaries and the result of what is expected is enough. No listing of what they NEED to do. Be Flexible here and work towards self recognition and let the process play out with as little direct interaction as necessary. Draconian is the antithesis to our strategy. Let the child figure the rules out by a simple exercise of putting things together in their brains by constant “invisible” reinforcement. They will use their “Cause and Effect” abilities to conclude why an action occurred. The most amazing results can happen by subtleties in teaching life skills to a child. They are more than capable as little human beings to understand cause and effect. Children learn to want things as a toddler and to cry to get those things. That’s the start of cause and effect and they don’t even know technically what they are doing.

 

“I WANT THAT!”

Children naturally want the better things in life, these are natural wants and you can use them to help you mold their minds to rationalize that when a person studies a progression happens, a cause and effect: they go to college, then they become doctors, then they buy the big house, sit in the front of the plane, shop at Neiman Marcus, drive a Mercedes Benz, and have lots of money. That’s using the “I WANT THAT” mindset to your and their advantage.

That’s the key, getting them to want to study, getting them to self impose a curfew, getting them to turn down a joint and getting them to be careful in the people they choose to associate and befriend. The major crossroads decisions of life have to be made by them and standing “policeman” won’t give them the proper life skills to consistently make the right choices and they will fail. You won’t be there when the major decisions come down the road.

 

The Classroom of Life

How do we help a child develop the skills to make the right choices for themselves? There is no better classroom to teach a child but in the community they live in. Around them, they are surrounded by people who made poor choices and people who made good choices as a child or teen. The “bad choice people” hang out on the corner without a career, work minimum wage jobs, do drugs, get arrested, get killed in gang related violence, etc. Children are also aware of the successful people around them, the “good choice people”: The teachers in their schools, the school principal, the doctor that examines them, the dentist that checks their teeth and stops their pain from a cavity, etc.. You just need to expand their thoughts a little more on what success gives them and connect success to making proper decisions on responsibilities.

 

Daily Exercise to help children use their cause and effect skills.

You are the Tour Guide of Life for your child. Take your child on your day off to a wealthy part of town. Drive slowly thru the neighborhood reinforcing the wealth and the size of the properties, the fact the house may be on the water. Tell them about the price of the house and who probably lives there and what they probably do for a living. Do this exercise regularly starting at age 3. Tell them, these people did their homework, went to college, went to medical school or grad school. Tell them these people didn’t come in late at night because they needed to be fresh the following day. Tell them that these people didn’t have premarital sex with their boyfriends. Tell them that these people didn’t use drugs or drink. You getting the picture here. They will slowly start understanding. They will also connect that these “rewards” in life are available to anyone who works hard and chooses the proper choices.

 

Eating at Taco Bell, there is a life lesson for your child

When at the Taco Bell, point out that these adult employees didn’t do their homework, had sex in high school, did drugs and drank and now earn so little money they have a problem affording rent. Tell them they will never own a home, they will never be happy in life. They will never buy a car. Sounds drastic but that’s what it will take for the message to take residence in their collective conscience.

 

Drive thru the ghetto

On a different day off, drive them thru the ghetto or poor section of crime. Show them what happens when people don’t do their homework, what a happens when they don’t get A’s on their report card, tell them, these people go to jail. Tell them exactly who lives in these places, that hey don’t own cars, don’t have access to medical treatment when sick, don’t have money to keep their teeth healthy, don’t go on vacation, etc. You are the Picasso to paint a mental picture of a life they don’t want and let the “cause and effect” of how this happened to them take root and make them actively choose not to travel the same path of failure.You getting the gist of what I am talking about here.

 

Turn off the video player “babysitter” in your car, raising this child is your job, not Barneys

Turn off the video player in the car and let your child experience life. Turn off your radio and concentrate on every drive, walk, trip to the mall, trip to the food store and treat it as a serious life lesson, because it is just that. Remember you are their Tour Guide of Life. Show them the difference in Neiman Marcus and the Walmart shopping experience. Show them the lines the poor people wait in at Walmart and the fact that there is no line in Neiman Marcus and they carry your bags to the car. Point out the difference between people flying in first class and the others in coach. Point out the 5 star hotels, walk them through their opulence, and then show them an Econolodge motel and tell them about the bed bugs. Explain to them the five days on a Greyhound Bus traveling cross country and the rich people doing it in First class in 5 hours sipping champagne and eating filet mignon. Paint that picture. You are the artist and your child’s mind is your blank canvas. Let them know the finer thing in life are possible. Just takes the right decisions. You getting this yet?

 

Responsibility and hard work are rewarded forever in life

Explain the differences in why there are different levels and how the people that did the responsible things in life get rewarded later in life and the people that are neglectful and irresponsible pay the penalty for their entire life. Keep painting, the picture is coming into focus.

 

No Guarantees

There are no guarantees in raising a child to become a good person. Some kids are just bad eggs and they will be the bums that they were born to be when they grow up, no matter what you do. But it is proven that good parenting skills can turn the odds in your favor.

 

Look in the mirror when your child is a problem child, you did it.

What you do in the first 10 years of a child’s life will echo for their entire lives. Wouldn’t it be nicer to not have to tell your child to be in at a certain time, to do their homework, to shut off the Xbox, to not do drugs. Wouldn’t it be a pleasure if you didn’t have to be a “policeman” in your own home.? It’s your choice and if your child grows up to be a high school dropout and works as a landscaper, who’s fault is that really?

Best and Worst Hypoallergenic Dog Breeds

Basic Tips to Help Allergic Families Choose the Right Dog for Their Home and Tips to Lessen Allergic Reactions

A guide to the best and worst dog breeds for people that suffer from allergies. Most people think that dog fur is the cause of their allergy. It’s most likely the dander or even the dog’s saliva that is the cause. Before you run out and avoid the “hairy” dog, check the list as you may be surprised. Information compiled from Dog Breed Info.

 

Tips to reduce allergens

• Frequent vacuuming
• Moderate bathing and grooming of pets, too much and too little encourage dander production.
• Replace rugs with tile or vinyl flooring
• Do not allow pets to lick you.
• Clean chew toys weekly in a soapy solution
• Do not allow pets to sleep in your bedroom
• Wash their bed mats on a regular basis
• Buy a portable Hepa air filtration system and run it in the room once a week where dogs spend most of their time. Best on the day of vacuuming.

Best Hypoallergenic Breeds

• Schnauzer–some argument on dander, but in most cases with a high quality diet and a regular grooming schedule should make the dog a good choice for allergic people.
  
• Maltese–coat is hair and NOT fur and the breed has no undercoat, sheds less and no dander issue. Great choice even for the definite dog allergy individual as it has been shown that they don’t have a negative reaction around the Maltese.
• Bison Frise–curly coat tends to produce less dander
• Labradoodle–wool coats repel outdoor allergens
• Portuguese Water Dog–probably the best breed to have if you or a family member suffer from allergies. President Obama’s daughter, Malia is an allergy sufferer. The Water Dog, with waterproof fur and webbed feet, is perfectly acclimated for outdoor living. This breed is perfectly happy living it’s life outdoors as long as it has shelter, water and food. I suppose this is a reason the Obama’s chose the breed as the First Family’s pet. an excellent choice knowing that it could be very happy outdoors if it became necessary to relocate the dog because of an issue at The White House and Malia’s allergy flare up.
• Xoloitzcuintli or Mexican Hairless— as the name implies, it is as bald as a cue ball.

Worst Hypoallergenic Breeds

• St. Bernard–drools excessively prone to dermatitis which cause excessive itching and the dislodging of dead skin releasing dander into the air.
• Bulldog–drools excessively and wrinkled skin harbors dander.
• German Shepherd–tendency for dry skin condition causing scratching and dander issues
• Boston Terrier–because of its own propensity for developing allergies leading to watery eyes, runny noses, and itchy skin. Tendency to cross contaminate areas in which they live.
• Pekinese–because of their reputation as a poor pet to house break. Urine is the enemy for allergic people and if this breed is chosen, make sure you use bleach to clean up any messes.

All people can enjoy the companionship of “man’s best friend”. Some people just need to be more diligent in selection and maintenance of their pets. Good luck and let me encourage anyone who is on the fence because of allergy to adopt a shelter dog as it is truly an experience a child will remember forever. Unconditional, judgment free love from an animal is sometimes the exact medicine a child needs to get through their daily stresses. It also teaches them responsibility, patience and makes them less afraid in general when they grow up. The worst thing a parent can do is shelter a child from a pet cause of allergy. The human body needs to adapt to ward off allergies and sterile environments hamper the development of a child’s immune system. So, let the child sneeze a little and get dirty, it will strengthen their body’s natural defenses.

 

Best Type of Digital Thermometer for Your Family?

People get sick all year. The flu knows no calendar or season. To combat the chances of getting sick, a basic tool to catch it quickly is the thermometer. There are many health thermometers to choose from in the local CVS or Walgreen’s. Which type is right for you? Which are the most accurate? Which are the easiest to use? Which one is best for a newborn,child or an adult? Lots of questions but we have the answers.

Which thermometer for which person?

Birth to 2 years

• First choice: Rectum
  

Age 2 to 5 years old

• First choice: Rectum
  
• Second choice: Ear
  
• Third choice: Armpit
  

Age 5 years and older

• First choice: Mouth
  
• Second choice: Ear
  
• Third choice: Armpit
  

Two types of thermometers

Mercury

the old fashioned, low tech mercury in a glass. Can be used to take temperature from the armpit, mouth or rectum. Extremely accurate but because of the chance that the glass breaks and mercury is toxic, most people have replaced them already. If you still have one, be sure to dispose of it safely in an environmentally friendly way by contacting your local trash collector and inquiring about proper disposal of hazardous materials. No throwing it into the trash can allowed.

Digital

Using heat sensors and infrared technology, digital models can be used to take temperature from the ear, armpit, mouth, rectum, and temporal region

Digital thermometer types

Ear thermometer

a non-invasive infrared device that takes temperature inside the ear canal. A fever is present if over 100.4^oF. Price ranging from $18.00 to $50.00 for budget friendly households.

Armpit thermometers

Best used when a quick check of temperature is needed. Not the most accurate and the armpit needs to be dry as well so a hot humid day is not amenable for usage. If the armpit is above 99^oF, a fever is present and a better test is necessary. Price Range is under $10 dollars to $50.00.

Oral thermometer

The old stand by method. Make sure the person has not had anything hot or cold to drink 30 minutes prior and it is very accurate. A reading above 99.5^oF. indicates temperature. Price range is under $20.

Rectal thermometer

The most accurate place to get a precise reading. Recommended for newborns. Make sure to wait after a child has taken a bath cause that could give an inaccurate reading. A reading above 100.4^oF indicates a fever and requires an immediate doctor’s visit. Under $20.

Temporal thermometers

The least accurate thermometer that is simple to use but can’t be trusted for accuracy. Uses infrared technology but too many outside factors that can give faulty readings. Fast and noninvasive but some things shouldn’t be rushed. Not recommended. Price range: Save your money.

Temperature strips

Same classification as the temporal lobe thermometers. Liquid crystal strips that are a waste of money in most cases. Proven to be highly inaccurate. Not recommended. Price range: Save your money.

Leading Brands

Some excellent choices for digital thermometers that won’t break the budget are Vicks, American Red Cross, Briggs Healthcare, Braun, and Exergen.

A temperature is the body’s first sign that it is sick and medical attention needs to be found. Accurate results trump speed and ease of collection. Better taking a few extra minutes and getting the right reading, even if it causes minor discomfort and resistance from a child.

This information should not be used as a substitute for a visit to the physician’s office.