Technology is always changing and hopefully improving our lives. But, could some new technology in your car actually be putting your life at risk?
Keyless ignition cars have been on the market since 2003 but it appears the dangers associated with them are now overtaking the benefits. This new design can cause serious illness or even death from carbon monoxide poisoning. Without a traditional key to turn and remove, some people forget to shut off their car engine.
KidsAndCars.org has been documenting the hazards associated with this new technology and is calling for change to make keyless ignition vehicles safer. KidsAndCars.org has documented 18 fatalities specifically attributed to keyless ignition vehicles and even more close calls. The organization has also documented an additional 80 adult fatalities and 35 child fatalities (age 14 and under) due to carbon monoxide poisoning involving vehicles that do not have keyless ignitions.
Keyless ignition systems (push-button) work by allowing drivers to start their vehicles with the push of a button when the car senses that the key fob is nearby instead of a traditional key. Many new vehicles equipped with keyless ignition systems run so quietly it’s easy to forget the vehicle is still running as drivers put the vehicle into park and leave the vehicle. Furthermore, hybrid vehicles many times make no noise at all when stopped. When a car engine is left running, it spews out carbon monoxide in an attached enclosed garage and the colorless and odorless carbon monoxide fumes seep into the home.
“As more keyless ignition vehicles are sold, we are going to see these predictable and preventable injuries and deaths increase,” said Janette Fennell, president of KidsAndCars.org.
Some manufacturers do have automatic shutoffs and the vehicle will shut down automatically if the key is not present. Some have audible noises that sound when you open the vehicle door if you have not shut off the engine, which can easily be muffled by the sound of a closing garage door. But, the real problem is that many vehicles do not have any audible warning systems and do not shut off automatically.
Standardization is needed so drivers will receive a distinct warning if they forget to turn off their vehicle just like they currently receive a warning if their car key is left in the ignition. All keyless ignition vehicles should also automatically shut off if left running for a period of time. Drivers need to know what to expect when they are behind the wheel of any keyless ignition vehicle. If you know there’s a safety risk and you have an easy way to fix the problem, then why wouldn’t you do it in all cars?” Fennell continued.
In 2011, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) proposed a new rule and asked for comments about keyless ignition vehicle dangers. NHTSA says costs to solve the problem are ‘minimal,’ yet four years later there is still no action. Injuries and deaths continue to rise.
In August 2015, 10 big automakers including Ford, GM, Hyundai, Nissan, Volkswagen, BMW, Chrysler Fiat, Daimler, Honda and Toyota had lawsuits filed against them in carbon monoxide poisoning cases. Lawsuits may get the attention of the industry.
An internationally renowned memory and brain expert, Dr. David Diamond, professor at the University of South Florida departments of psychology, molecular pharmacology and physiology, and research career scientist at Tampa Veterans Hospital, has been studying memory-related fatalities in vehicles for the past decade. Dr. Diamond’s research examines how our brain memory systems break down when we’re stressed or distracted by important events. “Our brain is constantly multi-tasking, which involves synchronizing different brain structures to work together in harmony,” states Diamond. When life gets hectic we depend heavily on a primitive brain habit memory system, which gets us out of the car and onto the next task. But in the process, we fail to activate a different brain region which has the job of reminding us to push the ignition button. Each time we drive a car, warns Diamond, we challenge our brain memory systems to work together to function properly. But depending solely on our memory is a human factors failure which is destined to happen. When brain memory systems fail, as they do when we forget to push the ignition button upon exiting the car, we need technology to protect us, with a warning signal or an auto-shutdown process.
KidsAndCars.org suggests that drivers be particularly careful to turn off their keyless ignition vehicle. This is a serious change to our normal driving behavior after decades of being assured that our vehicles are turned off because we have the key in our hand. Please pass on our safety tips to anyone who drives a keyless ignition vehicle; it may save a life.
Based in Olathe, KidsAndCars.org (KAC) is a nonprofit child safety organization dedicated to preventing injuries and death to children in or around motor vehicles.
KAC has been pioneering a prevention movement since 1996 by promoting the highest level of awareness among parents, caregivers, legislators and the public at-large about the dangers inherent to children when in or around motor vehicles.
HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) — The National Weather Service says its preliminary data shows Kansas had 124 confirmed tornadoes in 2015 — 83 more than in 2014.
The Hutchinson News reports (https://bit.ly/1PA2Ftl ) the number of tornadoes last year tied for the fourth highest number since 1990.
Eric Metzger, a meteorologist in Wichita, Kansas, says moisture from a strong El Nino was a possible factor in 2015’s higher number of tornadoes.
Metzger said that while 124 tornadoes are above normal, Kansas experiences between 70 and 110 tornadoes every year.
The 2015 preliminary data is subject to changes, and official statistics will be released in six or eight months.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas congressman Tim Huelskamp believes his political fortunes shifted when the U.S. House named a new speaker.
He’s picked up some clout among fellow Republicans but doesn’t plan to tone down the firebrand conservatism that has made him a tea party favorite.
But his combative style still irritates enough Republicans back in his 1st District of western and central Kansas that two opponents are running against him in this year’s GOP primary.
Roger Marshall is a Great Bend obstetrician and hospital CEO. Alan LaPolice is a Clyde educator and farmer who ran against Huelskamp in the 2014 primary.
They said the problem isn’t Huelskamp’s stances on issues such as the budget, health care and agriculture but his style. They argue that he simply can’t work well with others.
Topeka – The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) can help those who are ready to quit tobacco in 2016. KDHE’s Kansas Tobacco Quitline offers free cessation support and information online at www.ksquit.org or toll-free at 1-800-QUIT-NOW (784-8669). Tobacco users can also quit with the help of the Kansas Tobacco Quitline’s texting service.
“The free services of the Kansas Tobacco Quitline provide Kansans with effective tools to help them quit smoking or using smokeless tobacco,” said Brandon Skidmore, Director, Bureau of Health Promotion. “Quitting isn’t easy, but working with a Quit Coach can make quitting tobacco easier.”
With the release of the latest Surgeon General’s Report on Smoking and Health, it is clear that despite the progress made in the last 50 years, tobacco use is still an on-going epidemic in the country. According to the latest report,
One out of three cancer deaths in the U.S. could be prevented if every smoker quit smoking.
Thirteen different cancers have been identified and causally linked to smoking, up from one cancer identified in the first report published in 1964.
Eight new diseases have been identified and causally linked to smoking, including diabetes, erectile dysfunction, arthritis, macular degeneration, tuberculosis and ectopic pregnancy. These diseases are in addition to the 14 other chronic diseases identified as causally linked to smoking.
Secondhand smoke has now been identified as causing stroke in adults. This is in addition to the eight other diseases found in children and adults caused by exposure to secondhand smoke.
KDHE’s Tobacco Use Prevention Program provides resources and assistance to Kansas communities to implement local tobacco prevention initiatives. The program also manages the Kansas Tobacco Quitline. For additional information on the program, visit www.kdheks.gov/tobacco.
Mental health advocates face several changes at the start of the 2016 Kansas Legislature approaches. That includes the departure of Kari Bruffett, secretary of the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services, which handles mental health issues. HEARTLAND HEALTH MONTIOR FILE PHOTO
By ANDY MARSO
Kansas mental health advocates will enter the 2016 session at a critical juncture, 25 years into the state’s effort to move away from institutionalization to community-based care.
Crowded prisons and state hospitals have helped create momentum for statewide reforms to fill the gaps in that system — to provide a “continuum of care” to keep Kansans with persistent mental illness out of crisis.
But the state’s ongoing budget problems limit the Legislature’s ability to increase funding for the state hospitals or community-based mental health resources. And last year’s long, bitter tax fight has sapped some of the energy for any major legislative debate before the 2016 elections.
“Every forum I have been to with legislators, they are dreading January,” Amy Campbell, a lobbyist for the Kansas Mental Health Coalition, told the coalition last week. “They don’t want to come back. They want a short session. They want to go home and run for office with relatively few controversial votes on their record.”
At the same time, the Cabinet agency that handles many mental health issues — the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services — is in flux.
KDADS Secretary Kari Bruffett has been working for months with a committee of experts on continuum of care reform.
But Bruffett will leave the agency at the end of 2015 to take a job as policy director for the Kansas Health Institute. Her interim replacement, Tim Keck, is a former Kansas Department of Health and Environment attorney who is little-known in the mental health community.
As mental health advocates discuss continuum of care, they remain wary of a legislative change that allowed state regulation of antipsychotic medications prescribed to Medicaid recipients. They also disagree over a proposal allowing treatment centers to hold people involuntarily for up to 72 hours.
Meanwhile, Osawatomie State Hospital remains unable to take more patients as federally mandated renovations continue. Last week federal officials announced they were pulling Medicare reimbursements for Osawatomie patients admitted after Monday because conditions at the facility don’t comply with their regulations. The reported rape of an employee at Osawatomie State Hospital in October exposed security concerns that federal officials cited when they decided to halt Medicare payments to the facility.
All of which adds up to an uncertain session with a lot on the line.
Continuum of care
The Adult Continuum of Care Committee met five times in May and June before issuing a 42-page report in July to Bruffett.
The report’s recommendations included expanding Medicaid eligibility, restoring bed capacity at the Osawatomie hospital, lobbying for changes to federal regulations, limiting Medicaid payments for mental health services provided in large inpatient institutions and creating more crisis intervention services throughout the state.
Rather than disbanding following the report’s release, the continuum of care committee was made part of the Governor’s Behavioral Health Planning Council to continue working with the administration on implementation.
Susan Crain Lewis, president and CEO of Mental Health America of the Heartland in Kansas City, Kan., said Bruffett had been a good partner in that effort and the timing of her departure was unfortunate.
“I’m deeply hopeful that both the interim secretary and whoever ends up in that position will see the wisdom of Secretary Bruffett and of the individuals in that group and really move forward with that,” Lewis said.
KDADS spokeswoman Angela de Rocha said via email that the agency remains committed to continuum of care reform.
“The secretary’s departure does not mean that we are dropping this initiative,” de Rocha said.
Implementing the recommendations could be a challenge if it requires any additional state funding, though.
Campbell said she has been told “a couple of times” that the KDADS budget won’t be reduced, but she advised the mental health coalition members to watch individual program budgets carefully.
“Budget is going to again be a key issue for us,” Campbell said. “For us to be able to identify where money is being moved from and to, and how that is going to affect the programs that we care about is going to be a full-time job this session.”
Campbell said she believes legislative leaders know that the mental health system is “at a crisis point,” but their first priority is balancing the larger state budget.
Ted Jester, KDADS assistant director of mental health services, told the coalition that the agency is considering asking legislators to approve a mental health checkoff on income tax forms to fund “mini-grants that could grow over time” for community-based behavioral health programs.
Details of the checkoff proposal are not yet available, but Lewis said such a measure wouldn’t help financially until 2017 at the earliest, given the legislative schedule and the income tax filing schedule.
She and other advocates say the need to beef up community-based services is more immediate, especially given the limited capacity at Osawatomie, which is one of two state-run inpatient facilities for Kansans with severe and persistent mental illness.
The hospital is down 60 of its 206 beds during renovations, but de Rocha said construction is going well and some existing patients are being shifted into a new unit that could soon restore half the missing capacity.
“At some point we’ll be able to start taking new patients,” de Rocha said. “We are not there yet.”
Involuntary hold proposal
In the absence of better options for crisis management, a coalition of mental health professionals, police and court officials from four high-population counties in northeast Kansas have drafted a proposal to allow community-based treatment facilities to hold people who are having a mental health crisis against their will for up to 72 hours.
The proposal has divided the mental health community. Some argue that it’s a better alternative to the status quo, in which a mental health crisis can land a person in an emergency room or jail — sometimes for more than 72 hours — as they wait for a bed at a state hospital or other inpatient facility.
Other mental health advocates have serious reservations about the proposal’s threat to civil liberties.
“I don’t want people in jail,” Lewis said. “But at least you have due process while you’re in there.”
Lewis said the draft of the proposal she has seen is too broad in terms of when and for whom the 72-hour hold can be used. It also doesn’t provide any liability protection for police officers or mental health workers, which she said gives them an incentive to invoke the involuntary hold whenever possible and then keep the person detained for the full 72 hours.
“I would love to see something that works,” Lewis said. “This one’s got some real problems.”
Lewis and Rick Cagan, executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness Kansas office, both said they think some form of the proposal could pop up during the legislative session.
Cagan’s group is still evaluating it, but he said in September that some of his board members are supportive. NAMI’s Texas branch is bullish on a similar program in that state because of its potential to decriminalize mental illness.
Still, Cagan said in a recent interview that even if the involuntary hold measure works as planned, it wouldn’t close the holes in the mental health system.
“This is not a panacea, this is more on the crisis end of the system,” Cagan said. “The desire would be (that) we’re able to focus on building up less intensive, less restrictive aspects of the system.”
The mental health coalition advocates agreed it would be better if Kansans were getting the preventative mental health care they needed to manage their symptoms, so that discussion of holding them against their will was not necessary.
But Kyle Kessler, executive director of the Association of Community Mental Health Centers of Kansas, said that’s not the case. The gap is especially large for Kansans with mental health problems that have exceeded routine maintenance but don’t yet require inpatient hospitalization.
“We don’t have nearly the amount of quick and efficient connectivity to intensive outpatient services that we did before,” Kessler said. “So this is kind of coming about. This is tugging one end and expecting the other not to move.”
Mental health medication committee
Mental health advocates also are closely watching the effects of a law passed last session that allows the state to regulate mental health drugs within Medicaid by using tools like prior authorization requirements.
Medicaid in Kansas is now administered by three private insurance companies through a managed care program called KanCare. The advocates were concerned about how the for-profit companies might use prior authorizations.
But they backed off their opposition after KDHE officials changed the proposal to add an advisory committee of medical professionals to vet new regulations before they go to KDHE’s Drug Utilization Review Board, which writes the actual guidelines.
Now that the Mental Health Medication Advisory Committee has begun meeting, the advocates are again concerned about some of what they’re seeing.
“I think the jury’s still out,” Cagan said.
Lewis and others have said that the committee’s posted agendas are too vague. The committee requires those who wish to provide public comments to sign up ahead of time but doesn’t list which drugs will be discussed.
“It has been pointed out that we are not being given the information we need to provide cogent public comment,” Lewis said.
KDHE spokeswoman Sara Belfry said via email that the agendas list common drug classes like “antipsychotics” and “SNRIs,” and that getting more specific is not necessary.
“We don’t list specific drugs because the subjects listed on the agenda are self-explanatory,” Belfry said.
But Lewis said that’s not what mental health advocates agreed to last session, and if changes aren’t made the advocates might seek help from legislators.
She had similar concerns about the role of the MCO representatives at the meetings. The MCOs have no seats on the actual committee, but Lewis said that from one meeting to the next they’ve gradually moved from the outer ring of seats with the other observers to seats at the inner tables alongside committee members.
“This is not what people signed up for,” Lewis said. “There’s clearly the evidence of excessive influence.”
Andy Marso is a reporter for KHI News Service in Topeka, a partner in the Heartland Health Monitor team. You can reach him on Twitter @andymarso.
Editor’s note: KHI News Service is affiliated with but editorially independent of the Kansas Health Institute.
Please be advised that beginning Tuesday,January 3, 2017, south Main Street will be closed to traffic at the Big Creek bridge for pavement repairs. This work should be completed by the end of the day on Friday, January 6, 2017.
Signs will be in place to direct the traveling public. The traveling public should use caution and if at all possible avoid these areas.
The city of Hays regrets any inconvenience this may cause to the public. If there are any questions, please call the Public Works Department at (785) 628-7350.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Crews are undertaking an annual effort to monitor changes in groundwater levels in western and central Kansas.
The Kansas Geological Survey will measure nearly 570 wells beginning early next month. The Kansas Department of Agriculture’s Division of Water Resources will measure about 830 additional wells.
Ninety percent of the wells to be measured draw water from the massive High Plains aquifer system, which consists largely of the Ogallala aquifer. The remaining 10 percent are drilled into the Dakota aquifer and other deeper systems or shallow alluvial aquifers along creeks and rivers.
The data are used by landowners, state and federal agencies, local groundwater management districts, private entities and the general public.
Water levels in the 1,400-well network declined an average of 0.87 feet during 2014.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas program that waives state laws and regulations for participating schools will remain its current size in 2016.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports no school districts applied to join the Coalition of Innovative School Districts in 2016. The Legislature created the Coalition of Innovative School Districts in 2013 as a deregulation program meant to remove barriers to better school performance.
The coalition includes six districts, while up to 20 percent of the state’s 286 public school districts can join.
Sen. Steve Abrams introduced the legislation creating the program and says the low participation rates aren’t cause for concern.
Among the program’s critics is the Kansas National Education Association, which says the program doesn’t address the real obstacle to innovation in Kansas schools, which KNEA says is insufficient state funding.
HAYS, Kan. – Jake Stoppel scored a career-high 24 points to lead Fort Hays State to an 89-78 win over Pittsburg State in front of 2,768 Saturday at Gross Coliseum. Stoppel hit 10 of 15 from the field and was 4 of 5 from the free throw line as the Tigers (10-2, 4-2 MIAA) win their fifth straight overall and fourth straight in conference play.
The Gorillas (7-6, 2-5) have lost five straight after a 7-1 start.
Mark Johnson Postgame Interview
Trey O’Neil Postgame Interview
Game Highlights
Fort Hays State shot 59-percent for the game as they built a 15 point second half lead only to see Pitt State pull within four with 10:25 to play. The Tigers answered with a 9-2 run keyed by a Trey O’Neil 3-pointer to push the lead to 11.
Rob Davis went 8-for-8 from the free throw line and scored 14. Craig Nicholson, playing for the first time in five games since a foot injury, added 12 points and dished out nine assists. O’Neil and Hadley Gillum both scored 10.
The Tigers turned the ball over 19 times, resulting in 23 points for the Gorillas off of turnovers. FHSU won the rebounding battle 35-28 and shot 41-percent from 3-point range and hit 16-of-19 from the free throw line.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Alex Collins ran for 185 yards and three touchdowns and Arkansas capped its late-season surge with a 45-23 victory over Kansas State on Saturday in the Liberty Bowl.
Ranked 18th to open the season, Arkansas stumbled through a 1-3 start that knocked the Razorbacks out of the Top 25. The Razorbacks (8-5) turned things around won six of their last seven games.
Collins overwhelmed Kansas State’s defense in front of a sellout crowd of 61,136, the fourth-largest crowd in the game’s 57-year history.
Kansas State (6-7) finished a season below .500 for the first time since Bill Snyder began his second stint as coach in 2009.
Arkansas’ Brandon Allen was 20 of 26 for 315 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Kansas State’s Kody Cook, starting at quarterback for the first time, went 12 of 24 for 163 yards with a touchdown.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Wichita police are investigating after a 19-year-old woman reported being robbed at gunpoint inside her hotel room.
The Wichita Eagle reports the robbery was reported early Saturday at a west Wichita hotel.
Wichita police Sgt. Joe Kennedy says the victim told police she answered the door to two men who were acquaintances of an acquaintance of hers. He says shortly after they were let into the room, the two men pulled out handguns and demanded money.
After the robbery, the two men got into an SUV and left.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Wayne Selden scored 24 points, Perry Ellis added 17 and No. 2 Kansas used a big run over the first 10 minutes to swamp No. 23 Baylor 102-74 on Saturday in their Big 12 opener.
Devonte Graham added 15 points and Frank Mason III had 11 for the Jayhawks (12-1, 1-0), who charged out to a 22-4 lead, then turned back every attempt by the Bears (10-3, 0-1) to make it a game.
It was the Jayhawks’ sixth straight win over Baylor — which has never won in 14 trips to Lawrence — and 25th consecutive conference-opening win. It was also their 31st straight win at Allen Fieldhouse, where No. 3 ranked Oklahoma will visit for another high-profile showdown Monday night.
Taurean Prince had 13 of his 17 points in the second half for Baylor. Lester Medford added 15, all but three after the break, while Rico Gathers finished with 12 points and nine rebounds.
HAYS, Kan. – Fort Hays State used 24-4 first half run to build a 23-point lead and defeat the Pittsburg State Gorillas 77-57 Saturday afternoon in front of 2,225 at Gross Coliseum. The Tigers shot 53-percent in the first half as they bounce back from their first loss of the season to improve to 11-1 overall and 5-1 in the MIAA.
Tony Hobson Postgame Interview
Game Highlights
The Gorillas, who were held to their season-low in points, has lost two of their last three and droops to 10-3 and 4-3 om conference play.
Pitt State pulled within 14 and had the ball midway through the fourth quarter, but a steal and layup by Nicola Kacperska sparked a 9-0 run to push the lead back to 23.
Chelsea Mason led three Tigers in double-figures with 16 points. Jill Faxon added 13 and Beth Bohuslavsky 10.
The Tigers forced 18 Pitt State turnvers resulting in 33 points.
Based in Olathe, KidsAndCars.org (KAC) is a nonprofit child safety organization dedicated to preventing injuries and death to children in or around motor vehicles. 
CITY OF HAYS
