Oxygen - of all the things we put in our bodies, it is by far the most important. If it weren't for oxygen, we'd cease to exist. It's definitely a good thing, then, that we can find oxygen all around us. Oxygen fuels our cells and gives our bodies the basic building blocks we need to survive. It helps us heal, and when we're stressed, taking a few deep breaths can help us calm down. But did you know the oxygen you're breathing right now is only about 21% pure?
That begs the question: What if we could breathe air that has 100% pure oxygen? As it turns out, Better Life Carolinas provides exactly that with our hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT). And while the name sounds like something out of a sci-fi movie, the technology and benefits are real.
A wise person once said that oxygen under pressure equates to pure health. In some ways, that explains hyperbaric oxygen therapy in a nutshell. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) or hyperbaric chamber therapy is a revolutionary treatment where a patient relaxes in a comfortable chamber filled with 100% pure oxygen.
HBOT was initially used early in the 1900s and was later used in the U.S. to treat decompression sickness, which affects scuba divers. Today, hyperbaric chamber therapy is used by people from all walks of life, from businesspeople and athletes to blue-collar workers and stay-at-home moms.
During HBOT, the air pressure in the hyperbaric chamber is ramped up two or three times higher than typical air pressure. This increased pressure allows your body and lungs to absorb and gather higher amounts of pure oxygen - much more than you would be able to inhale, even if you were breathing pure oxygen.
If you're looking for an effective, efficient alternative to invasive procedures or heavy pharmaceutical medications, using a hyperbaric chamber in Summerville, SC is worth considering. Over the last few years, HBOT has exploded in popularity. More and more people are choosing to use hyperbaric chambers for certain conditions and ailments because they don't require surgery and have no serious side effects.
During hyperbaric therapy treatment, air pressure in the chamber is ramped up so that it is many times higher than ambient air. This increased pressure compresses the breathable oxygen inside the hyperbaric chamber, which you breathe into your body by way of your lungs and skin. The air is then circulated throughout your body via your own bloodstream.
When this pure oxygen is distributed in your body, it saturates your organs, tissues, blood, and spinal cord fluid. It even settles into areas of your body where circulation may be poor or blocked. Like powerful jumper cables, this potent oxygen jump-starts your body's cellular regeneration processes, significantly decreasing harmful inflammation.
This increase in pure oxygen and decrease in inflammation is used to treat many different types of conditions and illnesses, including:
When it comes to common uses for hyperbaric chambers, treatment for sports-related injuries is near the top of the list. Trusted by athletes of all persuasions across multiple sports, hyperbaric chamber therapy has helped countless men and women recover from common issues like fractures, sprains, and compartment syndrome. In fact, studies show that hyperbaric therapy for athletes may work just as effectively as traditional therapy when used as part of a recovery program to achieve the highest healing potential.
That's because competition, training, and recovery go hand in hand. To help with the rigors of high-level sports, HBOT oxygenates muscles, boosts immune systems, and speeds up recovery time for injuries. HBOT cuts down on recovery time by boosting your body's self-healing processes. That, in turn, promotes cell regeneration, which helps encourage tissues and muscles to mend organically, lessening scarring.
When a person has a stroke, blood flow to their brain is disrupted, most often by a major artery blockage. This causes a lack of blood flow, which manifests very quickly, and results in dead brain tissue or hypoxia. When untreated, the blocked artery causes a litany of damage which usually gets worse over time.
While it's impossible to say how much salvageable tissue is lost in the time after a stroke, hyperbaric chamber therapy may help boost cell reproduction and provide oxygen to tissue that died due to lack of blood flow. The non-functioning cells around the damaged tissue area cause much of a person's post-stroke issues. If HBOT can help bring life back to dead cells, the stroke victim could regain lost functionality.
Over the years, many studies have shown promising results when patients use hyperbaric chambers for stroke recovery. In fact, a study conducted in 2013 by Tel Aviv University's Dr. Shai Efrati showed without a doubt that high oxygen levels can awaken dormant neurons. After a two-month period of HBOT for two hours a day, five times a week, brain imaging showed a significant increase in neuronal activity in patients compared to periods of non-treatment.
Patients in this study reported better sensation, less paralysis, and more ability to speak.
Hyperbaric chamber therapy has been used for years by skincare clinicians to supplement common procedures. The results are often stunning and have been shown to help patients with the following:
But how does a hyperbaric chamber in Summerville, SC kick-start skin rejuvenation? When oxygen levels in your body drop as you age, your body's healing ability slowly declines, resulting in less tissue function, damaged tissue, cracked skin, slow-healing wounds, and wrinkles.
The pressurized oxygen used in HBOT sessions can reach tissue at the cellular level to improve stem-cell growth, immune system defenses, and circulation while reducing inflammation. This process can have a powerful detoxification effect on your body. When toxins are removed, skin blemishes and discolorations are often removed, too, leaving your skin healthy and rejuvenated.
They say that without pain, there is no gain, and that's typically true with plastic surgery and other cosmetic procedures. However, studies show that HBOT can help alleviate pain and boost recovery after plastic surgeries.
With normal levels of oxygen in the body, plastic surgery healing times can be lengthy and painful. Because hyperbaric chamber treatments expose your body to pure oxygen, recovery time is often reduced, and the healing process is accelerated - by as much as 75% in some instances.
The benefits of hyperbaric chamber therapy, when used for plastic surgery recovery, are numerous and include:
A few plastic surgery procedures that HBOT can help with include facelifts, liposuction, mommy makeovers, breast augmentations, and even rhinoplasties.
It's hard to fathom how much pain and PTSD a person goes through when they suffer from a traumatic brain injury. Serious head injuries don't just affect the recipient of the injury - they impact the patient's family, friends, and co-workers. Being able to treat people with serious concussions, TBIs, and other life-changing conditions like strokes is one of the main reasons we do what we do at Better Life Carolinas.
Mild TBIs usually require emergency care, medication, and extensive rest. But severe brain injuries require comprehensive medical interventions and post-care initiatives like speech therapy and physical therapy. The good news is that using a hyperbaric chamber in Summerville, SC as part of a comprehensive medical strategy may provide natural brain healing in TBI patients.
Hyperbaric chamber treatment's primary use in these cases is to hyper-oxygenate tissues, which helps dissolve oxygen in the plasma. This action triggers several healing processes without overwhelming the patient's antioxidant system. The working mechanism of oxygen under pressure can help improve cerebral blood flow through micro-vessels and target injured areas in order to decrease inflammation.
This promising anti-inflammatory effect is the primary advantage of HBOT for traumatic brain injury patients and clears the way for natural, non-invasive healing.
Hyperbaric chamber therapy has also been documented to help TBI sufferers in many other ways, including:
As it turns out, using a hyperbaric chamber in Summerville, SC may have benefits in the bedroom, too. Studies show that men suffering from ED may now have an additional treatment option to reclaim their sex lives. The International Journal of Impotence Research published a study in 2018 to determine if HBOT was a viable, non-surgical treatment for erectile dysfunction.
The results were very positive and showed that erectile function improved by as much as 88% in patients. Subsequent MRI scans analyzing blood flow of the penis also showed dramatic improvement. The study concluded that, even after years of ED, men could experience benefits from using hyperbaric chambers in lieu of risky surgeries and ineffective ED meds.
The documented improvements were due to more angiogenesis or growth of blood vessels in the penis. When new blood vessels grow in the penis, they can carry more blood to the organ, which helps achieve more frequent, stronger erections.
Though hyperbaric chambers are getting more popular with everyone from athletes to office workers, some folks are still out of the loop. If you're interested in learning more about this exciting, non-invasive, natural treatment, we encourage you to contact Better Life Carolinas today. Until we hear from you, here are answers to some of the most common questions we get regarding hyperbaric chamber therapy.
AWhen your session begins, oxygen will immediately circulate throughout the chamber, and pressure will gradually increase. At this point, most patients start feeling a fullness sensation in their ears, like they're ascending or descending in a plane. This feeling only lasts for 10-15 minutes. An experienced Better Life Carolinas hyperbaric technician will guide you on how to relieve any ear pressure, if necessary. Once the optimal pressure is reached, all you have to do is relax and breathe normally. As the session ends, your hyperbaric technician will gradually lower chamber pressure, which lasts about 10 minutes. During this stage, you may experience a light popping sensation in your ears. Once pressure is back to normal, you can exit the chamber and go about your day.
AIn general, you don't have to worry about serious side effects from HBOT. That's because it's an all-natural treatment - there are no incisions or addictive medications involved. However, some patients experience mild ear drum irritation. During your session, a Better Life Carolinas hyperbaric chamber expert will be by your side to help prevent this from happening.
AWithout a proper evaluation of your unique needs, it's hard to say with certainty. At Better Life Carolinas, we know that every patient is different. As such, every recommended therapy will be different, including the number of hyperbaric therapy sessions you need. Generally speaking, patients usually require 30 to 40 sessions. HBOT has a cumulative effect on your body and, as such, provides the best results with regularly occurring sessions.
AIf you have a form of air-trapping emphysema like COPD or have an untreated pneumothorax, HBOT isn't for you. At Better Life Carolinas, every one of our patients undergoes a full evaluation to ensure that hyperbaric oxygen therapy is safe for you and your body.
If you're looking for a hyperbaric chamber in Summerville, SC look no further than Better Life Carolinas. Whether you're a professional athlete looking to maximize recovery time or need a natural way to look and feel younger, our experts are here to help. Unlike some clinics that rely on major invasive procedures and addictive medications, our team focuses on natural, holistic ways to heal your body. If you're ready to optimize your health and reclaim your youth, contact us today to learn more about HBOT and our other natural therapies.
William “Mr. Bill” Cleary, 80, passed peacefully in Summerville, SC on January 14, 2023. Bill, a father to many and a friend to all, resided in Summerville for the past 14 years, where he and Penelope Cocking have enjoyed not shoveling snow, visiting various historic sites, and getting to know the local restaurant scene. Formerly of Mansfield, Easton, and Quincy, MA, Bill was the brother of the late Judith Landry and the late Michael Cleary; he was married to the late Carol (Drysdale Haack) Cleary and the late Sheila (Bartlett St...
William “Mr. Bill” Cleary, 80, passed peacefully in Summerville, SC on January 14, 2023. Bill, a father to many and a friend to all, resided in Summerville for the past 14 years, where he and Penelope Cocking have enjoyed not shoveling snow, visiting various historic sites, and getting to know the local restaurant scene. Formerly of Mansfield, Easton, and Quincy, MA, Bill was the brother of the late Judith Landry and the late Michael Cleary; he was married to the late Carol (Drysdale Haack) Cleary and the late Sheila (Bartlett Stowe) Cleary and father to the late Brian Haack.
He leaves behind his younger brother Robert Cleary of Quincy, MA and his beloved partner, Penelope Cocking along with her children and his supportive friends, RJ Hyson and Mariah Levine. Bill also leaves his loving children: Jeffrey Haack of Harmony, ME, Richard Drysdale of St. Louis, MO, Timothy Cleary and his wife Donna of Sandwich, MA, Walter (Sunny) Stowe and his wife Mary of Bellingham, MA, Ken Stowe and his wife Millie of Palm Coast, FL, and Jackye (Stowe) Hughes and her husband Mike of Norton, MA; 14 grandchildren and 19 great grandchildren; dear nieces and nephews, and countless treasured friends.
For many years, Bill was a long-haul truck driver, often forced to leave his family to earn a living as a furniture mover. He prioritized making it home for Christmas and other important family events. Along the routes he traveled, he built friendships across the country and created homes away from home. He often took one of his children, nieces, or nephews with him cross country and in the process fostered strong work ethics, appreciation for warm showers, and created treasured memories. In later years of his career he traveled with his spouse, Sheila Cleary, introducing her to a sense of adventure.
Bill took pride in the accomplishments of those around him and offered encouragement in times of need or stress. An avid Boston sports fan, he proudly wore his teams’ logos wherever he went, regardless of their win-loss record. Having spent much time on the road as a driver into his 70’s, Bill always thrived in the company of others. Appreciative of a good pour or a cold bottle served by caring and smiling people, Bill enjoyed spending time in the community created at both Maguire’s of Easton, MA and the Dog and Duck of Summerville, SC.
Small, local gatherings of family and friends will take place in the immediate future, and Bill’s life will later be celebrated by his family when they are able to gather together this July. Donations may be made in his name to https://www.rizema.org/donate/, an organization dedicated to tackling the opioid crisis, and a cause near and dear to Bill’s heart.
DORCHESTER COUNTY, S.C. (WCBD) – Some residents in the Summerville area are raising concerns about a homeless shelter that will soon be built near their homes.The property which could be home to the new shelter is located near the corner of Beverly Drive and Miles Jamison Road. While some are unhappy with the plan, others say it’s a crucial need for many who are struggling in the community. ...
DORCHESTER COUNTY, S.C. (WCBD) – Some residents in the Summerville area are raising concerns about a homeless shelter that will soon be built near their homes.
The property which could be home to the new shelter is located near the corner of Beverly Drive and Miles Jamison Road. While some are unhappy with the plan, others say it’s a crucial need for many who are struggling in the community.
“Our whole mission is we engage with individuals who are homeless, who are seeking financial stability to acquire permanent housing,” explained Ginny Vicini, executive director of Dorchester County Community Outreach.
Dorchester County Community Outreach currently runs two homes on Central Avenue. “Hope’s House,” which eight women can use at a time, and “Home of Hope,” which 16 men can use at a time.
They are working to build facilities to help more people in need.
“We found a piece of property at Miles Jamison. It was ideally suited. It was zoned properly, and it was the size lot that we needed,” said Vicini.
They purchased the land in October of last year and plan to spend about $3 million building a 16-person men’s home, a 16-person women’s home, and a multipurpose building.
But the group has had some pushback from people who live in the community. They said a homeless shelter in a largely residential area is not a good idea – there is no public transportation and very few public services.
“We hope that we have been as responsive; I know that we’ve been as responsible as we could be,” Vincini said.
The group met with neighborhoods and are attempting to be annexed into the Town of Summerville to have access to Summerville services.
The property is zoned for use as a shelter whether it is annexed or not. Summerville Town Council is expected to take up the annexation on March 9th.
So far, 843 people have signed an online petition against the shelter opening.
People who live near the property didn’t want to talk on camera Tuesday. They said they were not told about the property use before it was purchased. Several people said they are tired of this, and they don’t believe the outcome is going to change either way.
Vicini says they do background checks on their residents. “Our criteria for coming into our program — someone who is capable of managing your day-to-day life. Going to work, maintaining the property. We have a curfew at 8 o’clock at night. We have staffing 24/7.”
After hearing the public’s concerns about a proposed warming or cooling shelter at the site, they have decided not to provide that service.
Officials said they hope to have the men’s shelter finished later this year and the women’s shelter would be opening sometime in 2024.
SUMMERVILLE, S.C. — Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Atlantic invited industry partners to an exclusive tabletop demonstration at Advanced Technology International (ATI) headquarters in late February to help them conceptualize the development of a prototype that will enhance the Marine Corps’ all-source intelligence system.The demonstration was coordinated by NIWC Atlantic’s Information Warfare Research Project (IWRP), a highly successful program launched in 2018 to accelerate prototype development and deliver...
SUMMERVILLE, S.C. — Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Atlantic invited industry partners to an exclusive tabletop demonstration at Advanced Technology International (ATI) headquarters in late February to help them conceptualize the development of a prototype that will enhance the Marine Corps’ all-source intelligence system.
The demonstration was coordinated by NIWC Atlantic’s Information Warfare Research Project (IWRP), a highly successful program launched in 2018 to accelerate prototype development and deliver critical capabilities to the fleet faster.
Since its inception, IWRP has awarded 144 prototype projects totaling $543 million.
The demonstration was the first of its kind and coincided with an IWRP request for prototype project (RPP), which was released on Feb. 21.
“We planned this unique hands-on demonstration in conjunction with our call for proposals in order to provide industry the clearest look into what the Marine Corps is actually requesting,” said Jee Youn Fickling, a NIWC Atlantic program manager who oversees IWRP.
Twenty-nine IWRP consortium members attended the in-depth briefing at ATI, where prototype integration for the Distributed Common Ground/Surface System – Marine Corps (DCGS-MC) architecture was explained and demonstrated.
DCGS-MC is the Marine Corps’ ubiquitous network of intelligence and information that provides critical battlespace awareness capabilities. The system shed nearly 1,000 pounds of hardware in recent years thanks to NIWC Atlantic’s role in a major modernization effort that reduced its size, weight, cost and power requirements.
Now, to provide Marines even more advanced proficiencies during expeditionary operations in a maritime environment, the prototype under consideration must funnel certain DCGS-MC capabilities through the common handheld device currently used by Marines.
“To help the warfighter, we need companies to develop something that hits the target,” said Will Roenke, DCGS-MC All Source team lead at NIWC Atlantic’s Expeditionary Warfare Department. “In general, we typically see proposals that are either inapplicable, on-target or cost-prohibitive. This event will hopefully keep proposed prototypes on target while also increasing the number of responses we can choose from.”
NIWC Atlantic’s IWRP program regularly searches for ways to cut red tape and ease contracting processes for entities that have never worked with the government. IWRP is just one of several other transaction authorities, or OTAs, within the Department of the Navy (DON) created to lower barriers of entry for companies and get cutting-edge technologies into the hands of warfighters.
Fickling said there are nearly 800 members in the IWRP consortium, with an overwhelming 78% of them classified as non-traditional businesses and entities.
Roenke, who provided attendees with the DCGS-MC briefing, said based on feedback he received, incorporating events like the IWRP demo is an ideal way to request a proposal.
“It is difficult for companies in the private sector to provide a usable product within our architecture and constraints without seeing them firsthand,” he said. “By us articulating the need, gaps and some stretch-goals that we have for the system in the context of a larger effort for the project, value added in each proposal will likely increase and become a meaningful enhancement to the Marine intelligence process.”
Capt. Nicole Nigro, NIWC Atlantic commanding officer, said the demonstration was an excellent addition to the process to ensure the DON received the strongest proposals possible.
“Our IWRP leaders have moved out quickly to establish this consortium that benefits our industry partners and, most importantly, our warfighters,” she said. “I am extremely proud of their hard work, their creative ideas and their dedication to working with other teams and projects within the command to deliver the very best capabilities to our warfighters.”
About NIWC Atlantic
As a part of Naval Information Warfare Systems Command, NIWC Atlantic provides systems engineering and acquisition to deliver information warfare capabilities to the naval, joint and national warfighter through the acquisition, development, integration, production, test, deployment, and sustainment of interoperable command, control, communications, computer, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, cyber and information technology capabilities. Learn more at www.niwcatlantic.navy.mil.
More than 50 master-planned lifestyle communities throughout the country were recognized in the organization’s annual best-of list."PCR is honored to work with hundreds of top communities throughout the country, and pleased to be able to officially recognize the most popular with our annual top communities list,” ”VERO BEACH, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES, March 7, 2023 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Private Communities Registry (PCR)...
More than 50 master-planned lifestyle communities throughout the country were recognized in the organization’s annual best-of list.
"PCR is honored to work with hundreds of top communities throughout the country, and pleased to be able to officially recognize the most popular with our annual top communities list,” ”
VERO BEACH, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES, March 7, 2023 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Private Communities Registry (PCR), the trusted online resource for real estate shoppers interested in amenity-rich, master-planned lifestyle communities, has released its “Top Communities of the Year” awards.
The diverse list includes more than 50 communities across eleven categories broken down by state and region. In each region, PrivateCommunities.com features dozens of appealing and desirable community showcase pages. The winners were selected based on a wide range of data that combines user engagement, page visits, and information requests from the previous year (2022).
“Despite shifts in the real estate market, it was another good year for lifestyle communities across the country as many families, active adults, and retirees seek the perks and benefits of master-planned communities,” says Ben Keal, PCR’s Director of Sales and Operations. “With more than 1 million visitors and tens of thousands of leads generated, all of the nearly 250 communities featured on PCR garnered interest among prospective buyers—and this list is meant to acknowledge the most popular communities, according to our users.”
Annual research of website visitors conducted by PCR revealed that community homebuyers are most motivated by “active lifestyle amenities” such as swimming pools, walking/biking trails, and fitness centers. Furthermore, many prefer to be near the beach, lake, or golf course. Not surprisingly, many of 2023’s top communities offer all those accommodations and more.
PCR’s Most Popular Lifestyle Communities of 2023 Are:
Arizona • Encanterra, A Trilogy Resort Community- Queen Creek, AZ • K. Hovnanian’s Four Seasons at Victory at Verrado- Buckeye, AZ • Trilogy at Verde River™- Rio Verde, AZ
California • Esperanza- Ontario, CA • K Hovnanian’s Four Seasons at Terra Lago- Indio, CA • Lake Wildwood- Penn Valley, CA • Trilogy Bickford- Lincoln, CA
Florida • Ave Maria- Ave Maria, FL • Fiddler’s Creek- Naples, FL • Latitude Margaritaville Daytona Beach- Daytona Beach, FL • Latitude Margaritaville Watersound- Panama City Beach, FL • On Top of the World Communities- Ocala, FL • PGA Village Verano- Port St. Lucie, FL • Windward at Lakewood Ranch- Sarasota, FL
Georgia • Cumberland Harbour- St. Mary’s, GA • Lake Arrowhead- Waleska, GA • The Landings- Savannah, GA • Savannah Quarters- Savannah, GA • Waterways- Richmond Hill, GA
North Carolina • Albemarle Plantation- Hertford, NC • Bear Lake Reserve- Tuckasegee, NC • Carolina Gardens by Del Webb- Fuquay-Varina, NC • Connestee Falls- Brevard, NC • Riverlights- Wilmington, NC • Rumbling Bald on Lake Lure- Lake Lure, NC • St. James Plantation- Southport, NC
South Carolina • Callawassie Island- Callawassie Island, SC • Cresswind Charleston- Summerville, SC • Dataw Island- Dataw Island, SC • K. Hovnanian's Four Seasons at Carolina Oaks- Bluffton, SC • Latitude Margaritaville Hilton Head- Hardeeville, SC • McCord's Ferry at Lake Marion- Santee, SC • Savannah Lakes Village- McCormick, SC • Woodside- Aiken, SC
Tennessee • Black Creek Chattanooga- Chattanooga, TN • Fairfield Glade- Fairfield Glade, TN • Tellico Village- Loudon, TN
Texas • Boot Ranch- Fredericksburg, TX • Chambers Creek- Willis, TX • Headwaters- Dripping Springs, TX
Virginia • Bay Creek- Cape Charles, VA • Colonial Heritage- Williamsburg, VA • Fawn Lake- Spotsylvania, VA • K. Hovnanian’s Four Seasons at Virginia Crossing- Woodbridge, VA • Trilogy at Lake Frederick- Lake Frederick, VA
Mid-Atlantic • Amblebrook Gettysburg- Gettysburg, PA • Glade Springs- Daniels, WV • Heritage Shores- Bridgeville, DE • Noble’s Pond- Dover, DE • The Peninsula on the Indian River Bay- Millsboro, DE
West • Port Ludlow- Port Ludlow, WA • Red Ledges- Heber City, UT • Trilogy Valor- Kuna, ID • Whitetail Club- McCall, ID
“Since 1996, PCR has partnered with some of the country’s top builders, developers, retirement communities, country clubs, and realtors. We’re proud to be able to work with so many wonderful communities throughout the country, and pleased to be able to officially recognize many of them with our annual top communities list,” concludes Ben.
For more information and details on the winners, explore PCR’s Top Communities of the Year here.
Private Communities Registry, LLC Founded in 1996, PCR is the trusted online resource for real estate shoppers searching for amenity-rich, master-planned lifestyle communities. PCR helps builders, developers, communities, and realtors drive sales with motivated leads and increased web traffic. Learn more at mediakit.privatecommunities.com.
Ben Keal Private Communities Registry, LLC +1 8008753072 email us here Visit us on social media: Facebook Twitter LinkedIn YouTube
Could vanpooling be people’s preferred choice to commute to and from work in the near future?The folks from Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester Council of Governments (BCDCOG) introduced their Lowcountry Go Vanpool Program as a “real solution” that would help reduce traffic congestion at the Summerville/Dorchester County Chamber of Commerce’s “Power Hour” event on Feb. 15 at the Rollins Edwards Community Center.Morgan Grimes and Courtney Cherry were on hand to apprise the early-morning crowd of 50...
Could vanpooling be people’s preferred choice to commute to and from work in the near future?
The folks from Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester Council of Governments (BCDCOG) introduced their Lowcountry Go Vanpool Program as a “real solution” that would help reduce traffic congestion at the Summerville/Dorchester County Chamber of Commerce’s “Power Hour” event on Feb. 15 at the Rollins Edwards Community Center.
Morgan Grimes and Courtney Cherry were on hand to apprise the early-morning crowd of 50-60 attendees on Lowcountry Go’s initiative that provides eligible groups of four of more commuters with a 7 or 15-passenger van to get them to work anywhere in the Tri-county area.
During their presentation, the duo described the vanpooling endeavor as an easy and inexpensive service available via a month-to-month lease agreement which furnishes clients with a vehicle, insurance, maintenance, gas and emergency trips.
The monthly cost, they added, is divided among riders, as that expense lowers with more people who join in on the vanpooling endeavor. Overall, it was noted, the plan is most economical for groups traveling 15 or more miles one way.
The minimum amount of people to start a vanpool is four.
Audience members learned that the vanpool solution was the offshoot of factors, such as population growth — which is three times the national average in Charleston, Berkeley and Dorchester counties — and roadway congestion since in many cases lawmakers cannot widen their way out of traffic problems.
In addition to the vanpooling option, Lowcountry Go delivers walking, biking and public transit solutions in the form of electronic buses.
Vanpools can operate any day of the week and all participants — including the driver — must be commuting, as detailed in a corresponding slideshow at the “Power Hour” gathering.
Vanpooling, according to stats compiled by Lowcountry Go, saves people 50-80 percent annually on their commuting costs, 11,100 miles on their personal car and up to 25 percent in car insurance.
From an environmental standpoint, it eliminates 40 pounds of nitric oxide gases per day and saves up to 7.2 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions. What’s more, up to one billion gallons of fuel can potentially be saved by more people opting to vanpool to work.
In fact, just 10 vanpools annually can eliminate 1.5 pounds of carbon dioxide.
Grimes and Cherry further mentioned the quality-of-life benefits derived from vanpooling, such as stress reduction and affording commuters more time to themselves before and after their daily drive.
Questions regarding Lowcountry Go can be sent to Courtney Cherry (vanpool@bcdcog.com 843-529-6286).
Saturday was a beautiful day in the Lowcountry! But if you were out in the sunshine you missed the inaugural concert by the Summerville Orchestra Junior & Youth Philharmonics. What an accomplished group of young musicians!
Hats off to DeAnndra Glenn their Conductor and Education Coordinator for her dedication to the musical future of our area! One night each week she gathers them to learn the music and saw away on their strings to make beautiful sounds. And what a treat it was to hear the program “Sounds of the Seafarers”. A few pieces were familiar and all carried the oceanic theme to transport the audience over the waves. Mark your calendar for May 20 at 3:00 p.m. at the Summers Corner Performing Arts Center for the next performance. One hears a frequent refrain regarding the loss of arts education in the schools. These 68 young people will restore your faith in our local school system.
To say nothing of the fabulous work being done by the Summerville Orchestra. From its origins in the early part of this century giving concerts in the park, the orchestra has grown to present a full schedule of work throughout the year. The Music Director, Wojciech Milewski, has brought professionalism of the highest degree to our little town. He is a gift to everyone with the least appreciation of music. The next full orchestra concert is Friday and Saturday March 31 and April 1.
While some in the audience might have been expecting a laundry list of stats when Trident Health Network CEO and President Christina Oh stepped to the podium at the Feb. 15 Rotary Club of Summerville meeting, the healthcare leader instead chose to shine a light on the people who diligently pour their energies into savings lives.
In recounting how the North Charleston-based Trident Medical Center emerged as a Level II trauma center in 2016, Oh shared the remarkable care provided to a trio of patients who recently faced unusual life-or-death circumstances.
She began by relating a recent incident that saw a 19-year-old male transported to the Roper Hospital Diagnostics ER with a stab wound in the chest area. The altercation victim was decompensating (a deterioration of a structure or system), according to the guest speaker, as the Roper medical staff was left with no other choice than to send the patient to Trident.
“So, they get to the trauma bank. By the time they called Dr. (James M.) Brenner in, the kid was almost dead. Dr. Brenner realized he didn’t have time to get this young man to the OR, so they splashed iodine on his chest and cut [it] open and found the problem,” said Oh.
The source of the patient’s plight that had him on death’s doorstep was a hole in his heart that Dr. Brenner patched up before he was relocated to the ICU. About seven days later, the local teen was discharged.
“Dr. Brenner had an opportunity to reunite with this patient and the young man brought his mom. She was sobbing when she said, ‘I just lost another son last year, I couldn’t have lost this one,’” continued Oh.
“There’s a lot of stuff that’s routine to us in healthcare and not routine to everyone else. You know there’s something special when you walk through the ER a week later and the physicians are saying, ‘Can you believe we just did that?’”
In a second extraordinary effort by Trident Health Network’s medical staff, Oh conveyed how a 36-year-old married mother of four — rendered unresponsive by a stroke — was treated for a “huge” frontal hemorrhage in her brain.
Despite the patient’s risk of mortality being 97 percent, the Summerville resident was nursed back to health via thorough examination in Summerville Medical Center’s neuro-ICU and was later operated on with a successful outcome.
In a third touch-and-go instance, Oh described the travails of a pregnant 32-year-old who was diagnosed with head and neck cancer. Doctors were unsure of how the radiation treatments would impact the baby.
After much consultation on the part of Trident physicians with friends in the medical field, surgeons were able to save the woman through radiation therapy and then also built a tongue out of the patient’s thigh muscle, as victims of head and neck cancer are often subject to the removal of body parts.
On that front, Oh lauded the work of dental oncologist Dr. Betsy K. Davis who was described as a master at producing 3D printings of eyes, noses, ears, jaws and tongues in the interest of “giving people a second chance at life” following the completion of cancer treatment.
“One of her favorite things she likes to say is: ‘What the surgeons work on nobody can see. But what I work on, that’s people’s opportunity to reenter society.’”
On the topic of notable physicians in the Trident family, Oh further mentioned Dr. Frank Cuoco, a leading cardiac electrophysiologist, who in addition to specializing in performing ablations in the treatment of abnormal heart rhythms, has also been a key figure in conducting fact-finding trials.
“There’s a lot of research going on. We are training the next generation of physicians. And through Trident, you have access to cutting-edge research,” assured Oh, a Beckley, West Virginia native, who has lived and/or worked in Arizona, Japan and a host of Rust Belt cities.
What’s more, the Trident Health spokesperson alerted Summerville Rotarians to the grand opening of the Live Oak Health and Wellness facility on June 6. The North Charleston behavioral health venue will feature 60 beds.
As for other projects in the pipeline, Oh reported that the James Island Freestanding Emergency Center is scheduled to open in August, which she deemed especially noteworthy since James Island and St. John’s Island had never had access to emergency care previously.
The distinguished Summerville Rotary guest concluded her presentation by not only promising that Trident Health would continue to expand services in the near future — particularly in behavioral and orthopaedic services — but she went on to inform listeners that her medical organization remains the only taxpaying healthcare system in the Lowcountry.
“Every time I’m driving down the road with a pothole or I see a school bus, or I see somebody in law enforcement, it just reminds me that we are proud that we pay taxes in the Charleston community,” affirmed Oh.
To that point, she stated that Trident Health has paid $193 million in federal, state and local taxes in the last five years, as well as paying $250 million in uncompensated services for individuals who lack the means to bear the cost of their care.
Copyright 2023 by Dr. Mickey Barber's Better Life