Southeastern NEWS

                                                       Southeastern Louisiana University
                                           Public Information Office
                                           publicinfo@selu.edu
                                           SLU 880, Hammond, LA 70402
                                           504/549-2341/fax 504-549-2061
    Date: 9/23/99
      Contact:                           Christina Chapple   101

Editors: Photo accompanies release   Please note local interest
SLU NURSING STUDENTS PARTICIPATE IN BRAIN ATTACK SCREENING 
     HAMMOND -- Southeastern Louisiana University graduate nursing students worked
with the university's Louisiana Farm Family Injury Prevention and Health Initiative
(LAFFIP+HI) to plan and coordinate a Brain Attack Screening at the Cooperative Extension
Service in Amite during the summer session.
     Brain attack, or stroke is defined as a sudden, often dramatic alteration in a person's
neurologic functioning caused by an interruption of blood flow to a part of the brain.  This
interruption causes changes in the ability to function. Strokes are the fourth leading cause of
death in Tangipahoa Parish. 
     LAFFIP+HI partnered with American Heart Association, Tangipahoa and Livingston
Parishes, the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, Lallie Kemp Hospital and area 
farm women.  Participating graduate students included Beth Gaudin of Hammond, Kathy
Hancock of Baton Rouge, Theresa St. Romain of Marksville, Michelle Vindrine of Ponchatoula,
and Gwen Wheeler of Franklinton. Southeastern nursing students Shelly Meades of
Independence and Tara Moore of Baton Rouge Nursing and nursing students from Louisiana
Technical College also volunteered their time to assist with identifying women at risk for brain
attack. 
     Twenty-four women and four of their spouses participated in the brain attack screening.
Supervising the program were Roberta Connelley, Tangipahoa Parish American Heart
Association (AHA) president, and Southeastern graduate nursing program faculty member
Barbara Hyde.
     Melaine Hoover from Lallie Kemp spoke on low fat diet and Dr. David Gaudin spoke on
the risk factors associated with brain attacks. Students worked closely with home economists
Kathy David from Tangipahoa Parish and Laura Lea Perault from Livingston Parish. HealthNet 
                             (MORE)
BRAIN ATTACK    Add One

personnel tested cholesterol while students helped measure blood pressure, assess nutrition risks 
and analyze body fat composition, and note medical histories. Ryan's Deli of Hammond catered
a low fat meal for the participants.
     LAFFIP+HI is an on-going Southeastern School of Nursing project that is part of a four-
year contract between the school and the Southwest Center for Agricultural Health, Injury
Prevention and Education. Through the program, Southeastern School of Nursing students and
faculty are bringing information about health and safety to farming communities in ten southeast
Louisiana parishes.
     Projects have included a stress relief workshop for farm women, farm safety programs for
young children, a children's farm safety web page, a tractor safety children's book, informational
booths at area fairs and festivals and vaccine updates for school children. 
     Also during Southeastern's summer session, students took an elective course focusing on
farm health and safety. After earning CPR and first aid instruction certification from the
American Red Cross, they now are compiling a manual on how to teach first aid on the farm,
focusing on serious farm injuries such as pesticide poisoning, amputation, snake bites and tractor
injuries.
                             -SLU-
     This press release is available on the World Wide Web:
       www.selu.edu/NewsEvents/PublicInfoOffice/newsf99.htm