Supporting Metro Omaha’s Health Needs Through the MOMS Foundation

 

MOMS Foundation
Image: omahamedical.com

Dr. Matthew Bogard is an emergency medicine professional with multiple hospitals including the Lucas County Health Center in Chariton, Iowa. In addition to his work in emergency medicine, Dr. Matthew Bogard engages with several professional organizations, including the Metro Omaha Medical Society.

The Metro Omaha Medical Society (MOMS) has served in the interests of physicians and patients throughout the Metro Omaha region for more than 150 years. Over time, the organization has established many beneficial services and programs, including the MOMS Foundation. The foundation operates with a primary goal of addressing pressing medical needs and related health concerns in the local community.

The MOMS Foundation primarily achieves its goals through extensive grant-making services. Annual grants are made to not-for-profit, health-related organizations with operations designed to impact the community. Prioritization is given to organizations that work toward addressing developing or elevated health needs, offer tested solutions and services, or have the ability to match funds on a larger health project.

More information about MOMS Foundation grant-making services, including grant applications, can be found online at www.omahamedical.com.

Preparing for a Loved One’s Emergency Room Visit

 

Matthew Bogard

As an emergency physician working with Emergency Practice Associates, DocsWhoCare, Emergency Physicians of Eastern Nebraska and several other groups, Dr. Matthew Bogard provides patient care at hospitals across Iowa and Nebraska. In his diversity of experience, Dr. Matthew Bogard has gained a sense of how patients can prepare themselves for emergency care.

If you are caring for a loved one with a medical condition, you may need to take that person to the emergency room at some point. Because your loved one depends on you to advocate for him or her, you will need to have his or her medical information close at hand for whenever you need to make an emergency call.

Experts recommend making a list of the patient’s current diagnoses and any treatment plans he or she might be following. If the person takes medication, keep a list of each prescription, what the dosage is, and at what time it is taken. It is also helpful to write up a medical history, which includes allergies, recent surgeries and any ongoing needs, such as pacemakers.

Caregivers should also keep a list of all of the physicians the patient sees alongside insurance information and identification. The list should include the doctor’s contact information as well as why the patient sees him or her.

Finally, it can be useful to emergency room personnel if caregivers can describe the patient’s “normal” state of health and state of mind, which can help providers determine any abnormalities in the person’s symptoms or behavior. It can also be helpful when filling in information that the patient is unable or unwilling to offer to the doctor, so that your loved one can receive the most appropriate and complete care possible.

Chest Pain as an Emergent Symptom

 

Chest Pain
Image: webmd.com

An emergency medicine physician in Iowa and Nebraska, Dr. Matthew Bogard draws on diverse experience caring for patients in various hospitals. Dr. Matthew Bogard comes to his work with an in-depth knowledge of potentially emergent symptoms, including chest pain.

Chest pain can stem from a variety of causes, some of which are relatively benign. If a person’s chest pain goes away quickly or changes with adjustments in body positioning, the cause may not be life-threatening. However, because many cases of chest pain are related to heart attack or other dangerous cardiac events, experts advise individuals to be watchful for potentially serious symptoms.

May people who are experiencing heart attack notice a feeling of pressure, fullness, squeezing, or pain at the center of the chest. Heart attack is also associated with radiating pain to the jaw, shoulders, or arms, as well as with secondary symptoms including sweating, dizziness, shortness of breath, and nausea.

Likewise, any pain that is unusual for the person or is worse than anything experienced before should be cause for concern. Pain that gets significantly worse over the course of 10 to 15 minutes may be similarly worrisome. In general, if a person feels as though something is very wrong, acting upon that instinct is the smart thing to do.

Individuals who have a family history of heart disease should be particularly mindful of these symptoms. However, experts note that since chest pain is so often a sign of a life-threatening condition, to err on the side of caution is generally the safest choice.