QUITTING SMOKING? START HERE

Keys Ahec Partners With Tobacco Free Florida

ALEX RICKERT

Keys residents looking to kick their smoking habit for good will have even more support on their side thanks to a partnership between Keys Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) and Tobacco Free Florida (TFF).

Already known as one of the Keys’ largest advocates for community and children’s health and education, AHEC’s tobacco cessation services are offered for free within Monroe County. Those looking to quit can choose their preferred participation method with local tobacco treatment counselors, and for a limited time, group quit session participants are eligible for $50 to $125 gift cards for attending.

Quit Smoking Now is a fourweek, in-person, one-hour-per-session group course that works with clients on the process of planning, quitting, managing triggers and preventing relapse. Quit Smoking Now sessions are held throughout the Keys, with all clients eligible for two free disbursements of nicotine replacement therapy.

Tools to Quit is a one-time group counseling session preparing clients for the journey to quit smoking by reviewing steps in the process and identifying participants’ needs and challenges to give them a head start in the quitting process. Participants receive one free disbursement of nicotine replacement therapy and may return for another session if they need further support.

Clients may also participate virtually in Tools to Quit via a Zoom meeting available three days per week in Monroe County, and if none of the prior options are viable for clients due to health or other considerations, counselors can arrange to conduct a telephone counseling session.

“Working with Tobacco Free Florida and the state surgeon general has allowed us to not only provide no-cost nicotine replacement therapy such as patches, gum and lozenges, but now also gift cards to Publix ranging from $50 to $125,” said Keys AHEC CEO Michael Cunningham. “There’s never been a better time to enroll.”

Responsible for more than 480,000 deaths each year, cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States, according to TFF. Every year, smoking claims 32,300 lives in Florida alone. For every person who dies because of smoking, at least 30 more live with a serious illness related to smoking, meaning that more than 16 million Americans live with a disease caused by smoking.

The body begins to heal within hours after quitting. According to TFF, two to five years after quitting, an individual’s risk of stroke is reduced to that of a non-smoker’s. In five years, the chance of cancers of the mouth, throat, esophagus and bladder is cut in half. In 15 years, the risk of coronary heart disease is back to that of a non-smoker’s.

More information is available by calling 305-743-7111, ext. 205 or visiting keysahec.org/tobacco-cessation. Health care providers can provide client referrals by completing a Tobacco Cessation referral form and emailing it to tobacco@ahec. ufl.edu. For additional resources with even more support to help quit smoking, visit tobaccofreeflorida. com/quityourway.

ALEX RICKERT alex@keysweekly.com

On Feb. 20, the Keys Weekly Newspapers received a phone call from Dolphin Research Center co-founder Armando “Mandy” Rodriguez with a not-so-everyday request about Sheriff Rick Ramsay.

“I want to take a photo hugging that man,” Rodriguez said.

Of course, we at the Weekly are more than happy to support our law enforcement here in the Keys. But just to be on the safe side, we asked for the backstory behind Rodriguez’s comment, which he gladly offered:

On Feb. 17, just one day after having a heart monitor installed for atrial fibrillation, Rodriguez was on the way to pick up his grandchildren when he got a call from the teams monitoring his device.

“Get to the emergency room, now. Your heart just stopped,” he recalled.

With his family in tow, Rodriguez headed for Fishermen’s Community Hospital, where the decision was quickly made to fly him via Trauma Star to Miami’s Baptist Hospital.

“It’s an interesting feeling when the Trauma Star doors close and you see your family standing on the tarmac, and you wonder if it’s the last time you’ll see them,” he told the Weekly.

Thanks to a flight lasting just 26 minutes from helicopter door closure to touchdown in Miami, Rodriguez’s heart eventually stabilized after a stay in the hospital’s “code room.”

Now safely back home, stable and evaluating options for further procedures, he had endless praise for the air ambulance program and Baptist medical teams that saved him. So when our phone rang, the Weekly was more than happy to accommodate his request for a photo shoot to thank all involved in the life-altering effort.

“It was the best care I’ve ever had, both from the people up there and down here,” he said. “Citizens of Monroe County should count our blessings to have this service, because without it, a lot of us wouldn’t be here,” he said. “Anybody that has questions about how much the service costs, turn around and look at your family and ask yourself: How much are they worth?”

Rodriguez’s story comes at a particularly fitting time for both Trauma Star and Fishermen’s Community Hospital in Marathon.

On March 22, the Monroe County Board of County Commissioners approved a $52 million purchase of three new air ambulances for the Trauma Star program. The three Sikorski S76s currently used are more than 20 years old – the average life expectancy is 25 – and are no longer manufactured, making repairs difficult.

The larger, more powerful Leonardo AW139 craft that will replace them will allow for greater speed, range and lift, and will allow two adult passengers to fly in the ambulances as well as the pilots and medical staff. The new helicopters will be charged with continuing the legacy of one of the busiest air ambulance programs in the country as they fly nearly 1,400 flights each year.

Less than a month after Rodriguez’s flight, the Marathon City Council voted 3-2 to renew the Middle Keys Health Care Municipal Services Taxing Unit (MSTU) in support of uninsured and indigent care at Fishermen’s Community Hospital.

By: Tracy and Sean McDonald

The Scoreboard

This Week In Keys Sports

Senior, Key West Baseball

On a team that stands out, it is difficult to be a standout player, but that’s just what Key West senior Jack Haggard has done with his bat this season. Haggard leads the Conchs in batting average (.465) and hits (20, three of which are triples). With a little more than half the season to go, he also leads the team in RBIs with 16. The threat he poses to opposing teams doesn’t end once he reaches a base; Haggard has successfully stolen seven this season, leading the Conchs in that category, too. For his dependability at the plate and explosive offensive play, Jack Haggard is this week’s Keys Weekly Athlete of the Week.

By: Tracy and Sean McDonald

RAIN BANKS

Junior, Marathon

Banks has been a staple of Marathon’s varsity team since the sixth grade and only gets better each year. She was Marathon’s leading goal scorer as a defensive midfielder. Banks netted 20 goals and 11 assists as the top scorer in the FHSAA’s 3A District 16, made even more impressive by the fact that Marathon played fewer games than most other schools in the district. “Having Rain on our team is like having an extra coach,” said Marathon head coach Tracy McDonald. “She scored most of her goals under double- and tripleteam pressure and still managed to run our offense. Rain is truly a special player.”

JORDAN MacDONALD

Sophomore, Marathon

MacDonald scored nine goals and was credited with nine assists this season for the Lady Fins. With the ability to score with both feet from anywhere south of the 50yard line, MacDonald was a huge asset to Marathon. “Jordan has really developed into a more defensive player this season, which has helped us tremendously,” said McDonald. “She is completely unselfish, and her willingness to drop back and fight for possession has made us a far better team this year.”