Arkush: Bears’ secondary should be a concern
Sports, C6-7
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2013
WWW.NWHERALD.COM
The only daily newspaper published in McHenry Co.
75 CENTS
PREP FOOTBALL • SPORTS, C1
ALL SEASONS • PLANIT PLAY, 12
Johnsburg hopes to end 23-game losing streak
Scooby Doo, Shaggy carved into maze
Teen girl honored for saving man’s life
EQUIPMENT, SUPPLIES ADDRESS OBESE PATIENTS’ NEEDS
Sizing up health care
By CHELSEA McDOUGALL cmcdougall@shawmedia.com WOODSTOCK – Sixteen-year-old Megan Ringel felt a wave come over her when she delivered the second breath for a man who lay unconscious before her. Amid a backdrop of cries and yells for help, something was telling Ringel to breathe for him a third and final time. On the third breath, the man gasped, but he was still not moving. Eventually emergency first responders arrived and took him to the hospital. Had Ringel not rendered CPR, authorities told her, the man wouldn’t Megan have survived. Ringel, The incident happened about 9:20 p.m. 16, of Aug. 16. Ringel, of Wauconda, Wauconda, was visitused CPR to save a man’s ing a friend in the 5000 block of Wildwood life Aug. 16. Drive in McHenry. She learned Ringel on WednesCPR in her day was honored with health class at Wauconda the Sheriff’s Office Citizen’s Lifesaving High School. Award, becoming the award’s youngest recipient. The Wauconda High School junior learned CPR in health class, but she never had to use it, nor did she think she ever would. The man, who was not at Wednesday’s ceremony, had a history of seizures. In addition to the three quick rescue breaths, Ringel gave him chest compressions and repositioned his head to open his airway. When asked what was going through her head at the time, there was little the 16-year-old could say other than “oh my gosh.” But her ear-to-ear smile was far more telling. “I don’t want to gloat about it, but saving someone’s life is not an average teenage thing to do,” she said.
Photos by Kyle Grillot – kgrillot@shawmedia.com
Joanne Hanranhan, registered nurse (left), and Sue Schmieding, director of the patient experience, demonstrate setting up a hover mat, a device made to prevent injuries and provide smooth transportation of a patient, before five bariatric surgeries at Centegra Hospital – Woodstock. Employees involved in these surgeries must go through a mandatory sensitivity training, and there are special beds to accommodate all size of patients.
Hospitals, emergency crews learn to accommodate largest patients By SHAWN SHINNEMAN sshinneman@shawmedia.com
Michael Keller, certified surgery technician (left), and Melissa Czaja, registered nurse, prepare sterile equipment Tuesday in an operating suite before five bariatric surgeries.
Sue Schmieding remembers when – a few decades ago – Centegra physicians had to take their most obese patients down to the loading dock to weigh them. Not anymore. Higher-capacity scales are just one of several steps taken by Centegra and others in the health care industry both to maintain the dignity of severely overweight patients and to ensure
they’re still receiving the top level of care. The obesity epidemic has forced hospitals to add equipment and supplies to accommodate obese patients and ease the burden the extra weight can cause personnel. “Thoughts go into making sure we have size-appropriate equipment to accommodate the ‘of size’ patients,” said Schmieding, Centegra’s director of the patient experience.
See CARE, page A8
See HONORED, page A8
Consumers to wait for insurance marketplace rates By CARLA K. JOHNSON The Associated Press CHICAGO – With less than three weeks left until a key launch date for the nation’s health care law, Illinois residents planning to shop for health insurance on a new online market-
place still don’t know which companies will offer plans or what the policies will cost. The uncertainty is vexing business owners, the self-employed and others who want to create their budgets for 2014. Heightened speculation and political spin are also in the air
LOCALLY SPEAKING
Sarah Nader – snader@shawmedia.com
LOW
78 52 Complete forecast on A10
C8 B4-5 C10 E1-14
See RATES, page A8
MENTAL HEALTH BOARD
BREEDEN GETS NOD TO FILL VACANCY
McHENRY: Somber ceremony of speeches and music marks 12th anniversary of Sept. 11 attacks. Local&Region, B1
Where to find it Advice Business Buzz Classified
opens Oct. 1, according to federal officials who addressed a group of health professionals and other stakeholders this week without explaining precisely why. More than a dozen other states
A McHenry County Board committee wants a fiscal hawk who reformed the board’s budget development process to fill one of the latest vacancies on the embattled Mental Health Board. The Public Health and Human Services Committee voted Wednesday, 6-1, to recommend former County Board member Scott Breeden fill the seat. For more, see page B1.
McHenry’s Jeremy Sacramento
HIGH
as other states release their rates, with Republicans stressing increases compared to some current rates and Democrats crowing about subsidies many consumers will get. Illinois residents likely won’t know more about policies and pricing until the Web-based marketplace
Vol. 28, Issue 255 Comics C9 Planit Play Inside Local&Region B1-3 Lottery A2
Obituaries Opinion Puzzles Sports
B3 A9 E11 C1-7
At a glance Under President Barack Obama’s health law, almost all Americans will be required to have health insurance in 2014 or face fines, and insurers will be prohibited from turning away people because of poor health. The marketplaces, one for every state, are a key part of the law. The coverage offered on the marketplaces will start Jan. 1.