To the citizens of Crawford County, Illinois:

The mission of Crawford County Health Department (CCHD) is to prevent disease and to assist in the maintenance of optimum health for the citizens of Crawford County through the assessment of needs, development of policy, provision of education and the assurance of services.

Some way, every day, the Health Department has a role in your daily activities. We are guardian of your health in relation to community activities. Each individual or family can maintain their own safe environment, but, when many individuals and families come together to form a community, public health as a whole must be protected. We appreciate the trust you place in us in our efforts to accomplish this.

We are your County Health Department. We work for you.

Current Annoucements

 

Smoking Cessation

As the New Year begins, resolve to make 2012 the year that you quit smoking. Help is available to help you quit for good this year.

The Most Important New Year's Resolution You May Ever Make

The New Year is a symbol of renewal and can be a time to prepare for new beginnings. It is a time to set goals and make them public so that you can get support and encouragement from friends and family. Many smokers use the New Year's holiday as motivation to quit. For some, this is the first time they've tried to quit; for others, they may have tried before. Regardless, this may be the most important resolution a smoker ever makes.  

You Can Quit

Quitting smoking can be challenging and may require multiple attempts. But you can quit, and it's important to keep trying. Don't give up! You learn something new every time you try. Almost 50 million smokers have successfully quit. In fact, since 2002, the number of former U.S. smokers has exceeded the number of current smokers.

Improve Your Health

Cigarette smoke contains more than 7,000 chemicals and chemical compounds, many of which are toxic or carcinogenic (i.e., cause cancer). Smoking is one cause of dangerous plaque buildup inside your arteries. Plaque is made of cholesterol and scar tissue. It clogs and narrows your arteries. This can trigger chest pain, weakness, heart attack, or stroke. Plaque can rupture and cause clots that block arteries. Completely blocked arteries can cause sudden death.

Fortunately, people who stop smoking can greatly reduce their risk for disease and premature death. And the younger you are when you quit, the better your chance for avoiding these problems. So don't wait!

Quitting smoking:

• lowers the risk for lung and other types of cancer.
• reduces the risk for coronary heart disease, stroke, and peripheral vascular disease.
• reduces respiratory symptoms, such as coughing, wheezing, and shortness of breath.
• reduces the risk of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), one of the leading causes of death in the United States.
• reduces the risk for infertility among women during their reproductive years. Women who stop smoking during pregnancy also reduce their risk of having a low birth weight baby.

If you quit smoking, you will also help protect your children, family, and friends from exposure to secondhand smoke that can cause immediate harm to the nonsmokers who breathe it.

• Harm to Others Exposed to Tobacco Smoke

When others are exposed to secondhand smoke from cigarettes, platelets in their blood get sticky and may form clots, just like in a person who smokes. This exposure increases their risk for heart attack and death. Secondhand smoke can also cause lung cancer.

• Harm to Children

If babies and children are exposed to secondhand smoke from cigarettes, they may suffer from bronchitis, pneumonia, and ear infections. Exposure may make them wheeze and cough more often. If they have asthma, breathing in secondhand smoke from cigarettes can trigger an attack that may be severe enough to send them to the hospital. Secondhand smoke also causes sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

There is no safe amount of secondhand exposure. Breathing even a little secondhand smoke can be dangerous. Quitting smoking will improve your health and protect others from exposure to secondhand smoke.

How to Quit

The most important thing is to try! Although no single approach works best for everyone, many effective quit methods are available. Talk to your doctor or health care provider about quitting.You can get ready by setting a quit date in the next few days and by changing your environment (e.g., get rid of ALL cigarettes and ashtrays in your home, car, and place of work and don't let people smoke in your presence). Also, think about your past attempts to quit. Think about what worked and what did not. And once you quit, don't smoke—NOT EVEN A PUFF!

Get support and encouragement. Studies have shown that you have a better chance of being successful if you have help. You can get support in many ways. For example, tell your family, friends, and coworkers that you are going to quit and want their support. Ask them not to smoke around you or leave cigarettes out where you can see them.

Talk to your health care provider (e.g., doctor, dentist, nurse, pharmacist, psychologist, or smoking cessation coach or counselor). Get individual, group, or telephone counseling. Counseling doubles your chances of success. The more help you have, the better your chances are of quitting. Counseling can help you identify and overcome situations that trigger the urge to smoke. Free programs are available . Call your local health department for information about programs in your area.

Try to distract yourself from urges to smoke. Talk to someone, go for a walk, or get busy with a task. When you first try to quit, change your routine. Use a different route to work. Eat breakfast in a different place. Do something to reduce your stress. Take a hot bath, exercise, or read a book. Plan something enjoyable to do every day. Drink a lot of water and other fluids.

Talk to your doctor about medication. Medications can help you stop smoking and lessen the urge to smoke.

• Over-the-counter "nicotine replacement therapies," or NRTs, can help. These are medications that contain nicotine to help reduce your cravings and withdrawal symptoms so you can focus on changing the behavior and habits that trigger your urge to smoke. NRTs available without a doctor's prescription include nicotine lozenges, nicotine gum, and nicotine patches.
• You can also get a prescription from your doctor for NRTS such as nicotine inhalers and nasal sprays that act much like the over-the-counter NRTs.
• Other prescription medications like bupropion SR and varenicline tartrate do not contain nicotine and work in different ways to help reduce your urge to smoke. These medications are FDA-approved and proven to be effective in helping smokers to quit. Talk to your doctor or health care provider.

Quit counseling can be combined with over-the-counter or prescription medications, too. Counseling and medication are effective when used by themselves for treating tobacco dependence. However, the combination of counseling and medication is more effective than either alone.

Regardless of how you decide to quit, whether you use medicines, counseling, or simply stopping smoking now, the most important thing is to try and stick to it.

 

Public Act 097-0393  Cottage Food Operations

On August 16, 2011, Governor Quinn signed legislation that supports Illinois' agriculture industry and increase access to farmers' market for the growing cottage food industry.  Public Act 097-0393 will allow certain homemade foods to be sold at Illinois farmers' markets starting January 1, 2012..

The intent of this Public Act is that all local health departments will register cottage food operations operating in their jurisdiction provided that all the conditions of the act are met.  Under the Public Act, food that is not potentially hazardous may be produced in the kitchen of the person's primary domestic residence for direct sale to customers at farmers' markets.  The Public Act only provides for direct sale by the owner or the family member to customers at farmers' markets.  Thus, cottage food operation products cannot be sold to retail stores, restaurants, over the Internet, by mail order,or to wholesalers, brokers or other food distributors who resell food.  A cottage food operation shall comply with the labeling requirements of the Illinois Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.  The person preparing and selling products as a cottage food operation must have an Illinois Food Service Sanitation Manager Certification, 410 ILCS 49(b)(6). 

For more information, please contact the Crawford County Health Department at 618-544-8798.  Registration forms are available at the health department.

 

County Health Rankings Released

A new report was recently released that ranks Illinois counties according to population-based health measures of illness and death rates. Researchers used five measures to assess the level of overall health or "health outcomes" for each county: the rate of people dying before age 75, the percent of people who report being in fair or poor health, the number of days people report being in poor physical and poor mental health, and the rate of low-birthweight infants. The researchers then looked at factors affecting people's health within four categories: health behavior, clinical care, social & economical factors, and physical environment.

Crawford County's rankings were as follows (out of 101):

 

Immunization information

Immunization clinics are generally held every Tuesday from 4:00-6:00 PM and on the second and fourth Thursday of the month from 8:30-11:00 AM. Appointments are required. There is a $15.00 charge per immunization.

Lead screens are available for $16.00 (free if income eligible).

Weekly walk-in sessions take place every Monday morning from 8:00-11:00 AM and are on a first come, first serve basis.

 

2012 Health Department Holiday Closing Dates

 

FDA Recall Information

Information about current FDA recalls can be found by following this link: FDA recalls

 

1-866-QUIT-YES (784-8937)

www.quityes.org

 

Crawford County Restaurant Facts

• Crawford County Food Scores