NCI Frederick has a new chili champion. Dawn Goings, administrative assistant in Environment, Health, and Safety, blazed her way through a heated competition to clinch first place in the 17th Chili Cook-off. The cook-off, a storied lunch-hour tradition at NCI Frederick, returned to campus this year for the first time since 2019, rising phoenix-like from the ashes of the pandemic.
Experiencing a persistent cough, tight chest, and sinus discomfort can be uncomfortable. When you have these symptoms, it’s natural to seek medication to help ease your symptoms and promote healing.
As a nurse practitioner, I have faced the dilemma of finding suitable over-the-counter cold remedies without a clear, evidence-based answer. Standing in the cold and sinus aisle, the abundance of products is overwhelming. To make an informed decision, I considered the underlying causes of sinus congestion, including common colds, nasal irritants, and environmental triggers.
We’ve seen the return of many things, good and bad, as society has reopened and life has found the so-called new normal. One of those things this year is the flu—and it’s back with a vengeance. Thankfully, it isn’t too late to get vaccinated, and it’s easy for employees at NCI Frederick and Frederick National Laboratory to do so.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Especially in the medical world, it’s far more effective and, often, more convenient to avoid an ailment entirely rather than to treat it. Occupational Health Services at Frederick National Laboratory has long championed this ideology, but the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 posed new challenges for prevention, especially for employees traveling.
Look at your fingernails. What comes to mind? Now look at the veins in your arms. What about them? Odds are the words “critical” and “historic” aren’t your first thoughts, but they’d be an apt description. At NCI at Frederick and Frederick National Laboratory, nail clippings and blood specimens are two ways to make a difference in scientific research.
The emergence of a virus known as monkeypox has raised many questions, most notably: Is this the new pandemic?
As COVID-19 tore across the U.S. in 2020, drug overdose deaths in Maryland rose to an all-time high. The grim statistic has since decreased slightly but remains higher than before the pandemic. Occupational Health Services (OHS) is taking action against the crisis, putting naloxone kits in employees’ hands in a push to reduce overdose deaths in the community and to protect, promote, and improve health and welfare.
With all the talk around COVID-19 vaccines and boosters, it's easy to forget there's another infectious respiratory disease already looming: influenza. Flu season is going to look a little different this year, according to Sarah Hooper, nurse practitioner (CRNP), RN, manager of the Frederick National Laboratory Occupational Health Services.
We are all trying our best to lower our chances of contracting COVID-19, but certain circumstances still place us at risk. Occupational Health Services has been serving the NCI at Frederick and Frederick National Laboratory community by answering questions about the coronavirus and offering guidance on how to handle specific situations, like being exposed to the virus, living with someone who is sick, or traveling from another state or country. Here is some information that can help you make the right choices to keep you and your coworkers safe.
The COVID-19 pandemic has been the biggest health topic of the year so far, but the 2020–2021 flu season is quickly approaching. With COVID-19 putting a strain on public health systems, it’s important to get a flu vaccine to protect yourself and your community from further illness and strain this winter. Occupational Health Services is offering a flu vaccine for NCI at Frederick and Frederick National Laboratory staff, including subcontractors and construction subcontractors.
