• Unintentional falls are the most common, with an estimated 5,598,438 incidents yearly.
• Unintentional poisoning came second, with approximately 1,712,272 incidents each year.
• Unintentional firearm incidents are the least common, accounting for only 26,830 emergency room visits.

A new study reveals the non-fatal injuries that most frequently land Americans in the emergency room, with accidental falls being the top cause.

The analysis undertaken by experienced personal injury attorneys John Foy & Associates, used the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to uncover the leading injuries prompting adults to seek emergency medical assistance.
Unintentional falls are the leading cause of non-fatal injuries in America, resulting in around 5,598,438 ER visits annually across all genders and ages. This type of accident may occur due to circumstances like slippery, cluttered, or unstable walking/working surfaces.
The second most common is unintentional poisoning, with around 1,712,272 individuals affected each year. From foodborne illnesses to drug overdoses, poisoning comes in many forms and represents one the largest ER risks nationwide. This category excludes the unexpected adverse effects of correctly administered drugs and bacterial illnesses like food poisoning.
Unintentionally struck by or against takes third place and accounts for 1,591,827 visits each year. These visits typically involve incidents where individuals are struck by an object, animals or person, rather than a vehicle or machinery. They can occur in a number of circumstances, such as at a person’s workplace, while walking their dog, or rollerblading on the beach.
Occupants of motor vehicles are fourth, with an estimated 1,541,393 visits each year. These accidents affect occupants of cars, pickup trucks, SUVs, vans, heavy transport vehicles, and buses and most commonly occur as a result of traffic accidents.
Unintentionally cut or pierced is the fifth most common reason, accounting for an estimated 1,293,773 visits each year. Accidental incisions, slashes, perforations, punctures, and lacerations from household or occupational objects are common examples of this non-fatal injury.
The sixth-leading cause is overexertion, which can result from activities like heavy lifting or intense workouts, and accounts for more than 1,272,977 yearly emergency department visits.
Coming in seventh is unintentional bites and stings, causing around 427,255 emergency visits. This accounts for injuries such as snake and lizard bites, bee and wasp, scorpion stings, and even jellyfish stings. This also encompasses injuries involving penetration of the skin from plants or plant parts.
Other unintentional transportation-related injuries come in eighth, with about 350,007 cases each year. These injuries include pedestrians injured while boarding transport, accidents involving power scooters, go-karts, streetcars, and even space transport.
Presence of a foreign body is the ninth leading cause, with around 277,922 yearly incidents. Such incidents could involve accidental ingestion or insertion of foreign objects, such as toys, pebbles, or dirt, into the eye or other orifices of the body.

Rounding off the top ten is unintentional pedal cyclist injuries, with 229,312 incidents. This includes accidents involving bicycles and similar transport modes, such as losing control, colliding, or other traffic-related events on public roads.

John Foy, founder of John Foy & Associates, commented on the findings:

“The data provided further important insights, when looking at sex differences between male and female ER visits. For instance, women are more frequently victims of dog bites than men, which could be in part due to the fact that more than 70% of dog walkers are female.

“Additionally, the data suggests that occupants of larger vehicles, such as cars, trucks, or buses, are 590% more likely to sustain non-fatal injuries than motorcyclists.

“It’s also noteworthy that overexertion alone results in more emergency room trips than dog bites, pedal cycle incidents, and bites and stings combined.”

About John Foy & Associates:
John Foy & Associates helps victims of catastrophic injury, wrongful death, workplace accidents, and defective drugs. The firm has been serving the community for over 25 years, helping their clients secure the compensation they deserve.

Sources:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Methodology:
The research utilized the latest data from the CDC to identify the leading causes of non-fatal injuries among American adults aged 18-85+. Child-specific injuries were excluded to prevent skewness. Injuries were categorized and ranked based on the estimated number of emergency room visits caused. The data was then cleaned to make it easily digestible, with ‘unknown’ or ‘unspecified’ injuries removed. Patterns, like gender differences in injury types, were also investigated to provide insightful conclusions.

Images of the tables used in this release can be found here:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Mz2XkCoYG4RmiZYQmLEZEm8mgDzZ9ikV?usp=sharing

Story and links provided by https://www.johnfoy.com

Elizabeth Von Gunten

(Right) 100 years old. Naomi Elizabeth (Oursler) Von Gunten of Stillwater is Always very active in her church & community, she regularly Facetimes & Zooms her family using her own iPad, but being the mother of wonderful children who contribute to their communities & churches is her special honor. Words of wisdom: “Go to church, be active in it & develop a strong religious faith!”

Leon Campbell

(Left) 100 years old. Leon Campbell served in the Army during World War II, had a career as an aircraft mechanic, and had many hobbies. He was a competitive dancer winning many awards. Words of wisdom to us are: Love the Live You Live and Dance Like No One is Watching!

Betty Jean Shuttee

(Right) 100 years old. Betty Jean (Field) Shuttee of Enid is a retired pediatric nurse, enjoys all music by Lawrence Welk, reading, gardening, singing, Netflix & angel food cake. Her travels have taken her to 39 countries & to every state in the US. She received a proclamation from the Mayor & a special poster made by a class of preschoolers. Words of wisdom: “Be patient, be positive and be kind to everyone!”

Phil Morgan

(Right) 102 years old. Phil Morgan is a veteran of WWII. Words of wisdom: “Put God first, go to church and develop a close walk with the Lord. Cherish your family, spend time with them, time goes fast, and kids grow up too quickly. Honor the military, respect the United States of America.”

KNOW A CENTENARIAN?
Please visit http://centenariansok.com/ and download and submit our form.

Throughout the month of September, the University of Oklahoma Food Pantry will be competing with the University of Texas’s food pantry, the UT Outpost, to see which pantry can receive the most shelf-sustainable food.
The competition has been named the “Red River Food Fight” and the winner will be named the “Red River Food Fight Champion.”
Matt Marks, campus care coordinator and director of the OU Food Pantry, said they are hoping this competition will help both universities as they try to combat the above-average rates of food insecurity within each of the respective states.
“It’s a fun way to celebrate a historic rivalry,” Marks said. “There’s a lot of competitiveness on the football field, but we are coming together to combat food insecurity and hunger, which plagues both our states. Texas and Oklahoma are two of the hungrier states in our nation and this is a great way to come together to take steps to solve this problem. We’ve got a great relationship with the pantry down in Texas, and just had great conversations with them to bring this together and unite around a very heated game to try to take care of people within our communities.”
Royce Coleman, sophomore biochemistry major in the Dodge Family College of Arts and Sciences and OU Food Pantry associate director of campus engagement, said he began having conversations with UT last fall.
While there was immediate interest, the timeline was too near to effectively execute the drive. But this year, the timing was right.
“The initial goal of the competition was to utilize our historic rivalry and our extremely passionate fanbases toward benefiting both of our food pantries, which in turn would allow us to better provide for our students and staff,” Coleman said. “We are hopeful that the many fans of this rivalry (the greatest college rivalry in the nation, if I may say so myself) will join us in promoting this competition and help us combat the food insecurity that exists on our campuses.”
Valeria Martin, assistant director for basic needs at the University of Texas at Austin, said there was no hesitation when the OU Food Pantry representatives approached them.
“We were so excited when the OU Food Pantry team approached us with the idea to collaborate in a friendly competition for the benefit of our campus pantries,” Martin said. “Our goal for the Red River Food Fight is to raise awareness about UT Outpost in our community. Drawing on the rivalry and competition helps energize our campus around supporting UT Outpost and keeping the pantry stocked while making more students aware of UT Outpost as a resource.”
The winner of the Red River Food Fight will be announced on Oct. 7, the day of the Red River Rivalry football game. Boxes to donate canned goods and shelf-sustainable food to the OU Food Pantry have been scattered across campus; donations also may be made directly to the food pantry. Other items and monetary donations are always welcomed but will not go toward the competition.

by Greg Schwem

I have never been a fan of restaurants owned by, or associated with, celebrities. I could be if, while dining, the celebrity whose name is on the door and the menu were sitting near me or, preferably, being told the wait is “over an hour, since you don’t have a reservation.”
So far, that hasn’t occurred. I’ve never spotted Michael Jordan devouring a T-bone at Michael Jordan’s Steak House; never saw Jimmy Buffett – may he rest in peace – working the blender at Margaritaville or encountered Robert De Niro dunking tuna sashimi into soy sauce at Nobu. During Oprah Winfrey’s six-year run as a partner in Chicago restaurant The Eccentric, I visited one evening and pointedly asked the waiter if Oprah was really in the kitchen, whipping up a side dish known only as “Oprah’s Potatoes.”
She wasn’t.
Also, a visit to a celebrity-owned restaurant invariably ends with a bill that could easily be paid by a celebrity but not us common folk. The same holds true in grocery or liquor stores. I’ll happily save a few bucks and not purchase the Guy Fieri barbecue sauce or the Nick Jonas tequila. My football tailgates won’t suffer.
And yet, I recently found myself feeling sorry for actor Paul Newman. And not because he’s dead.
Newman, star of classics including “The Sting,” “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” and “The Color of Money,” not to mention the owner of steely blue eyes, launched a line of “Newman’s Own” salad dressings in 1982. According to newmansown.com, the line grossed $300,000 in its first year. None of those profits came from me, for I remember picking up a bottle of Newman’s Italian dressing while in college, glancing at the price and immediately placing it back on the shelf. My date, who I promised to cook for, “Italian style,” had to settle for generic dressing, which did its best to compliment the other generic products that dotted the menu. Cash-strapped college students were not Newman’s target demographic.
Eventually Newman parlayed his success into other foods, including pizza, spices, olive oils and spaghetti sauces. It was the latter that caught my eye during a recent grocery visit. Newman’s Own Marinara, Tomato & Basil and Sockarooni (“so delicious it could knock your socks off,” the website proclaims) sauces were among the CHEAPEST on the shelves.
College students, there’s a SALE in aisle five! Paul Newman has been officially marked down!
How did Newman allow brands like Rao, Barilla and Classico to dominate the “too lazy to make your own sauce” market, charging upward of $2 more for sauces? Sad to say, I think it’s because the name “Newman” no longer carries the relevance it used to. Cool Hand Luke died 15 years ago this month. The more time that elapses, the more likely shoppers will pick up a bottle of Newman’s Own and say, “Who?” before putting it back.
Yes, we are a celebrity obsessed culture, but we also want to feel like we have a connection with the celebrities we support. If Taylor Swift launched a line of gum and charged $5 per stick, I am certain sales would still explode, for what young girl doesn’t want their breath to smell like Taylor’s?
Now fast-forward 15 years. Taylor will be 48. Probably married with a couple of kids. Maybe doing a 90-minute Vegas residency as opposed to a three-and-a-half-hour stadium show. Will her gum still be a hot commodity? Or will it be alongside the gossip rags and the disposable lighters in the grocery checkout aisle while a new female singer, who probably is currently in preschool, is charging $10 per stick. And making millions.
This time, I tossed two jars of Newman’s sauce into my cart, not because they were cheap but because I don’t want Paul Newman, whose films I still watch, to fade away. Besides, the labels say, “100% profits to help kids” and, as vague as that sounds, kids need all the help they can get these days.
Now I just have to find that college girl and invite her over for a dinner that will knock her socks off.

(Greg Schwem is a corporate stand-up comedian and author of two books: “Text Me If You’re Breathing: Observations, Frustrations and Life Lessons From a Low-Tech Dad” and the recently released “The Road To Success Goes Through the Salad Bar: A Pile of BS From a Corporate Comedian,” available at https://www.amazon.com/. Visit Greg on the web at https://www.gregschwem.com/.
You’ve enjoyed reading, and laughing at, Greg Schwem’s monthly humor columns in Senior Living News. But did you know Greg is also a nationally touring stand-up comedian? And he loves to make audiences laugh about the joys, and frustrations, of growing older. Watch the clip and, if you’d like Greg to perform at your senior center or senior event, contact him through his website at https://www.gregschwem.com/)

https://www.navigatingmedicare.com/

Died During the December Attack on Pearl Harbor

Robert Thomas Stout was in El Reno, Oklahoma on Feb. 27, 1920 and enlisted at Denver, Colorado as a Seaman Apprentice.
Robert reached the rank of Fire Controlman 3rd Class (FC3c) with duties included operating, maintaining, inspecting and repairing the weapons control systems used on combat ships. He also operated range finders, optical fire control equipment, repaired electrical firing circuits and manned fire control stations in action.
Robert’s Duty Stations included the USS Oklahoma in April, 1941 until death, USS Rigel in 1940, Elementary Fire Controlman School in 1940 at San Diego, USS Oklahoma in 1939 and the Naval Training Station Great Lakes, IL in 1939.
Awards and decorations included the Purple Heart Medal, Combat Action Ribbon, American Defense Service Medal (Fleet Clasp), Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (Bronze Star) and the World War II Victory Medal.
Robert Thomas Stout, Fire Controlman 3rd Class died during the Dec. 7 attack on Pearl Harbor, will be buried in the Cottonwood, Cemetery, 20499 1st Street, Cottonwood, California on September 15.
Families of Sailors that died in the Pearl Harbor attack are offered a choice to either have the family member re-interred at NMCP, or choose an alternate location, such as a veterans’, private family site, or Arlington National Cemetery. Navy Mortuary, a branch within Navy Casualty, will coordinate the movement of remains, which typically arrive a couple days prior to the burial.

[email protected]

The Oklahoma Historical Society (OHS) is now accepting nominations for its annual awards program. Recipients of these awards will be honored at the OHS Awards Banquet to be held Thursday, March 21, 2024, at the Oklahoma History Center in Oklahoma City.
The OHS is seeking nominations for the following awards:
*Oklahoma Historians Hall of Fame: This honor recognizes distinguished and long-term contributions to Oklahoma history through demonstrated excellence.
*Bruce T. Fisher Award: This award recognizes the significant contribution of an individual or organization for history-related projects, including exhibits, short-form publications, collections care, film, programming, and digital projects completed in the previous year with a budget under $20,000.
*Linda Williams Reese Award: This award recognizes the outstanding dissertation or thesis on Oklahoma history completed in the previous year. It includes a $500 award.
*Joseph B. Thoburn Award: This is awarded to a junior or senior in high school who exhibits outstanding achievements in the presentation or interpretation of state and local history. It includes a $500 scholarship.
*William D. Pennington Award: This award acknowledges an outstanding social studies teacher—one who makes a lasting impact on students and provides remarkable support for Oklahoma National History Day projects.
To nominate an individual or a history project, visit www.okhistory.org/awards and download the nomination form specific to the award. Current members of the OHS Board of Directors and current employees of the OHS and its museums, sites and affiliates are not eligible. The completed form must be submitted no later than October 20 to [email protected] or mailed to Larry O’Dell, 800 Nazih Zuhdi Dr., Oklahoma City, OK 73105.

A discovery at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation could lead to a new treatment for a heart valve condition impacting more than 6 million Americans.
In mitral valve prolapse, the heart’s mitral valve doesn’t open and close completely, leading to inadequate blood flow. The disorder results from a birth defect or natural wear and tear over time. It can cause fatigue, stroke and, in severe cases, heart failure.
OMRF scientist Sathish Srinivasan, Ph.D., studies the lymphatic system, which transports tissue fluid throughout the body with the assistance of lymphatic valves. He wondered whether lessons learned from the lymphatic valves could also be applied to the heart valves.
“Lymphatic and heart valves are different, but we wondered, do the same molecules play roles in their function?” Srinivasan said. “It turned out to be a good guess.”
Srinivasan’s study, published in the journal Circulation Research, found that two proteins essential for lymphatic valve function – PROX1 and FOXC2 – are also key for good heart valve function.
In people who don’t have one or both of the proteins, Srinivasan said, valves continue to enlarge out of check. Preventing this overgrowth may be an effective new approach to treat dysfunctional valves.
“We tested a treatment that can imitate the job of the two proteins in research models, and the valves showed major improvement in function,” Srinivasan said.
This discovery is just the beginning, said Yen Chun Ho, Ph.D., a postdoctoral researcher in Srinivasan’s lab.
“We have observed that other molecules known to operate in the lymphatic system are also present in the heart valves, so we know this is a promising direction for future work,” Ho said.
The research was supported by grant R01HL163095-01A1 from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, and funding from the Oklahoma Center for Adult Stem Cell Research, a program of TSET.

Story and photo by Van Mitchell. Staff Writer

teve Gentling likes being involved and engaged in the community.
He has served in that capacity as both a private citizen, and as Mayor of Guthrie since 2015.
“When we moved to Guthrie, I got pretty involved with a lot of different community activities,” he said. “I joined the Lions Club right off the bat. I became a member of the ‘89er Day Parade Committee and ultimately chaired it for four or five years. I was chairman of the Logan County United Way for three years, and as a board member of American Legion Post 58. I got involved with a lot of local community activities. making a (good) community even better.”
After Gentling retired as the director of the Veterans Administration Hospital in Oklahoma City, his desire to serve continued.
“When I retired, I still wanted to continue to be engaged and involved,” Gentling said. “Some people came and said, “You might want to think about running for mayor. I hadn’t really thought of it too much. I had been, again, engaged with a lot of community activities, but not with governmental activities. I thought about what I had to contribute, and thought about wanting to make the community even better. So, I decided to run.”
Born in Rochester, Minn., Gentling said early on in his life he decided he wanted to be a hospital administrator.
He went to graduate school at University of Missouri at Columbia, Missouri in Health Administration. “They had a VA hospital there in Columbia and I did a residency there, and liked it,” he said. “They offered me a job out of graduate school, and so I joined the VA healthcare system. And then moved around, went from Columbia, to Albuquerque, to Minneapolis, to Madison, to Omaha, to Dallas, to Oklahoma City. I spent 36 years in the VA healthcare system. The last 20 years as as the Director of the VA Medical Center in Oklahoma City.
Gentling and his wife Sue have three adult children, eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren, all who live in Oklahoma.
“When we originally came to Oklahoma City, we lived in Edmond,” he said. “Then as I got closer to looking at retirement, again, having lived in Minnesota, we always liked to live on, be on the water. I started looking around for some property that was on water and just happened to find a lot on Lake Guthrie. We built a home and moved from Edmond to Guthrie.”
Gentling said his leadership and communication skills have helped him as mayor
“I think I have some skill sets that facilitate bringing people together, focusing on where we are and where we want to be,” he said.”
Gentling said he campaigned on the need to generate more revenue for the Guthrie community and to increase the city’s sales tax.
“In the next year, 2016, we went to the people with a three-quarters of a cent sales tax increase, and it passed,” he said. “It was for 15 years, and will generate about $19 million over those 15 years. From my perspective, I think that was really one of the things that really helped us start to move ahead, start to do some things.”
Gentling said it takes a team effort to build community success, and has high praise for Guthrie’s leadership team that includes new City Manager Eddie Faulkner, and former City Manager Leroy Alsup, the city administration staff, and members of the city council maximizing the resources that are available to the city.
“Leroy and Eddie, I think, are just quality people that have contributed significantly to our community in their administration of the city and of the resources,” he said. “The council, seven different people, sometimes seven different views. I think we’ve been able to come together to do what is best for Guthrie. I think we’ve listened to citizens. And, I think generally we have been pretty much a close-knit council.”
Gentling said Guthrie is tackling its biggest project with a new $20 million wastewater treatment plant.
“That’s the biggest financial project that this community has ever undertaken, and it should be finished in 2025,” he said. “A large project that we just got the go ahead on, which actually was one of my visions back in 2016, was a youth sports complex. We’ve got a $1 million grant, we’ve matched that with $1 million for phase one, $2 million phase one to enhance our youth sports complex. I see it as an economic engine for the community. I see it as it being one of the go-to places for youth and adult softball, baseball tournaments. I see it as a significant revenue generator for our community down the road.”
Gentling said Guthrie is growing with at least 800 new homes being built in the next few years.
“We’ve got four new community developments, housing developments that when they’re all finished will add about 800 rooftops to our community, that’s significant,” he said.
Gentling said he is a positive person, and tries to relay that in everything he does.
“I’m a cheerleader. I am a very optimistic person, so I see the very positives in everything and everybody,” Gentling said. “That’s why I don’t call them problems, I call them opportunities. And some would say, “Well, he’s got his rose colored-glasses on.” Well, if that’s the testament on my tombstone, I’ll be happy with that. Because I much prefer to see the goodness and the positivity rather than the negativity.”

At 77-years old, Cherokee citizen and U.S. Navy veteran Simeon Gipson was pedaling again. This time to the 2023 National Senior Games in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where he qualified to compete. Simeon left Tahlequah to make the nearly 997 mile bike ride on May 29th and received a huge send-off at the Cherokee Nation Headquarters in Tahlequah while Cherokee Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. signing a Proclamation declaring Tuesday, May 30th as “Simeon Gipson Day in the Cherokee Nation” for Gipson’s sustained efforts to encourage physical wellness.