Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - June 13, 2012, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE C1 . Right way . Draining sump pump water onto your own property. Wrong way Draining sump pump water onto neighbouring properties, lanes, sidewalks, boulevards, streets, or into your home's floor drain - this is illegal! For more information, call 311 , email 311@ winnipeg. ca or visit winnipeg. ca/ waterandwaste IsYour Sump Pump Hose in the Right Place? It Matters! Water and Waste Department ARTS & LIFE arts@ freepress. mb. ca I WINNIPEGFREEPRESS. COM I SHOWBITS C8 I HOROSCOPE C8 I MOVIES C2 WEDNESDAY, JUNE 13, 2012 C 1 J. R. is back and he's just as conniving as ever / C3 W ASHINGTON - Anyone who's had a hospital stay knows the beeping monitors, the pagers and phones, the hallway chatter, the roommate, even the squeaky laundry carts all make for a not- so- restful place to heal. Hospitals need a prescription for quiet, and new research suggests it may not be easy to tamp down all the noise for a good night's sleep. In fact, the wards with the sickest patients - the intensive care units - can be the loudest. " It's just maddening," says Dr. Jeffrey Ellenbogen, sleep medicine chief at Massachusetts General Hospital. He pointed to one study that found the decibel level in ICUs reaches that of a shout about half the time. Patient satisfaction surveys are packed with complaints that the clamour makes it hard to sleep. Yet remarkably little is known about exactly how that affects patients' bodies - and which types of noises are the most disruptive to shut- eye. So Ellenbogen and researchers from Harvard and the Cambridge Health Alliance recorded different kinds of hubbub in a community hospital in Boston's suburbs to try to find out. Since it wouldn't be appropriate to experiment on sick people by disrupting their sleep, 12 healthy volunteers were enlisted. They spent three nights in Mass General's sleep lab, slumbering as recorded hospital sounds blared from nearby speakers at increasing volumes. Sure, a toilet flushing, voices in the hallway or the ice machine woke people once they were loud enough. But electronic sounds were the most likely to arouse people from sleep - even at decibel levels not much above a whisper, the researchers reported Monday in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine . What electronic sounds? Particularly troublesome was the beep- beep- beep from IV machines that signals someone needs more fluid or medicine, one of the most common machines in a hospital. They're just one of a variety of alarms. Those alarms are meant to alert hospital workers, of course, so the finding raises a conundrum. But some hospitals are testing ways to make at least some monitors flash signals at the nurses' stations rather than sound loudly at the bedside. The other surprises: The sleepers' heart rates temporarily jumped as much as 10 beats a minute as they were aroused, the researchers reported. And they didn't remember most of the disruptions even though brain recordings clearly showed their sleep was interrupted, which suggests that patients' complaints are underestimating the problem. If healthy young adults had a pronounced change in heart rate, imagine the stress of alarms sounding all night long in an ICU full of frail, older patients with weakened hearts, he says. Noise isn't the only challenge. Ellenbogen says sometimes patients are awakened for a blood test or blood pressure check simply because the overnight nurse assigned the task goes off duty at 7 a. m. A number of hospitals have begun taking steps to muffle the noise. Hopkins recently opened a new building constructed for quiet, and Berkowitz says the difference in the new pediatric ICU is stunning. Before, eight children's beds were grouped together in two rooms linked by an opening - the sound of ventilators and machine alarms and conversation all bouncing around the area, he recalls. Now, every patient room is private. Sound- absorbing materials line ceilings. There's a rubber floor in the neonatal unit. There's no overhead paging - workers' phones vibrate when they're needed. Until hospitals dampen more noise, Ellenbogen advises families to advocate for quiet: . If an IV alarm repeatedly sounds, " tell the nurse this has got to stop," he says. . Ask if it's OK to close the room door. . Request a fan in the room to be " white noise" that muffles the electronics. . Speak up if hallway conversations are too loud. - The Associated Press H AMBURGERS have long been a popular food, particularly in summer when you can fire up the barbecue and grill the patties outdoors. Somewhere along the line a whole swath of folks decided that making their own patties was too much fuss. Evidence of this is the countless brands of frozen, ready- to- cook burger patties available. They are convenient but, to me, many contain too many fillers and their colour when raw does not appeal. You also never know what quality of beef was used. I can't recall ever seeing Canada AAA, Canada AA or even Canada A grade beef noted on any package of them. It's for those reasons and, more importantly, taste and juiciness that I prefer to make my own patties. It's not difficult, but there are few things to think about. Below is a 101 guide to preparing them. What meat to buy Ground beef is labelled as regular, medium, lean and extra lean based on fat content. Most sources suggest the best type for a hamburger patty is lean ground beef. Its 17 per cent fat content provides ample juiciness and flavour, but will not cause the burger to shrink too much as it cooks. For the freshest taste, purchase it from a supermarket or butcher shop that grinds its beef daily. Most ground beef is made from pieces of meat from various parts of the animal and the flavour is good. A few supermarkets, and most likely a butcher shop, will also sell ground beef made from a specific part of the animal, such as the chuck or sirloin. If you can find it, the ground chuck, or a mix of the chuck and sirloin, are said by burger gurus to make the richest tasting patties. Safely handling the meat It's best to cook fresh ground beef the By Eric Akis Burgers 101 Forget frozen; Here's your guide on how to make and cook the tastiest, juiciest hamburger patties By Lauran Neergaard Hospitals need Rx for quiet day you buy it, but it could be stored in a sided container in refrigerator one day. Wash your hands thoroughly before and after handling ground beef. Thoroughly clean all surfaces - counters, dishes, utensils, thermometers, etc. - that come in contact with raw meat. Use clean utensils and plates when removing cooked ground beef from the heat source, not ones that have been used to mix or move the raw meat. For additional information, visit the Health Canada website, www. hc- sc. gc. ca, and enter Food Safety Tips for Barbecuing Hamburgers into the search. To fill and flavour, not flavour, or go somewhere in between I've made and been served hamburger patties made with ground beef blended with such things as breadcrumbs, eggs and a whack of flavourings. They've tasted just fine, in some cases divine, and adding breadcrumbs can stretch out the meat if you're feeding a throng of people. However, in recent years I've been taking a simpler approach. I'll either simply flavour the meat with such things as garlic and herbs ( see recipe below). Or, even more frequently, season it only with salt and pepper, nothing else. If you've purchased good- quality ground beef and you plan to accompany the patty in the bun with all sorts of tasty toppings, the beef will stand out more if it's just - or almost just - beef. Shaping the patties When mixing and shaping beef patties, do not overdo it. If you press and pack the meat together, the cooked patty will be firm and tough in texture. To make a patty, first lightly dampen your hands with cold water, as this will create a barrier that prevents the meat from sticking to them. Make a very loose ball of the meat and set in the palm of one hand. Use the other hand to very gently press and shape the meat into a patty that just holds together. Press the edges gently to smooth them; the patty does not have to be perfectly shaped. Don't make your patties too thin, or they could quickly overcook and dry out, or too thick, or the exterior will scorch before the middle is cooked. Three- quarters of an inch thick is ideal. If you make a deep dimple in the centre of the patty, it can help prevent the burger from puffing as it cooks. Continued Please see BURGERS C 5 C_ 01_ Jun- 13- 12_ FP_ 01. indd C1 6/ 12/ 12 6: 17: 53 PM ;