Saline County buildings will light up green this week in support of veterans

In celebration of Veteran’s Day and in recognition of unique challenges faced by veterans, a proclamation supporting Operation Green Light for military veterans was read to the Saline County Commission Tuesday.

The commissioners officially adopted the proclamation, read by Saline County Management Intern Farel Otieno, which describes the need veterans have to be connected with resources that help them and their families.

Various Saline County buildings will be illuminated green through Nov. 13 as part of Operation Green Light to “shine a light” on the needs veterans have.

“I hope everyone can continue to observe Veteran’s Day and this weekend, this green light, is a really unique thing that’s being observed and proclaimed,” said County Commissioner Bob Vidricksen.

County residents and local businesses are also encouraged to participate by changing one light bulb in their house to a green bulb. This can be an exterior light that neighbors or a passerby can see, or it can be an indoor light.

While the event is focused on leading up to Veteran’s Day, people are encouraged to participate year-round; there is a social media tag #OperationGreenLight where people can share their green lights.

Operation Green Light is an initiative of the National Association of Counties to support military veterans.

“We encourage everyone to join us in displaying a green light for our veterans and to also reflect on how we, as a nation and at the county level, assist our military service personal back into civilian life upon completion of their service to our country,” said NACo president Denise Winfrey in a press release.

Updates to Advisory Council by-laws

The Commission approved an update to Saline County Health Department Advisory Council by-laws and heard an overall health department update from Health Department Director Jason Tiller on Nov. 8.

The updated by-laws include: updates to the overall council responsibilities, an addition of a section describing council member responsibilities, changing the calendar year of terms from August through July to January through December and changing language to elect chair and vice-chair from the council members.

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Health Department Advisory Council by-laws were revised after several workshops with the remaining council members. Recruiting is currently ongoing for the remaining open positions and the plan is to bring a proposed slate of candidates for appointment later in November with a start date for Council meetings on Feb. 5, 2023.

“We put a lot of work in revising these by-laws in order to revamp and reboot the Advisory Council,” Tiller said.

Helping with infant and maternal safety

Tiller also presented the Universal Home Visiting Expansion Project grant. The $75,000 grant funds will be utilized to provide incentives to county families.

Incentives will include items needed to maintain infant safety and maternal psychosocial and social determinants of health needs. Some examples are pack and plays, sleep sacks for safe sleep, and car seats for safe transportation.

Health Department continues to monitor for severe illnesses

After the County Commission unanimously approved the grant, Tiller provided an overall update from the Health Department. The update included information about monitoring for common respiratory illnesses ahead of the flu season, vaccination availability and staffing updates.

Tiller mentioned the Health Department’s opioid dashboard and the work the department has done to provide education and assistance to people who may be in crisis.

“We’re continuing to build on this resource and this reference for the community so that they can have the resources they need to know what is happening and where they can get help – or how they can help in the community when it comes to opioids,” Tiller said.

As of late, the Health Department has been monitoring the following illnesses closely: COVID-19, Influenza, Respiratory Syncytial Virus, Ebola and Monkey Pox.

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A recent Ebola outbreak in Uganda has travelers being screened to determine if they have been exposed. There have been no local cases of Ebola, but there have been a couple local cases of Monkey Pox, Tiller said.

“We have had a couple (of) cases (of Monkey Pox) but nothing that has been a significant issue,” Tiller said. “Those first three though, COVID, flu and RSV… these three respiratory viruses together are creating a significant level of concern in the healthcare community.”

People in the healthcare community are worried, Tiller said, that the combination of the three viruses ahead of the flu season could potentially overwhelm healthcare services, which have still not fully recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is important people get their flu shots and boosters, Tiller said, and still frequently wash their hands and stay home if they are sick.

“You know, share your grandmother’s chili recipe, but don’t share your flu and cold germs,” Tiller said.

This article originally appeared on Salina Journal: Saline County buildings will light up green in support of veterans