Buy a CS Awareness Bracelet, Help Hurricane Relief Efforts

Celebrate CS Week Awareness Week, Oct. 9-15, 2005, by purchasing the International Association of Healthcare Central Service Materiel Management (IAHCSMM)s CS bracelets, and at the same time, assist in Hurricane Katrina disaster relief efforts.

IAHCSMM will be matching dollar for dollar the money spent on the purchase of the bracelets, and donating the funds to the Salvation Army Hurricane Relief Fund. For every $100 in donations received, the Salvation Army will be able to feed a family of four for two days, provide two cases of drinking water and one household clean-up kit containing brooms, mops, buckets, and cleaning supplies.

Awareness bracelets are brightly colored, rubber wristbands, representing different concerns and causes. The first wristband, created by the Lance Armstrong Foundation in 1997, was a vibrant yellow bracelet to raise awareness for the struggles of cancer survivors. Since then, more than 32 million people have been wearing the yellow Livestrong bracelet, and several other colors have emerged, with topics as broad as Supporting Our Troops (olive green) to Tsunami Relief (light blue) to Peace (white).

IAHCSMM announces its own double interlocking awareness bracelet, embossed with the IAHCSMM logo and the tagline, "I Am Instrumental to Patient Care." Each time you wear these silicone bracelets (colored in complimentary rust tones of the IAHCSMM logo), patients or other areas of the hospital will become increasingly more aware of your importance in the Central Service department.

Additionally, IAHCSMM is creating a scholarship fund to further promote education within the central service and sterile processing fields. All net proceeds from sales of the IAHCSMM Awareness Bracelet go directly to the scholarship fund.

To celebrate CS Week Awareness, IAHCSMM supervisors/ managers/directors of a Central Service Department may order up to 10 bracelets for their staff at no cost. All orders must originate from a current active member of IAHCSMM in a supervisory or managerial role within the CS department. A limit of 10 free awareness bracelets is available per hospital. Full names must be provided for each individual to receive a bracelet (failure to provide names will delay the order past CS Week). Any orders received requesting more than 10 bracelets, or orders received from non-member supervisor/managers will be required to pay a fee of $5 for each bracelet plus shipping. Complimentary orders must be received between Sept. 7, 2005 and Oct. 7, 2005 (all orders received after these dates are subject to applicable fees). Supplies are limited. For more information or to order, go to the IAHCSMM Web site at www.iahcsmm.org

Source: IAHCSMM