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ORANGE COUNTY <br />BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br />ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br />Meeting Date: September 15, 2009 <br />Action Agenda <br />Item No. 3 - b <br />SUBJECT: Recognition of Pink Campaign Sponsors <br />DEPARTMENT: Emergency Services PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No <br />ATTACHMENT(S): <br />Pink Campaign Certificates <br />INFORMATION CONTACT: <br />Doris Cecil, 245-6100 <br />Kim Woodward 245-6100 <br />PURPOSE: To recognize local business partners who were major contributors with donations <br />of money, goods, or services to promote Breast Cancer Awareness through the Emergency <br />Services Pink Campaign. <br />BACKGROUND: Cancer is expected to surpass heart disease and become the leading cause <br />of death in North Carolina and the nation by the year 2015. One in eight women will get breast <br />cancer in their lifetime. Approximately 1,400 cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed in men <br />every year and 400 of those men will die. Breast cancer risk increases with age and every <br />woman is at risk. Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in women, <br />exceeded only by lung cancer. Death rates from breast cancer have been declining since <br />approximately 1990. These decreases are believed to be the result of earlier detection through <br />screening and increased awareness, as well as improved treatment. The first sign of breast <br />cancer usually shows up on a woman's mammogram before it can be felt or any other <br />symptoms are present. The American Cancer Society recommends that women age 40 and <br />older should have a screening mammogram every year and should continue to do so for as long <br />as they are in good health. Women in their 20s and 30s should have a clinical breast exam <br />(CBE) as part of a periodic (regular) health exam by a health professional, preferably every 3 <br />years. <br />What is the Pink Campaign? <br />Telecommunicators, paramedics and emergency medical technicians serve many victims of <br />cancer annually. Many have relatives, friends and coworkers who are touched in some way by <br />breast cancer. Members of Orange County Emergency Services will be promoting Breast <br />Cancer Awareness Month by wearing pink uniform hats and shirts throughout the entire month <br />of October. Orange County Emergency Services' ambulances will be marked in a temporary <br />way that raises awareness for breast cancer. Telecommunicators, paramedics, and emergency <br />medical technicians will also distribute literature to the public as well as be prepared to answer <br />questions. <br />