Online UPDATES

Arming your staff to fight domestic violence

The Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses has developed a comprehensive program on how to assist victims of domestic violence. Although the program was developed by and for nurses, it is intended to give all healthcare providers the knowledge and skills needed to assess women for abuse and to intervene on their behalf. The Universal Screening for Domestic Violence presentation comes on CD-ROM and includes an abuse screening tool (in English and Spanish), a danger assessment tool, and a list of resources. It also provides an overview of mandatory reporting laws, and Web site addresses for locating information about your state's laws.

The package can be ordered online from the AWHONN at www.awhonn.org in the Continuing Education section of its online store. Cost for nonmembers is $40.

Can you trust online rental car deals?

Orbitz often posts the lowest online car rental rates, but some of its figures are either teaser rates or for small, little-known rental companies, says a study released by Consumer WebWatch, a project of Consumers Union. The study rated the Web sites on how often they came up with the lowest price (often found on more than one Web site). Orbitz had the lowest rates 73 percent of the time (followed by Travelocity, at 63 percent). But the bargains posted by Orbitz sometimes disappeared when researchers tried to get more information about them. In one instance, a daily rate jumped by $90 in 17 seconds when a researcher asked for pricing specifics.

Rates quoted on rental car sites, such as Hertz, Avis, and Alamo, were higher than those of Orbitz, Travelocity, or`Expedia.com. But Alamo did the best at clearly spelling out how much customers would pay in taxes, fees, and surcharges.

Has your stroller been recalled?

Keeping track of product recalls is easier with a new Web site by Nolo, a self-help legal publisher, and Justia, a provider of legal information for consumers. The site at www.recallwarnings.com lists consumer recalls for products ranging from baby merchandise to trucks, all collected from various federal government agencies. The site offers an e-mail alert, and lets you browse through an index of 400 categories.

Yvonne Wollenberg. Online UPDATES.

Medical Economics

Dec. 5, 2003;80.