By Tony Leys | KFF Health News

ADAIR, Iowa — The blue-and-white highway sign for the eastbound rest stop near here displays more than the standard icon of a person in a wheelchair, indicating facilities are accessible to people who can’t walk. The sign also shows a person standing behind a horizontal rectangle, preparing to perform a task.

The second icon signals that this rest area along Interstate 80 in western Iowa has a bathroom equipped with a full-size changing table, making it an oasis for adults and older children who use diapers because of disabilities.

“It’s a beacon of hope,” said Nancy Baker Curtis, whose 9-year-old son, Charlie, has a disability that can leave him incontinent. “I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, we’re finally there.’”

The white changing table is 6 feet long and can be lowered and raised with a handheld controller wired to an electric motor. When not in use, the table folds up against the wall.

The table was recently installed as part of a national effort to make public bathrooms more accessible in places like airports, parks, arenas, and gas stations. Without such options, people with disabilities often wind up being changed on bathroom floors, in cars, or even on the ground outside.

Many families hesitate to go out because of the lack of accessible restrooms. “We all know somebody who’s tethered to their home by bathroom needs,” Baker Curtis said. She doesn’t want her son’s life to be limited that way. “Charlie deserves to be out in the community.”

She said the need can be particularly acute when people are traveling in rural areas, where bathroom options are sparse.

Baker Curtis, who lives near Des Moines, leads the Iowa chapter of a national group called “Changing Spaces,” which advocates for adult-size changing tables. The group offers an online map showing scores of locations where they’ve been installed.

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Advocates say such tables are not explicitly required by the federal Americans with Disabilities Act. But a new federal law will mandate them in many airports in coming years, and states can adopt building codes that call for them. California, for example, requires them in new or renovated auditoriums, arenas, amusement parks, and similar facilities with capacities of at least 2,500 people. Ohio requires them in some settings, including large public facilities and highway rest stops. Arizona, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, and New Hampshire also have taken steps to require them in some public buildings.

Justin Boatner of Arlington, Virginia, advocates for more full-size changing tables in the Washington, D.C., area. Boatner, 26, uses a wheelchair because of a disability similar to muscular dystrophy. He uses diapers, which he often changes himself.

He can lower an adjustable changing table to the height of his wheelchair, then pull himself onto it. Doing that is much easier and more hygienic than getting down on the floor, changing himself, and then crawling back into the wheelchair, he said.

Boatner said it’s important to talk about incontinence, even though it can be embarrassing. “There’s so much stigma around it,” he said.

He said adult changing tables are still scarce, including in health care facilities, but he’s optimistic that more will be installed. Without them, he sometimes delays changing his diaper for hours until he can get home. That has led to serious rashes, he said. “It’s extremely uncomfortable.”

Iowa legislators in recent years have considered requiring adult changing tables in some public restrooms. They declined to pass such a bill, but the discussion made Iowa Department of Transportation leaders aware of the problem. “I’m sorry to say, it was one of those things we’d just never thought of,” said Michael Kennerly, director of the department’s design bureau.

Kennerly oversees planning for rest stops. He recalls an Iowan telling him about changing a family member outside in the rain, with only an umbrella for shelter. Others told him how they changed their loved ones on bathroom floors. “It was just appalling,” he said.

Iowa began installing adult changing tables in rest stops in 2022, and it has committed to including them in new or remodeled facilities. So far, nine have been installed or are in the process of being added. Nine others are planned, with more to come, Kennerly said. Iowa has 38 rest areas equipped with bathrooms.

Kennerly estimated it costs up to $14,000 to remodel an existing rest-stop bathroom to include a height-adjustable adult changing table. Incorporating adult changing tables into a new rest stop building should cost less than that, he said.

Several organizations offer portable changing tables, which can be set up at public events. Some are included in mobile, accessible bathrooms carried on trailers or trucks. Most permanent adult changing tables are set up in “family restrooms,” which have one toilet and are open to people of any gender. That’s good, because the act of changing an adult is “very intimate and private,” Baker Curtis said. It’s also important for the tables to be height-adjustable because it’s difficult to lift an adult onto a fixed-height table, she said.

Advocates hope adult changing tables will become nearly as common as infant changing tables, which once were rare in public bathrooms.

Jennifer Corcoran, who lives near Dayton, Ohio, has been advocating for adult changing tables for a decade and has seen interest rise in recent years.

Corcoran’s 24-year-old son, Matthew, was born with brain development issues. He uses a wheelchair and is unable to speak, but he accompanies her when she lobbies for improved services.

Corcoran said Ohio leaders this year designated $4.4 million in federal pandemic relief money to be distributed as grants for changing-table projects. The program has led to installations at Dayton’s airport and art museum, plus libraries and entertainment venues, she said.

Ohio also is adding adult changing tables to rest stops. Corcoran said those tables are priceless because they make it easier for people with disabilities to travel. “Matthew hasn’t been on a vacation outside of Ohio for more than five years,” she said.

Kaylan Dunlap serves on a committee that has worked to add changing-table requirements to the International Building Code, which state and local officials often use as a model for their rules.

Dunlap, who lives in Alabama, works for an architecture firm and reviews building projects to ensure they comply with access standards. She expects more public agencies and companies will voluntarily install changing tables. Maybe someday they will be a routine part of public bathrooms, she said. “But I think that’s a long way out in the future, unfortunately.”

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.

Today is Friday, Oct. 4, the 278th day of 2024. There are 88 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Oct. 4, 1970, rock singer Janis Joplin was found dead in her Hollywood hotel room at age 27.

Also on this date:

In 1777, Gen. George Washington’s troops launched an assault on the British at Germantown, Pennsylvania, resulting in heavy American casualties.

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In 1927, sculptor Gutzon Borglum began construction on what is now Mount Rushmore National Memorial.

In 1957, the Space Age began as the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite, into orbit.

In 1965, Pope Paul VI became the first pope to visit the Western Hemisphere as he addressed the U.N. General Assembly.

In 2001, a Russian airliner flying from Israel to Siberia was accidentally downed by a Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile over the Black Sea, killing all 78 people aboard.

In 2002, “American Taliban” John Walker Lindh received a 20-year sentence after a sobbing plea for forgiveness before a federal judge in Alexandria, Virginia. (He was released from prison in May, 2019.)

In 2004, the SpaceShipOne rocket plane broke through Earth’s atmosphere to the edge of space for the second time in five days, capturing the $10 million Ansari X prize aimed at opening the final frontier to tourists.

Today’s Birthdays:

Baseball Hall of Fame manager Tony La Russa is 80.
Actor Susan Sarandon is 78.
Actor Armand Assante is 75.
Actor Christoph Waltz is 68.
Singer Jon Secada is 63.
Actor Liev Schreiber is 57.
Actor Abraham Benrubi is 55.
Actor Alicia Silverstone is 48.
Actor Caitríona Balfe is 45.
Actor Rachael Leigh Cook is 45.
Actor Melissa Benoist is 36.
NBA All-Star Derrick Rose is 36.
Actor Dakota Johnson is 35.

Sam Dutcher had just finished running errands when the 18-year-old’s Honda Pilot suddenly began to accelerate, even though his foot wasn’t on the gas pedal. The brake wouldn’t work, he couldn’t shift into neutral, and before long, the runaway SUV was speeding into the western Minnesota countryside with no way to stop.

“I had the brake to the floor,” Dutcher said Thursday, but the SUV kept going faster and faster, eventually reaching 120 mph (193 kpm).

A last-ditch plan averted disaster that September evening — a trooper sped in front of the Honda and Dutcher was told to crash into the rear of his squad car, allowing it to ease safely to a stop moments before reaching a dangerous intersection.

“That was really all I could think of that was going to get him stopped in time,” Minnesota Trooper Zach Gruver said. “We kind of just ran out of time and distance. I really didn’t know of any other way.”

Dutcher, who graduated high school in May and is studying auto mechanics, was driving to the family home near West Fargo, North Dakota, around 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 17 when he realized something was wrong.

“I went to take my foot off the accelerator,” Dutcher recalled. “It wouldn’t slow down.” As the SUV gained speed, Dutcher had two options: Stay on a two-lane road and drive into Minnesota, or hop onto the interstate. Figuring traffic would be lighter, he chose the road less traveled.

Dutcher tried using voice command on his phone to call 911, but it didn’t work. So he called his mom.

Catherine Dutcher was in the drive-thru line at Hardee’s. In her 911 call, she mentioned that the Honda had just been in the shop because the accelerator was apparently getting stuck. Authorities suspect that the SUV’s computer malfunctioned.

The family should take the vehicle in to a dealership for an inspection, a Honda spokeswoman told The Associated Press. The company could not comment further until an inspection was done, she said.

As the Honda sped into Minnesota, Clay County Deputy Zach Johnson reached Dutcher by phone. Dash camera video shows Johnson talking Dutcher through possible solutions. Nothing worked.

Meanwhile, all Catherine Dutcher could do was worry. When she called 911 for an update, she broke.

“They said they’ve got several officers going to him as well as medical,” she recalled. “At that point I kind of lost it because I just imagined him being either seriously injured or dead. I didn’t know how they were going to stop a car that was going that speed.”

Gruver heard what was going on through his radio. His Dodge Charger eventually caught up with the Honda as it was approaching the town of Hitterdal, Minnesota, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) from where the problem began.

Only about 200 people live in Hitterdal, but the highway runs through an area with a couple of stop signs, a railroad crossing and an intersection with another highway.

Gruver raced ahead to keep traffic at bay. His dashcam video showed the Honda zipping quickly past him through town. Dutcher said the SUV was going about 120 mph (193 kph).

Soon, another worry: Johnson warned Gruver that the highway ended at a T-intersection about four miles (6.4 kilometers) away — a two-minute drive at racing speed.

Law enforcement came up with a plan on the fly: Dutcher should drive into the back of Gruver’s squad car as both vehicles were moving.

“Yes, run into the back of his car,” Johnson urged Dutcher in a conversation captured on dashcam video.

The 2022 Honda’s crash mitigation system kicked in at the point of impact, helping ease the collision, Gruver said. The Honda was going about 50 mph (80 kph) when it struck the trooper’s vehicle. From there, Gruver was able to gradually slow to a stop.

Gruver, a married 30-year-old expecting his first baby, was impressed by the young driver who was able to navigate a runaway vehicle at unimaginable speeds.

“Sam did great,” said Gruver, who has been a trooper for over three years. “I don’t think there’s a whole lot of people that could deal with that pressure.”

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Stillwater Ponies sophomore football coach Matt Hemenway rushed to the side of player Keegan Hawke after hearing him say, “Coach, coach coach,” before falling to the ground.

“He just kind of crumpled in front of me and scared the heck out of all of us,” Hemenway said.

Keegan Hawke, a sophomore at Stillwater High School, suffered a sudden cardiac arrest during football practice Sept. 24, 2024, and was saved by coaches, teammates and first responders. (Courtesy of GoFundMe)

Hawke joined the football team in August, after last playing the sport in eighth grade. Coaches said Hawke had a lot to learn, but is a hard worker.

That day, Sept. 24, Hawke suffered a sudden cardiac arrest during a noncontact drill led by Hemenway. It later was determined to be linked to Torsades de Pointes, a type of heart rhythm disorder, according to a Caringbridge post by Hawke’s father.

“He was really making some progress towards becoming a very good football player,” head sophomore coach Paul Wieland said. “It was fun to watch him grow.”

Hemenway said when he and other coaches responded to Hawke, he was unresponsive.

“Everything was kind of a blur after that,” Hemenway said.

Coaches asked a student to call the school’s two certified athletic trainers, who arrived in a matter of minutes, Hemenway and Wieland said. Trainers then put an automated external defibrillator (AED) on Hawke, which did not spark right away.

After the trainers administering CPR, they tried the AED again and it did its job, restarting Hawke’s heart, according to Hemenway.

“By the time EMTs and everybody got there, Keegan was breathing on his own and had a pulse when he left,” Wieland said.

Recovering in hospital

Hawke was first taken to Regions Hospital then to Gillette Children’s, where he was in a medically induced coma for 72 hours, according to coaches.

Hawke’s father said on Caringbridge that without the fast response of coaches, trainers, teammates and medical personnel, Hawke would not be alive.

“Our trainers did a phenomenal job, they knew exactly what they were doing to get Keegan’s heart started again,” Hemenway said.

After hearing Hawke had regained consciousness, Hemenway said he texted him, “We love you, we’re so happy you’re with us, let us know if there’s anything we can do for you,” to which Hawke responded, “Thanks Coach.”

Wieland said he’s spoken to Hawke’s parents and that the coaches want to visit him when they’re able.

“We hope to see him soon,” Wieland said. “Next week we have our team dinner, and hopefully he’ll be released and get to join us for the team dinner and on the sidelines for our final game.”

The coaches said players took a knee on the field during the incident and some prayed together.

Raising money for CPR training

According to a GoFundMe page, Hawke and his family are trying to raise money both to support Hawke’s medical expenses and to provide training to coaches and staff in the St. Croix River Valley.

“I’m glad for it, I think that’s a good use of the resources that the Hawkes are raising,” Wieland said.

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Wieland and Hemenway said they are both CPR certified, but as time has passed, neither is up-to-date on current training. Hemenway said with more regular CPR training, coaches likely would have been even faster to react than they were.

“I can’t even imagine if this would have happened 15, 20 years ago. We would have had no access to an AED or no idea really what to do with them,” Hemenway said.

Wieland said that he’s thankful the right people were positioned at the time of the incident.

“This is a story where systems worked,” Wieland said. “It’s really kind of a blessing that whatever happened with Keegan’s heart happened at football practice with alert adults and a training staff.”