NEW ORLEANS, March 27, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Joined by a dancing flash mob of more than 1,000 OR nurses from throughout the United States and Canada, Medline Industries, Inc., announced its second annual National Pink Glove Dance Video Competition in support of breast cancer awareness and prevention. The nurses were gathered for Medline's 7th Annual Breast Cancer Awareness Forum, held in conjunction with the 59th Annual Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN) Congress, taking place this week in New Orleans, La. AORN is the world's largest gathering of OR nurses.
The second annual competition, which will officially kick off July 2, is open to any organization in the United Statesand Canadathat wants to gather a group of people to produce and submit their own pink glove dance video. The deadline to receive the videos is September 28. All videos will be posted on the internet beginning October 12 when the public can go online to vote on their favorite video. The winners will be announced November 2, with the winning teams receiving a donation in their name to the breast cancer charity of their choice. For more information on the competition, go to www.pinkglovedance.com.
"The Pink Glove Dance competition encourages anyone who wants to create their own video to participate and do their part to bring hope and support to those affected by breast cancer," said Medline's President Andy Mills. "It is especially gratifying to have all of these nurses participating in their own video today because we created the pink glove dance in part to honor these health care providers who care for those afflicted with this terrible disease."
To view this newest Pink Glove Dance video featuring OR nurses from all over North America, go to www.pinkglovedance.com.
Medline donates more than $1 million to National Breast Cancer Foundation
At Medline's annual breast cancer awareness breakfast forum today, Mills presented the National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF) with a check for $200,000 to help fund mammograms for underserved women. Medline has now donated more than $1 million dollars to the NBCF as part of Medline's campaign to promote early detection and awareness of breast cancer. Studies show that early detection of breast cancer can increase the five-year survival rate by more than 95 percent.
"We are proud to do our part to help women get mammograms regardless of their ability to pay," said Mills. "We are committed to continue to support screening and early detection, which we all know, saves lives."
The donation to NBCF was derived, in part, from the proceeds from Medline's Generation Pink® gloves and other pink products Medline manufactures and sells such as canes, walkers, apparel and other health care items.
About the competition
Medline's inaugural pink glove dance competition was held last fall and attracted 139 entries from hospitals, nursing homes, schools and other organizations across 40 U.S.states and Canada. The national competition quickly became a national social media phenomenon with more than 1.2 million views, half a million online votes and thousands of tweets, blogs and texts. In all, more than 17,000 people were featured in the videos, which are all available for viewing at pinkglovedance.com.
Last year's national winner wasLexingtonMedicalCenterinWest Columbia,S.C., with 61,054 votes — more than four times the population of their entire city (14,061). Their creative video features a dancing environmental services assistant, as well as hundreds of hospital staff, including a number of breast cancer survivors, all dancing in pink gloves to Katy Perry's hit song "Firework" — all in the name of breast cancer awareness.
About Medline's Pink Glove Dance campaign
The original Pink Glove Dance video premiered in November 2009 and featured 200Portland,Ore.hospital workers wearing Medline's pink gloves and dancing in support of breast cancer awareness and prevention. Today, that original video has more than 13 million views on YouTube® and has been the inspiration for hundreds of pink glove dance videos and breast cancer awareness events across the country. A sequel was produced in 2010 featuring 4,000 healthcare workers and breast cancer survivors throughoutNorth America.
About Medline
As the nation's largest privately held manufacturer and distributor of healthcare products, Medline manufactures and distributes more than 125,000 products to hospitals, extended care facilities, surgery centers, physician offices, home care dealers, agencies and major retail outlets. Recently named one of the "100 Best Places to Work in Healthcare," Medline is headquartered in Mundelein, Ill.and has more than 1,100 dedicated sales representatives nationwide to support its broad product line, clinical programs and cost management services. For more information, visit www.medline.com.
Ann Fahey, (847) 643-3011 John Marks, (847) 643-3309
Cell (224) 355-7228 (847) 951-2542
afahey@medline.com jmarks@medline.com
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The following pictures are available for download:
| [Image] | Medline's Pink Glove Dance |