The Return of Duck and Cover

“If you asked me to name the three scariest threats facing the human race, I would give the same answer that most people would: nuclear war, global warming and [Microsoft] Windows.”
- comedian Dave Barry

Last month the New York Times published a Science article on the US strategy for surviving a nuclear attack.

Suppose the unthinkable happened, and terrorists struck New York or another big city with an atom bomb. What should people there do? The government has a surprising new message: Do not flee. Get inside any stable building and don’t come out till officials say it’s safe.

What amazes me is that a NYT science writer should consider this "surprising" and "new". There is no mention in the article of the Duck and Cover campaign of the 1950's where school children (and adults) were taught to get under cover immediately. Fortunately the layout editors have longer memories. The media accompanying the story include a 1950's photo of office workers heading for a basement shelter, a family in the 1960's running to there backyard fallout shelter, and a graphic that is labeled "Duck and Cover".

The advice is based on recent scientific analyses showing that a nuclear attack is much more survivable if you immediately shield yourself from the lethal radiation that follows a blast, a simple tactic seen as saving hundreds of thousands of lives. Even staying in a car, the studies show, would reduce casualties by more than 50 percent; hunkering down in a basement would be better by far.

Again this is old news. There are many ways to die in a nuclear blast and sheltering helps protect against each:
- Poisoned by Radiation
- Burned by the Heat Flash
- Pierced by shrapnel in the explosive wind of the blast
- Struck by falling objects as buildings collapse

A serious but non-lethal danger is blindness - DO NOT look at the blast!

Administration officials argue that the cold war created an unrealistic sense of fatalism about a terrorist nuclear attack. “It’s more survivable than most people think,” said an official deeply involved in the planning, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “The key is avoiding nuclear fallout.”

The important thing is to be informed and not panic. The Instapundit notes that, "Even back in the 1960s there were Civil Defense debates on whether [or not] to give warning in case of an attack, based on studies that showed more people would be sheltered by where they happened to be than would benefit from a warning, since many people would immediately either try to flee, or to return to their homes, winding up in more exposed positions when the bomb went off."

Bottom Line

Again from the Instapundit, "I find that my law students — effectively post-Cold War generation — know next to nothing about nuclear weapons, fallout, and basic civil-defense stuff that most people knew back when I was a kid. So education is warranted."

Here's a 2 page summary by Homeland Security, Planning for a Nuclear Detonation

And a new 135 page report called Planning Guidance for Response to a Nuclear Detonation

Workplace Safety

"TEAMWORK, a lot of people doing things my way" - quote on an office coffee mug

Recently my workplace required that I complete three safety courses online. Here are some of the notes I took.

Slips, trips and falls are the second leading cause of injuries in America after motor vehicle accidents. Annually there are

• 1 Million injuries
• 11,000 deaths
• 300,000 disabling worker injuries
• 1,400 worker deaths

Injuries account for 15-20% of workman's compensation at a cost to employers of 10K and up.

Top reasons for slips, trips and falls: spilled liquids, loose floor mats, improper use of ladders, walking with a load that obstructs view.

A trip is called a same level fall. A fall from a ladder is an elevated level fall. Elevated level falls are less frequent but cause more damage.

Keep work areas neat  (no clutter on floor, clean spills, conceal power cords) and well lit.  Use proper equipment and follow good habits like learning to fall correctly (don't fall on head, better to land on your butt vs your back, don't try to stop fall with hands or elbows)

Back Injury:

• affects 1 million workers and is the largest single contributor in injury cases and insurance claims.
• 1 out of 5 workplace injuries are for back pain
• 100 million workdays are lost annually
• 8 out of 10 people in the US will go to doctor for back pain sometime in their life.
• There is 80% chance of reinjury

Types of back injury include:

• strain & fatigue
• fractured vertebrae
• spinal cord nerve injury
• pressure on nerves
• disc tear, fracture, or rupture

Signs of overexertion include spasms & pain. Stop what you're doing!

Improper lifting accounts for 90% of back injuries.

If injured, get into a comfortable position and apply ice. Get medical help ASAP.

Bottom Line

Accidents happen, even in offices. Each year there 300-400 deaths in offices.

Did you turn back your clock?

I don't mind going back to daylight saving time. With inflation, the hour will be the only thing I've saved all year. - Victor Borge

Daylight Savings Time ended this weekend, Sunday morning at 2am. So if you arrived at work an hour early, then you forgot to "Fall back" your clocks. Now if I could set the clock back one day, then I could have sent you this message from FEMA on time.

FEMA Encourages Americans to be Prepared as They Turn Their Clocks Back

With Daylight Saving Time coming to an end, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is encouraging Americans to take advantage of the November 7 time change as a reminder to make sure their families are prepared for a possible emergency. A few simple steps like checking smoke alarms, developing a family communications plan, and putting an emergency kit together can go a long way toward keeping families safe.

"As a nation, we can only be as prepared as our public - the most important member of our emergency management team.", says FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate. "I encourage everyone, as we fall back an hour, to also take a few simple steps to prepare their homes and loved ones for emergencies, including checking their smoke alarms and putting together an emergency kit."

Information on preparing for emergencies can be found at http://www.ready.gov/. Steps include developing a communications plan to ensure family members know how to get in touch with each other during an emergency, putting together an emergency kit, and staying informed of potential risks. It's important to remember that an emergency could be a large-scale catastrophic disaster, or a smaller-scale event like a car accident or house fire.

In addition to visiting Ready.gov, the United States Fire Administration is encouraging families to ensure their homes are equipped with working smoke alarms. A working smoke alarm significantly increases your chances of surviving a deadly home fire so it's important to test alarms regularly and keep them properly maintained. This includes checking the manufacture/expiration date on the label, replacing the batteries, and cleaning dust away from the slots so that smoke can enter freely.

For more information about home smoke alarms and fire sprinklers, please visit: www.usfa.dhs.gov/smokealarms.

FEMA's mission is to support our first responders and ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.

Bottom Line

Did you notice that "make a kit" was included multiple times in the FEMA announcement. Hopefully you already have a well stocked house for emergencies and a kit for every car and work office. If that's the case then use the Daylight Saving Time changes as a reminder to refresh your kits. Who wants to eat a 10-year old snack bar or drink an ancient bottled water? Batteries lose charge if not replaced, or worse yet, corrode and leak acid. The spare underwear you packed may have rotted or the clothes you packed for kids no longer fit. Any financial and personal information you duplicated for your kit may be out of date.

A Safe Halloween

Hold on, man.  We don't go anywhere with "scary," "spooky," "haunted," or "forbidden" in the title.  ~From Scooby-Doo

Halloween can be fun and spooky but it can also be dangerous. While the "Razor in an Apple" story is an urban myth there are other dangers that careful parents should be aware of such as tripping, costumes catching on fire, being hit by a car on a dark street, etc. 

Bottom Line

Please see my post from last year on safety tips for a Happy Halloween.

Or this poster from the Red Cross of Westchester county, NY
http://westchestercounty.redcross.org/pdf/wcrcHalloweenSafety2010.pdf

Stay Safe but don't be Paranoid
“STRANGER DANGER” AND THE DECLINE OF HALLOWEEN: No child has ever been killed by poisoned candy. Ever.

Halloween taught marketers that parents are willing to be warned about anything, no matter how preposterous, and then they’re willing to be sold whatever solutions the market can come up with. Face paint so no mask will obscure a child’s vision. Purell, so no child touches a germ. And the biggest boondoggle of all: an adult-supervised party, so no child encounters anything exciting, er, “dangerous.”

Fire Drill

"Since the house is on fire let us warm ourselves." ~Italian Proverb

This week the fire alarm went off at the office. The first thought was, oh, not another drill. Then I remembered, I don't work in NYC anymore where drills are mandatory twice a year. Here in Stamford, CT, the alarm has only gone off once before in two years while it was being tested.

So I decided to treat this alarm as real. (My first mistake, don't delay! Always treat alarms as real!) My next thought was, what will I take with me? I should have taken my entire work bag which includes a first aid kit but I thought that would look silly. (That was my second mistake, never worry about appearances during an emergency or drill). As it turns out many other employees took their purses or work bags with them.

After a pause for thinking, I took a hat for warmth (my coat is in the car outdoors) and my reading glasses, and followed the crowd down the stairs and out the building.

My third mistake was to stop with the crowd just a few feet outside the building door. Someone wiser had to remind us to move farther away so that the entrance would be clear for emergency personnel.

Fortunately this was a drill (or false alarm) and we were allowed back in the office after a few minutes.

Bottom Line

Don't underestimate the importance of drills. After you evacuate, imagine the office or house is a total loss to fire. What is gone that you wish you had saved? Everyone makes mistakes and a drill is the best time to learn and correct one's actions.

Leading causes of Death

“Have the courage to live. Anyone can die.” -Robert Cody

A commenter on yesterday's post about heat deaths offered a link to a Cato-at-liberty story that cites a paper (Goklany) on the leading causes of death. What stood out for me was this quote,

"Note that despite the hoopla about natural weather disasters, they contribute less than 0.06% to the annual U.S. death toll!"

In other words, extreme heat & cold, floods, tornadoes, lightning and hurricanes, COMBINED, account for less than 1 in 1000 of all deaths in the US.

So what are people dieing of (besides old age)? The Goklany report based on World Health Organization data shows that in 2002, globally people died as follows:

59% Non-communicable illness (cancer 12%, heart attack 29%, lung diseases 7%, and other)

32% Communicable Diseases (including AIDS 5%, Tuberculosis 3%, Diarrhea 3%, parasites 6%, starvation 1%, childbirth 5%)

09% Injury (Traffic accidents 2%, Murder 1%, War 0.3%)

00.03%  Extreme Weather

Now consider, which deaths get all the media attention?

Bottom Line

There is a huge disconnect between the dangers we fear and the dangers we will actually face. Exercise and diet are more likely to prolong your life than hurricane preparation. But weight control is a life style change while disaster prep is a quick fix that we can do once and feel safer afterwards.

Fire Hydrants

“Some people change their ways when they see the light; others when they feel the heat”-Caroline Schoeder

In New York it's hot, hot, hot. We are breaking heat records with 100 F days so it comes as no suprise that people are looking for relief. The following news item was sent out by New York City:

Opening fire hydrants without spray caps is illegal, wasteful and dangerous. Illegally opened hydrants can lower water pressure, which can put lives at risk at hospitals and hinder fire-fighting by reducing the flow of water to hoses and pumps. The powerful force of an open hydrant without a spray cap can push children into oncoming traffic. New Yorkers should call 311 to report open hydrants.

Hydrants can be opened legally if equipped with a City-approved spray cap [pictured above]. One illegally opened hydrant wastes up to 1,000 gallons of water per minute, while a hydrant with a spray cap only puts out around 25 gallons per minute. Spray caps can be obtained by someone 18 or over, free of charge at local firehouses.

Bottom Line

Pundits are calling NYC the "Baked" apple. To escape the heat NYC opens up public cooling centers, such as Department for the Aging (DFTA) senior centers and New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) and Salvation Army community centers where air conditioning is available. To find the cooling center closest to you, call 311 (TTY: 212-504-4115) or log on to www.nyc.gov/oem.

Polio Almost Eradicated

"Apart from the atomic bomb, America's greatest fear was polio.” – 1950s

Polio is another ancient disease that has been known since prehistory; Egyptian paintings show healthy people with withered limbs and children walking with canes. The disease was once called infantile paralysis, based on its propensity to affect children. While now rare in the Western world, polio is still endemic to South Asia and Nigeria. In 1988 a global effort to eradicate polio was begun by the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and The Rotary Foundation. These efforts have reduced the number of diagnosed cases by 99%; from an estimated 350,000 cases in 1988 to 1006 cases in 2009.

Curiously occurrences of polio spiked in the early 20th century to epidemic proportions. The cause: modern sanitation and an odd trait of polio. The disease is bacterial and spread by the “fecal-oral” method which is as awful as it sounds. Persons shit out the disease, which contaminates waters or food, which is then consumed. But what happens next depends upon the age of the victim. The effects of polio are worse the older you are when you contract it. A child might develop a deformed limb while an adult loses the ability to breathe and needs an iron lung. Infants under six months can beat the disease and become immune for life. With modern sanitation providing clean water and food, infants were no longer exposed to polio on a regular basis. Instead the first exposure was occurring later in life with more serious results.

In the United States the polio epidemic began around 1900 and peaked in 1952 with 58,000 cases reported, 3,145 deaths, and 21,269 left with mild to disabling paralysis. In 1977 there were 254,000 persons living in the United States who had been paralyzed by polio as a child. Future president FDR was infected in 1921 and paralyzed from the waist down. Later as President he created the March of Dimes Foundation to raise money to fight polio and a “great race” began to find a cure.

Today there is still no cure but on April 12, 1955 Jonas Salk completed field trials and presented to the world an inactive variant of polio that was 90% effective in immunizing individuals by teaching the body how to produce antibodies to fight a future polio infection. Salk was hailed as a "miracle worker", and the day "almost became a national holiday." Salk had developed a safe and effective vaccine as rapidly as possible, with no interest in personal profit. When he was asked in a televised interview who owned the patent to the vaccine, Salk replied: "There is no patent. Could you patent the sun?" Sadly Salk was not awarded the Nobel Prize. It went instead to others who learned how to grow the polio virus in embryonic tissue so that enough virus culture could be collected to be studied.

You might remember being given a sugar cube to fight polio in grade school. In 1955 Dr. Albert Sabin produced a live-virus vaccine that was placed on a sugar cube and eaten, rather than injected. This was far easier to distribute than Salk’s vaccine but made doctors nervous – could they be infecting persons with a weak constitution? Fortunately the Sabin vaccine was found to be (mostly) safe and by 1967 became the preferred method. Today the preferred method has switched back to injections as being safer.

Bottom Line

Support the effort to make polio the second disease to be eradicated from the Earth. Inoculate your children. Until the disease is 100% dead it is not safe to skip the shot. An infected immigrant could give your child paralysis for life with a contaminated hot dog or other prepared food.

In the early 1900's Typhoid Mary (Mary Mallon) infected 53 people as a cook. She was a healthy carrier of typhoid fever who refused to recognize her own role in spreading the disease and who refused to cease working as a cook. She was forcibly quarantined twice by public health authorities and died in quarantine after 23 years of confinement.

Mercury

"No wonder you're late. Why, this watch is exactly two days slow."-Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland (1951)

The word “Mercury” can mean many things. It’s an unusual metal that is liquid at room temperature, hence the name “quicksilver” or hydrargyrum (“watery silver” in Latinized Greek) from which we get the chemical symbol Hg for mercury. Alchemists thought mercury was the First Matter from which all metals are formed. The element was named after the Roman god Mercury, known for his speed and mobility. It is associated with the planet Mercury, the fastest moving planet about the sun.

Ancient Chinese emperors thought that mercury was good for health and it was used in dentistry and medicine into the late 20th century, but now we know it is an extremely toxic heavy metal with an impressive list of side effects causing psychological, neurological, digestive tract, cardiovascular, and respiratory damage. The psychological symptoms associated with mercury poisoning are said by some to have inspired the phrase "mad as a hatter". Hat makers were repeatedly exposed to mercury while processing the felt used in hats.

One thermometer with just one gram of mercury can contaminate all the fish in a 20-acre lake (fish and shellfish have a natural tendency to concentrate mercury in their bodies). Over the last decade in the United States and Europe, the mercury thermometer has gone the way of the rotary dial phone and analog television: virtually phased out. Sales of mercury thermometers are banned in many states and the World Health Organization (WHO) is working to eliminate the mercury thermometer globally.

If you’ve converted to using digital thermometers at home, congratulations. But you still might not be mercury free. Many fluorescent light bulbs contain mercury, as do some home thermostats. If you break a mercury thermometer, thermostat, or fluorescent light bulb be VERY careful with the cleanup.

What Not to Do After a Mercury Spill

•Don't vacuum up the spill or breakage. This will release mercury into the air and greatly increase the level of contamination.

•Don't sweep up the mercury or broken glass with a broom. This breaks up the mercury into smaller drops, increasing its surface area so that more mercury gets into the air and spreads around.

•Don't pour mercury down the drain. It can clog your plumbing and seriously pollute your septic system or the sewer system.

•Don't wash mercury-contaminated clothing. This contaminates your washing machine, all of the other clothes in the load, and the water that is washed down the drain. If you use a clothes dryer afterwards you're releasing mercury into the air and essentially poisoning yourself.

•Don't track it around on your shoes.

•Don't re-use any cloth or sponge that came in contact with the mercury, ever.

What can you do?

1. Clear the room of people, especially children, and pets. Do not allow children to help you clean up a mercury spill.

2. Shut off the heater or air conditioner. Open a window and allow the room to air out at least 15 minutes. If you have a face mask filter, wear it.

3. Use a sheet of paper or cardboard to scoop up glass and metal pieces. Deposit the breakage into a glass jar with a lid or a sealable plastic bag.

4. Use sticky tape to pick up the smaller pieces of debris. Drop the used tape into the jar or bag. Seal the jar.

5. If the break occurred over clothing or bedding, the material should be wrapped up and “thrown away” as per local law.

6. Clearly label your storage container as "Mercury - DO NOT OPEN."

7. Waste disposal regulations vary by State; some have stringent requirements for mercury disposal.

Bottom Line

Don't do anything that would spread a mercury spill or cause it to become airborne. Don’t breathe it.

Resources

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/mercury-poisoning-symptoms.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_(element)
http://www.epa.gov/mercury/spills/index.htm

Flash Crowds

"Four short words sum up what has lifted most successful individuals above the crowd: a little bit more. They did all that was expected of them and a little bit more."- A. Lou Vickery (American business author)

Have you ever been stuck in traffic only to learn that it was caused by rubber-neckers slowing to observe an accident in traffic going the other way? People love to gawk.

In 1973, Larry Niven wrote a novella called "Flash Crowd" that describes the impact of having free and instantaneous teleport machines. When something novel occurs, say a skyscraper building fire, tens of thousands of gawkers would appear from around the world to watch. Criminal pickpockets, taking advantage of a crowd, would join them. Naturally authorities were not amused as the instant crowd hampers rescue efforts and causes additional problems.

In the real world we may lack star-trek transporters but we do have the Internet. If you are a small blog (like mine) and get linked to by one of the “big guys”, the effects of an instant crowd can be overwhelming. Being Slashdotted may cause an Instalanche on your Web server or put you into higher fees with your service provider for exceeding a volume limit.

Interestingly the effects of Flash Crowds are no longer limited to imaginary worlds and virtual worlds. With the Social Networking of Facebook, Twitter, and Blackberries, instant events can be announced and hordes appear at the designated site. This idea was used on TV to conceal a murder in CSI: Miami "Murder in a Flash".

The Flash Crowd effect was also observed recently in Big Bear Valley of Highland, California. Roads to this ski resort area were closed for days by a big snowfall. No deliveries were possible and residents & guests got by with stocks on hand. When the roads reopened, supply trucks were hampered by thousands of skiers and snowboarders clogging the roads, hoping to be first on the virgin snow. When resorts ran dangerously low on fuel and food, officials took the unusual step of closing the roads to tourists, allowing only delivery trucks and emergency vehicles until the resorts were restocked.

Bottom Line

Crowds can be exhilarating but they can also be dangerous. I recommend keeping a safe distance away. When driving for example, my wife & I try to avoid driving within a cluster of cars. We’ll pull ahead or drop behind to avoid the pack.

On the other hand, a crowd may be responding to something you’re not aware of. Find out the reason for the crowd. Cartoonist/author James Thurber wrote a story called “The Day the Dam Broke”. A man is running and muttering, “damn, damn.” Someone overhears and begins running also. When asked why, this second person responds, “I’m running for my life. The dam has broke.” So others start running, spreading the rumor and soon the whole town is running in panic from a non-existent tidal wave.

On a more serious note, on 9/11 in New York City, my workplace at Rockefeller Center was evacuated as a possible target site and everyone was told to go home. On my way to Grand Central train station, I’m the only person walking south. Hundreds of people are walking north. Despite feeling like a salmon going upstream, I never stopped to ask why so many people were headed north. Later I learned that the Mayor declared a mandatory evacuation of lower Manhattan. Some 300,000-500,000 people moved themselves to safer locations.

The return of Swine Flu

“Love is a medicine for the sickness of the world; a prescription often given, too rarely taken.” - anon

At our recent Scout Pack Meeting, one family emailed to say they could not attend – the family has Swine Flu – (now called H1N1 as our top Cub told me authoritatively.) So on this Day of the Dead (Mexico) or All Saints Day, let's consider the morbidity and mortality of Swine Flu.

Here are 8 Swine Flu Myths that could endanger your life from NewScientist.com

• The symptoms are like regular flu. You've got it if you've got a fever
  False – Up to half the people who get swine flu never got a fever. For many doctors the official line remains: if you don't have fever, you don't have flu. This is dangerously shortsighted - if you don't know you have swine flu you might miss the signs of the severe and deadly form of H1N1: shortness of breath, chest pain or blue lips.
  
• This is just mild flu. The death rates are even lower than for normal flu
  False - Swine flu is killing young people rather than the very elderly, and although winter is just starting, more young people have already died of flu than normally die over the entire winter.
  
• You're safe as long as you're healthy. Only sick, weak people get really ill
  False – see #2. The flu is killing the young and the healthy.
  
• I'll be OK if I just eat organic food, take vitamins, wear a mask, wash my hands a lot and drink plenty of fluids
  False – the article recommends vaccination
  
• The danger of over because we have a vaccine. In fact, we have several
  False – It will be months before everyone in first world countries can get the vaccine. Some poor countries may never see the vaccine in time.
  
• The vaccine isn't safe. Why take the risk to prevent mild flu?
  False – this flu packs a punch and is likely to be wide spread. The flu danger is greater than those of the vaccine.
  
• This virus won't get deadlier – it hasn’t changed much in a year
  False – random mutation is in fact “random”. There is no telling how or when a virus will change.
  
• Once this pandemic is over we'll be safe for another few decades
  False – We got lucky this time that Swine flu is not a super-bug. But an increasingly crowded world with more people with greater mobility makes it far too easy for something new to be created and spread.

Bottom Line
Swine Flu is nastier than your average flu in many ways: it kills the young, it kills the healthy, it is more resistant to heat and lasts into spring and summer. It’s nothing to sneeze at.

Happy Halloween

“A grandmother pretends she doesn't know who you are on Halloween” -Erma Bombeck

Looking back one year ago I’m surprised that I did not write a post on Halloween safety. Well here’s my chance to correct that mistake.

• Choose costumes that allow kids to move and see clearly.
• Watch out for sheets or long cloaks that might result in trips and falls. Try on costumes before Halloween to allow time for altering.
• Flame-resistant does not mean fireproof. Keep trick-or-treaters away from flames.
• Make sure your Halloween costume is colorfast so the color doesn't run onto your other clothes if it rains.
• Wear comfortable, practical shoes with shoelaces double tied to prevent tripping.
• Make-up should be hypoallergenic and non-toxic.
• Any weapons wielded should be obviously fake and not cause injury. Kids WILL play with swords. Don’t even think of dressing like a gang member and carrying a realistic looking gun or knife.
• Add reflective tape to a costume or candy bag so motorists can see you clearly. A flashlight or glow stick is also a good idea.
• Designate a route before your kids begin trick-or-treating, and make sure they stick to it.
• Don’t allow short-cuts through dark alleys, parking lots, or other areas out of sight.
• Plan the trick-or-treat route involving only known homes and NEVER trick-or-treat alone.
• Carry a cell phone so you can call for help.
• Never enter a house to get candy. Don't approach unfamiliar pets and animals.
• Follow pedestrian safety rules (use crosswalks, obey traffic lights, don’t talk to strangers or get into their car, etc.) Don't trample through flower beds and gardens.
• Kids should not sample the candy until an adult has inspected it. Toss out unwrapped goodies. When back at home offer a scary dinner or healthy snacks to discourage an orgy of candy eating. Ration the treats to ward off bellyaches and future cavities.
• Keep your pets locked up and away from the front door on Halloween. Do not give candy to pets; chocolate can make dogs sick.
• If you are handing out candy, make sure the porch is well lit without any tripping hazards. If you set jack-o-lanterns with candles in them, make sure that they are far enough out of the way so that kids costumes won't accidentally be set on fire. Wet leaves should be swept from sidewalks and steps.

Bottom Line

Here is an online quiz/game to help your kids learn the Halloween rules,
http://www.halloweenmagazine.com/play2.html

Modern Farming

“As the farmer who won the lottery said when asked what he was going to do with his winnings "Keep farming until it's all gone” - unknown

Farming is a dirty business. Not dirty as in illegal but muddy, messy, hot, stinky, etc.

My paternal grandmother was raised on a farm and hated it. She couldn’t wait to leave. My maternal grandparents were dairy farmers and their son (my uncle) carried on the family tradition. (My mother married a serviceman and left farming forever.) My cousins all fled the farm as soon as they could and got city jobs. But not so long ago one cousin returned and bought my grandparents farm after they had passed away. Now her husband raises hogs and the kids are in 4-H.

So why the history? Years ago I read and loved Michael Pollan book, The Omnivore's Dilemma about the horrible things done to mass-produce food. Recently I learned about a rebuttal by a working farmer, The Omnivore’s Delusion: Against the Agri-intellectuals. I recommend it highly, also.

One shot fired against modern farmers is the claim that over crowding and “unhealthy” conditions have led to an increase in food illnesses like the tainted spinach last year. But one writer disagrees with A Food Elitist Strikes Back. He writes,

So how big a problem is foodborne illness? In 2000, researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated that "foodborne diseases cause approximately 76 million illnesses, 325,000 hospitalizations, and 5,000 deaths in the United States each year." That sounds pretty bad. But let's give those numbers a bit of context. In 1900, six years before Upton Sinclair wrote his great muckraking book, The Jungle, about the filthy conditions in the meatpacking industry, the death rate from gastritis, duodentitis, enteritis, and colitis was 142.7 people per 100,000 [this equals nearly 110,000 deaths with a 1900 population of 76 million]. It is likely that most people experienced bouts of intestinal distress several times a year. Today, accepting CDC calculations of 5000 deaths per year implies a hundred-fold reduction, to just 1.4 deaths per 100,000 people. Additional good news is that the incidence of many foodborne illnesses continues to decline according to the CDC's FoodNet surveillance network established in 1996. In its 2005 report, the CDC found that the incidence of O157:H76 infections had fallen by 29 percent from the 1996-98 level.

… Also during the 20th century, the rise of national and regional grocery chains and industrial food processors saw dramatic improvements in overall food safety.

Bottom Line

It can be very difficult to know the truth based on news headlines. I saw two odd statements on the web today – “Pigs kill more people than sharks” and “Diarrhea kills more people in India than Swine flu”. Neither is what you’d expect based on news, TV, movies, etc. In India there was a riot caused by the first Swine flu death there. But no one is rioting over diarrhea.

Likewise food recalls make for good news stories. “Watch our report or you may die.” One gets the impression that bad food is everywhere – peanut butter, spinach, hamburger, etc. So it’s nice to have an historical perspective and learn that food deaths are down by a factor of 100 since 1900. We are doing something right! Yet TV news shows senators and the president calling the FDA a failure that must be changed. But perhaps they just don’t know the all the facts.

Inflatables

“There are two ways to slide easily through life: to believe everything or to doubt everything. Both ways save us from thinking.”- Alfred Korzybski

ConsumerReports.org has an interesting story, Inflatable accidents are up, up and away. Inflatable structures like moonwalker and bounce houses are popular at fairs and parties but are not governed by any safety regulations. Few states other than New Jersey have set any standards for safe operation.

Broken bones and teeth arise when too many kids are jammed together jumping on top of each other. Or when the air fan abruptly stops and the structure collapses (one woman died when an inflatable rock climbing wall deflated.) In Ohio a boy was carried away (pictured above) as the inflatable slide took off in a strong breeze. There are report of broken necks from flips and somersaults.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission found 4,900 injuries treated in hospital emergency rooms from inflatables in 2005.

Bottom Line

Before letting your child use an inflatable at a carnival or festival, check to see if it is properly anchored and that children are supervised.

If you are renting one for a backyard event,

• Limit the number of users on the device
• Make sure the inflatable isn't overloaded or unstable
• Securely anchor the inflatable to the ground with pegs
• Place the blower so it can't accidentally be unplugged

Extreme Heat

“Some people change their ways when they see the light; others when they feel the heat”-Caroline Schoeder

My friends and colleagues in New York have been grumbling about the lack of “summer”. We’ve had weeks of rainy days and cool temperatures with rare glimpses of sun. So it was somewhat shocking to have a “hot” day earlier this week with 91 Fahrenheit.

Some may adore summer heat but it is also a potential killer (175 Americans die of heat exposure in a normal year. 1,250 died in the heat wave of 1980.) With extreme cold you can protect yourself with layers of coats, gloves, scarves, etc. But you can only strip so far (without getting arrested) in extreme heat. Here are some recommendations to avoid Dehydration, Heat Exhaustion, and Hyperthermia(Heat Stroke).

• Stay hydrated by drinking more fluids
  This is not as easy as it sounds. First off, fluids with caffeine, alcohol, or sugar will dry you out. So this eliminates ice coffee, ice teas (unless herbal), most sodas, and all alcoholic drinks. Second, the drink should not be icy cold – this can cause stomach cramps. Third, you need to remember to drink regularly even if not thirsty. Forth, your doctor may place a limit on how much you may drink; for example if you’re taking water pills to lower your blood pressure.
  
• Find cool places to hang out
  If you don’t have an air conditioner then seek out other “cool” places during extreme heat. My wife and I will go grocery shopping and linger in the frozen food aisles examining all products closely. We’ll get some exercise walking in an air-conditioned mall. Or catch up on magazine reading at our library. Or eat out (we immediately walked out of one restaurant when we realized their A/C was broke). Or go for a long drive in our air-conditioned car. During heat emergencies the Red Cross may open “cool” down shelters that you can sleep at. Electric fans won’t help when the air is hotter than your body (98.6 F). When the air is high 90 and above you’re just blowing heat at your body and making things worse.
  
• Take precautions when outside
  Wear light-colored, loose-fitting clothing and a wide brimmed hat. Wear sunscreen and seek out shade. Move slowly and stop frequently to rest and cool down.

Bottom Line

Be creative when the going gets hot. Take cold showers or baths. I like to wrap up an ice cube and apply it to the back of my neck letting the melt water run down my back. Wet your hair or shirt or a hat. Stay out of the sun as much as possible.

Recommended Links:

www.sanjoseca.gov/pdf/HeatAlert07/Heat_Wave_Safety_Tips.pdf
www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters/extremeheat/heat_guide.asp
For Athletes: www.athleticadvisor.com/Injuries/General_Inj/heat_safety_tips.htm

Fireworks!!!

You may be a redneck if... your lifetime goal is to own a fireworks stand. Jeff Foxworthy

When I was a child in Idaho, my uncle purchased two large grocery bags filled with fireworks. He set these near the base of a tether ball pole. Then he attached a sparking wheel to the top of the pole and lit it. Some sparks fell in to the bags and started a chain reaction of explosions as everything went off. It was exciting for all of 60 seconds but not what he intended.

Tomorrow is July 4 and you may be setting off some fireworks of your own (legal or illegal?) Here are some safety tips:

• Use fireworks outdoors only


• Don’t combine fireworks or try to build your own from the powder. Light one at a time.


• Light the fireworks with a long match or torch and get away quickly.


• Never relight a "dud" firework. Wait 20 minutes and then soak it in a bucket of water


• The shooter should wear safety glasses


• The shooter should be an adult and sober


• Only light fireworks on a smooth, flat surface away from the house, dry leaves, and flammable materials. If lighting fireworks on grass, lay down a flat wooden board for a shooting surface.


• A minimum clear radius of 30 feet for fountains and other ground based items and 100 yards for any aerial product is recommended.


• Do not carry fireworks in your pocket or on your person.


• Never smoke when working with fireworks


• Keep a bucket of water or fire extinguisher on hand, just in case


• If you allow young children to use a sparkler (min age 12 is suggested), then warn them never to touch the sparking end. The tip of a sparkler burns at over 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit, which is hot enough to cause third-degree burns and melt glass.


• Children should never pick up firework fragments or duds that may be left over, they may still be active.

Bottom Line

Each year about 10,000 people are injured by fireworks in the US. It’s important to put the most space between you and the firework when lighting. Never use short matches. You don’t want your fingers an inch from a possible explosion.

Skateboarding

“All I wanted to do was ride skateboards - I wanted to be a professional skateboarder. But I had this problem. I kept breaking half of my body skateboarding.” - drummer Travis Barker

Yesterday I talked about bike safety and bike helmets. Many parents insist that their kids wear a helmet but did you know that kids age 14 and under account for only 13% of the bike deaths. The average age of a “dead” cyclist is 40! I never thought of biking as primarily an adult hobby.

Today I’ll look at another summer activity – skateboarding. Boarding is a young man’s sport: 6 out of 10 skateboarders injured are under age 15. Interestingly, 1/3 of all skateboard injuries occur in the first week of boarding as one learns balance and control. After one week the accident rate drops for a while but then spikes back up after one year. This is caused by “experienced” boarders trying stupid or dangerous tricks or just getting careless from overconfidence.

In 2006, about 26,000 persons in the US were treated in Hospital Emergency rooms for skateboard accidents. 1,500 were hospitalized. Injuries include sprains, fractures, contusions and abrasions. Deaths resulted from collisions with cars and from falls.

Here are some safety tips:

• Wear protective gear at all times, including a helmet, wrist guards, knee pads, elbow pads and appropriate shoes.


• Empty your pockets of all hard or sharp objects.


• Master the basics first. Learn turning and slowing techniques and how to stop properly before attempting more difficult maneuvers.


• Learn to fall on the fleshy parts of your body rather than your arms. If you know you're going to fall, crouch down so you won't have as far to fall.


• Try to relax and roll if you fall.


• Practice tricks and jumps in a controlled environment such as a skateboard park where you have access to emergency medical care.


• Never hold onto a moving vehicle while riding a skateboard.


• Do not ride on the street.


• Do not attempt to ride more than one person on a skateboard.


• Keep your skateboard in good condition and give it a safety check each time before you ride.

Bottom Line

While looking for a skateboarding photo for today’s blog, I noticed that most photos showed kids on boards without helmets. Bad idea! Just like bikes, brain injury is a leading cause of death and largely preventable with a helmet.

Recommended sites:
Consumer Product Safety Commission Skateboards (Pub #93)
City of Jacksonville, Florida: Skateboard Safety
Safety Gear – Social Skate Store, CA
Safety Gear – Amazon.com

Bike Safety

"It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle." - Ernest Hemingway

With summer, bikes get dusted off and cyclists flock to the roads. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, motor vehicles killed 773 bicyclists in 2006 in America. An additional 44,000 cyclists were injured in traffic. Every year, about 300,000 kids go to the emergency department because of a multitude of bike injuries. For children 14 and younger bike accidents are a leading cause of death! According to the NHTSA, the very first traffic accident in the US occurred in New York City (1896) when a car hit a cyclist. Since 1932 (when safety statistics were first recorded), over 52,000 cyclists have died in traffic crashes.

The primary cause of bicycle death is head injury. The good news is that bike helmets are 85-88% effective in mitigating damage to the brain. The bad news is that only 20-25% of all cyclists wear a helmet.

Other safety tips for cyclists include:

• Always travel with traffic. (Pedestrians walk against traffic but bikes are legally considered "vehicles" on roads.)
• Bikes must follow all traffic laws like stopping at red lights and stop signs.
• Wear bright colors to be spotted by day.
• Use a helmet light or bike light and reflectors to be spotted at night.
• Don’t pass cars on the right. The driver cannot see you.
• Use hand signals.
• Keep your bike in good repair.

Bottom Line

Wear a Helmet!

Other Bike Safety Resources:
Ten Ways Not to Get Hit (excellent advice for 10 common scenarios at intersections, etc)
National Highway Traffic Safety Admin (brochures & activities for kids)

Triage

“Getting out of the hospital is a lot like resigning from a book club. You're not out of it until the computer says you're out of it.”
- Erma Bombeck

Since hospitals are private companies in the business of making money, it makes little sense for them to have empty beds or unused capacity. That’s just wasteful and unprofitable as a business. And yet that “efficiency” means hospitals can quickly become overwhelmed with the smallest of disasters.

Normally, one should not consider a rock concert a “disaster scene”. (Unless you really, really hate rock music :-) But last year, in Kansas City, Rockfest2008, exceeded the capacity of St. Luke’s Hospital, a major institution and winner of frequent quality awards. A concert of 50,000 fans created 22 ambulance calls over a couple of hours with cases ranging from heat exhaustion to a broken spine. This is an incident rate of just 0.044% but “The surge was so great the hospital had to place some patients on mattresses on the floor and tell ambulances that it had reached its limit for all but trauma patients.” Just imagine what would happen if the incident rate were higher like a biological agent or dirty bomb exploded in a sport stadium or other crowded event.

With mass care events, triage is activated (with a twist). Normally, with hospital emergency room triage, the most serious cases go first. Mr. Gunshot wound goes to the head of the line; Little Runny Nose Kid gets to wait (and wait). But with mass care, with overwhelming number of patients, the most serious patients are allowed to die. The goal is to save the highest total number of lives. A first responder or medical practitioner could spend 30 minutes trying to revive one person with CPR or save 6 seriously wounded from bleeding to death in the same time period. When forced to choose, would you save the one or the six?

When I was a “victim” in a Sarin gas attack drill, it took hours for medical rescuers to arrive. The fireman who arrived first became victims. Then guys in “space suits” showed up to take air samples. Then a bio-unit set up decontamination tents and finally bio-suited teams brought in stretchers or escorted the wounded to the tents for processing. All “victims” had a card stating the severity of our “wounds”. We noticed the rescuers were NOT saving those with “black” tags, the most seriously wounded. When we asked, they explained, these people were already dead after so long a wait or soon would be. They had to remain focused on the lives that could still be saved.

Bottom Line

Most of the time the American health system is a marvel with speedy service. But come flu season, a rock concert or a real disaster, there will be too few doctors and too few beds. This is one of the real fears behind a viral pandemic – hospitals will not be able to cope with the patient load. For this reason it is vital to know First Aid and be able to care for the health of yourself and your family as much as you can.

P.S. New Scientist magazine notes that Health workers may flee in pandemic panic. A survey in the UK revealed that only 15% of hospital workers would go to work during a pandemic. Even the Nurses and Doctors would stay home.

Emergency Sirens

"It's a twister! It's a twister!" - Zeke in Wizard of Oz

Do you know the sound of the emergency sirens in your town? Do you know the town policy for using them? A week ago several people in Mena, Arkansas were killed by a tornado. Some could not hear the town siren, some ignored it, some thought the emergency was over when the killer tornado struck.

Tornadoes (like earthquakes) can strike more than once. People often leave their safeyzone after the first strike and are surprised and injured by a second touch down or after-quake. The best advice is to stay put until you hear an all clear signal. Only evacuate if your "safe spot" has become unsafe because of fire, bad air or it might fall on you.

The situation in Mena was particularly confusing. The tornado sirens sounded three times and three times "harmless" funnel clouds passed over the town. After a half hour of this people either assumed the worst was over or clearly nothing bad was going to happen. "The siren was going off in plenty of time, I just didn't take it serious enough," said one resident.

Then the siren sounded for a fourth time and within minutes a killer tornado hit. 600 homes were damaged or destroyed. Another resident who ignored the siren said, "I didn't have time to go nowhere, I just grabbed a hold of the wall and held on."

Many residents were confused by the sirens going on and off, did "off" mean the danger was over? "We heard the siren two or three times. It would sound off and it would quit. We were getting ready to get out of the building when it hit."

Even the local weather caster wasn't exactly sure why the siren sounded multiple times. He suggested that some communities cannot run their sirens continuously because their motors will burn up.

Bottom Line
Find out the siren policy for your town. Will the motor burn up or will the sirens continue to sound so long as the danger will last?