Stay Safe with These Fire Prevention Tips

By Akindman,

During National Fire Prevention Week attention is focused on promoting fire safety and prevention; however we should practice fire safety all year long. Many potential fire hazards go undetected because people simply do not take steps to fireproof their home.

This year’s theme is: Protect Your Family from Fire

Many bedroom fires are caused by misuse or poor maintenance of electrical devices, careless use of candles, smoking in bed, and children playing with matches and lighters. Most potential hazards can be addressed with a little common sense. For example, be sure to keep flammable items like bedding, clothes and curtains at least three feet away from portable heaters or lit candles, and never smoke in bed. Also, items like appliances or electric blankets should not be operated if they have frayed power cords, and electrical outlets should never be overloaded.

Fire Safety Checklist:

• Install and maintain a working smoke alarm outside of every sleep area and remember to change the battery at least once a year.
• Designate two escape routes from each bedroom and practice them regularly.
• Teach everyone the "Stop, Drop, and Roll" technique in case clothing catches on fire.
• Avoid storing old mattresses in the home or garage.
• Teach kids that matches, lighters and candles are tools, not toys. If you suspect that a child is playing with fire, check under beds and in closets for telltale signs like burned matches. Matches and lighters should be stored in a secure drawer or cabinet.

Safety tips to reduce home fires include:

• Stay in the kitchen when you are cooking.  Many cooking fires start from “unattended” cooking.
• Have heating equipment and chimneys inspected and cleaned annually.
• If you smoke, smoke outside.
• Keep flammable materials away from light bulbs, light fixtures and lamps.
• Use flashlights during power outages, not candles.  If you do burn candles indoors, blow them out before leaving the room, and keep them away from things that can burn.

The following tips will help keep your family safe if there is a fire in your home:

• Install smoke alarms inside each bedroom, outside each sleeping area, and on every level of the home (including the basement).
• Interconnect all smoke alarms in the home so when one sounds, they all sound.
• Test smoke alarms at least monthly and replace all smoke alarms when they are 10 years old or sooner if they do not respond when tested.
• Make sure everyone in your home knows how to respond if the smoke alarm sounds.
• Pull together everyone in your household and make a plan. Walk through your home and inspect all possible ways out. Households with children should consider drawing a floor plan of your home, marking two ways out of each room, including windows and doors.

Fire Prevention & Safety Checklist  

Home Fire Prevention Checklist  

Discovering America

By Akindman,

Coming to America: Who Was First?

Let’s discus the discovery of America!  We need a common reference point – America in its broadest terms includes all of North, Central and South America.  So today, I want to focus on the United States of America (USA).

While growing up and going to school – I found things hard to believe that the teachers were telling me – especially about history and of course Christopher Columbus discovery of America.  At that time I had no idea how long Indians (P.C. Native Americans) had been in America – but knew they were here and scattered throughout America (and later learned all the America’s) several centuries before Chris and his merry crew arrived in 1492.

Leif Erikson visited the America’s nearly 500 years before Chris and he also observed the local folks here.

The Phoenicians were among the greatest traders of their time (1550-300 BC) and owed much of their prosperity to trade.  Phoenicians were the major naval and trading power of the region. There are some indications that they have visited South, Central and North America.

Read for the first time today that some folks think the Chinese were here first. Seems to be some discussion from various camps on just when folks inhabited the America’s – anywhere from 10,000 to 30,000 years ago.

If Native American’s were here as early as mentioned above – the question is who was really first and when did they discover the America’s?

What do you think?

10/10-16 National ER Nurses Week

By Diane Forrest, RN

You might work in an ER if...

• You've ever had to contend with someone who thinks constipation for 4 hours is a medical emergency...
• You've ever entered a patient's chief complaint as "I'm drunk"...
• You refer to motorcyclists as "organ donors"...
• You've ever had a patient with a nose-ring tell you "I'm afraid of shots"...
• You stare at someone in utter disbelief when he or she actually covers his or her mouth when coughing...
• You've ever thought "as long as he's got a pulse, I won't worry about that rhythm."...
• You've ever referred to a body bag as a "To Go" bag...

• You think of chocolate, coffee, Coca-Cola® and the cafeteria's frozen yogurt when anyone mentions the 4 food groups...
• You think that the announcement of an impending arrival in 5 minutes of two adults in a serious MVA on backboards with sirens on and anxiety a level 10 would be a great opportunity to eat lunch...
• You have ever heard triage nurse first ask, "Is it urgent?" when interrupted from the first break in hours...
• You have four categories of patients...urgent, emergent, non-emergent, and S.I.O. (sleeping it off)...
• You automatically multiply by 3 the number of drinks they claim to have daily...
• You feel that you can diagnose passersby at the mall based on physical presentation...
• You don't have to ask "frequent flyers" any medical history questions because you can fill it out from memory...
• You can keep a straight face as the patient responds "Just two beers"...
• You give the local drunks tips on where to sleep so they (and you) won't be disturbed by a return visit

The other day I was telling you about Pediatric Nurses Week, and the important work these nurses do.  Well it is also Emergency Nurse's Week.  These nurses are amazing.  They never know what to expect from one minute to the next.  They see people who come in with colds, to patient having heart attacks, to accidents, gunshot wounds, or victims of other crimes.

There have been many security changes for the ER as well, patients come in wanting drugs pose a serious security risk.  Psychiatric patients can be harmful as well.  Each emergency room I have ever visited has their own security staff for these reasons.

Emergency room nurses have to be knowledgeable about every possible illness or injury be able to comfort and calm the patient and family member.  In the past year my husband was transported the ER on 4 occasions.   Luckily I knew and or worked with several of these nurses, so the process was fairly easy.  I was able to provide all the necessary information as well as take care of him while he was having tests run, freeing up the nurse to take care of other patients.  However most of the patients that enter the ER are not as prepared.

Emergency room nurses deserve this week of celebration and honor.  They could be the one to save your life

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Rules for the Emergency Room

• Here are some tips to those who may end up in an ER, be it yourself or a family member.
• If it requires the ambulance team and entire truck crew of firefighters to transport you and safely place you on a hospital stretcher, it is time to go on a diet.
• When you present to the triage nurse, do not tell him/her that your doctor called ahead. If you survey our waiting area, probably 50% of the people waiting said the same thing, and the other 50% use the ER as their regular doctor.
• Never start out by saying, "I was searching the Internet . . . "
• When asked how much you weigh, please do not give the "Deer-In-The-Headlights Look", and tell us you "really don't know". It's a simple question with a simple answer.
• Just because you have a phone and know how to call 911, we are not impressed by your arrival on an ambulance stretcher. You had better be sick.
• If you came escorted via EMS for multiple complaints that started more than one week ago and your entire family followed the ambulance to the hospital, you will be labeled a ninnie and treated like one, enjoy the waiting area with your family.
• One complaint/ailment per visit, please.
• Just because you came in on a ambulance, doesn't mean you're going home on one. You better start making arrangements, now. I am not driving you home, or figuring out how to get you home. Cab vouchers are not an option.
• If you have one of these four, go to your own doctor in the morning: A Migraine; the Flu; a stomach virus; or a stuffy nose.
• Do not ask us how long it will be. We don't know. I don't know what is coming through my door 30 seconds from now,so I sure as hell don't know when you're getting a room.
• We have priorities. We understand that you have been waiting for two hours in the waiting room. If you don't want to wait, make an appointment with a doctor. The little old lady that just walked in looking OK to you is probably having a massive heart attack. That is why she goes first.
• If your mother is a patient and we ask her a question, let her answer it.
• If your child has a fever, you had damn well better give him Tylenol® before coming in. DO NOT let the fever remain high just so I will believe the child has a fever. Do you want your child to have a seizure? Do you?
• If you are well enough to complain about the wait, you are well enough to go home.
• Do not utter the words "it is in my chart", I don't have your chart, and I don't have the time to call and get it. Just tell me. It is faster.
• We know how many times you've been to an ER. We can usually tell if you are faking it during the first 5 seconds of talking to you. Do not lie to us. If you lie about one thing, we will have to assume you are lying about everything. You don't want that.
• If you have diabetes and do not control it, you are committing slow suicide.
•  If you are a female between 16 and 42 and your last period was between 28-35 days ago, please don't waste our time if you are here for Abdominal Pain & Vaginal bleeding. Guess what!!?? You got your period, again.
• Do not bring your entire posse with you. One person at the bedside is all you need. It is really difficult to move around seven people who are in the way if you are really sick.

• Every time I ask you a question, I learn more about what is wrong with you. I don't care if I asked you what day it is four different times. Each time I ask, it is for a reason. Just answer the questions, regardless whether you have answered them before.
• If you want something, be nice. I will go out of my way to piss off rude people.
• Our definition of sick is not your definition of sick. If a member of the ER staff says that someone is sick, it means that they are in the process of DYING. They have had a massive stroke, are bleeding out, having a heart attack, or have been shot. We don't consider a kidney stone, sick. Painful, yes. Sick, no.
• At any given time, one nurse has four patients. One doctor has up to 15.
• There is a law (similar to Murphy's) in the ER. If you have four patients: one of them will be sick (see above for definition); one of them will be whining constantly; one of them will be homeless; and one of them will a delightful patient. (don't be the whiner). Please.
• If you see someone pushing a big cart down the hall at full speed and you hear bells going off, do not ask for a cup of coffee. Someone is dying, you inconsiderate a*****e. In the ER, bells don't ring for nothing. Sit down, shut up, and let us work.
• If you can bi**h about the blood pressure cuff being too tight, or the IV hurting, you are not in that much pain.
• Physicians and nurses are not waiters. We are not customer service representatives. This is not McDonald's®, and you very well may NOT have it your way. Our job is to save your life, or at least make you feel better. If you want a pillow, two blankets, and the lights dimmed, go to the Ramada®.
• If you have any sort of stomach pain and you ask for something to eat, you are not sick.
• Do not talk s**t about the other members of staff I work with. The doctor that you hate? I work with him every day, and I know that he knows what he is doing. I trust him a lot more that I trust you. I am not here to be your friend, and neither is he. I will tell him what you said, and we will laugh about it. If you want a buddy, go somewhere else.
• If you are homeless, don't ask for a bus token or cab voucher to get home. It just confuses the staff.
• Please don't tell us how to do our job. Do we go to your place of business and tell you how to do your job?
• Please don't bring in a "show and tell". If you have to fish it out of the toilet, it's really not necessary to bring it in; we will take your word. If you did fish something out of the toilet, you may not use my pen.

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month

By Akindman,

What is Domestic Violence?

Posted on August 10, 2011 by EVE Foundation

Domestic violence can be defined as a pattern of abusive behavior in any relationship that is used by one partner to gain or maintain power and control over another intimate partner.

Domestic violence can be physical, sexual, emotional, economic, or psychological actions or threats of actions that influence another person. This includes any behaviors that intimidate, manipulate, humiliate, isolate, frighten, terrorize, coerce, threaten, blame, hurt, injure, or wound someone.

Physical Abuse: Hitting, slapping, shoving, grabbing, pinching, biting, hair-pulling, biting, etc. Physical abuse also includes denying a partner medical care or forcing alcohol and/or drug use.

Sexual Abuse: Coercing or attempting to coerce any sexual contact or behavior without consent. Sexual abuse includes, but is certainly not limited to marital rape, attacks on sexual parts of the body, forcing sex after physical violence has occurred, or treating one in a sexually demeaning manner.

Emotional Abuse: Undermining an individual’s sense of self-worth and/ or self-esteem. This may include, but is not limited to constant criticism, diminishing one’s abilities, name-calling, or damaging one’s relationship with his or her children.

Economic Abuse: Making or attempting to make an individual financially dependent by maintaining total control over financial resources, withholding one’s access to money, or forbidding one’s attendance at school or employment.

Psychological Abuse: Causing fear by intimidation; threatening physical harm to self, partner, children, or partner’s family or friends; destruction of pets and property; and forcing isolation from family, friends, or school and/ or work.

Domestic violence can happen to anyone regardless of race, age, sexual orientation, religion, or gender. Domestic violence affects people of all socioeconomic backgrounds and education levels. Domestic violence occurs in both opposite-sex and same-sex relationships and can happen to intimate partners who are married, living together, or dating.

Domestic violence not only affects those who are abused, but also has a substantial effect on family members, friends, co-workers, other witnesses, and the community at large. Children, who grow up witnessing domestic violence, are among those seriously affected by this crime. Frequent exposure to violence in the home not only predisposes children to numerous social and physical problems, but also teaches them that violence is a normal way of life – therefore, increasing their risk of becoming society’s next generation of victims and abusers.

Sources: National Domestic Violence Hotline, National Center for Victims of Crime, and WomensLaw.org.

(A big thank you to Eve Foundation http://www.evefoundation.org/uncategorized/what-is-domestic-violence/)

Related links:

http://www.ncdsv.org/ncd_upcomingtrainings.html

http://dvam.vawnet.org/

http://www.opdv.state.ny.us/public_awareness/campaigns/shinethelight/octoberflyer11.html

October is National Disabilities Awareness Month

By Akindman,

In 1945 Congress passed Public Law 176 where the first week of October would be recognized as “National Employ the Physically Handicapped Week.” By 1988, Congress changed the timeframe to the entire month and the name to “National Disability Employment Awareness Month.” The 2011 theme: “Talent Has No Boundaries: Workforce Diversity INCLUDES Workers with Disabilities” represents that workers with disabilities are diversified and a vibrant talented work source (comments taken from the United States Department of Labor).

Nearly all persons with a disability have something the can contribute to organizations.  Given the opportunity and training they will give back more that the employers invest several times fold.  I was blessed with working with some of these people in my consultant days and to the individual – they excelled and set solid, ethical, and professional benchmarks for others to follow.

A few years ago, a friend of mine told me about a company in Hot Springs, Arkansas had a company where over 90% of his employees were disabled.  It was truly amazing when I got to see this team of people working and how well they worked together.  It is Win-Win-Win for the community, people and company.

So when you are looking for help, please consider interviewing a person with disabilities - you may just find that they are the right answer.  Thanks.

National Fluffernutter Day

By Diane Forrest,

When I think of Marshmallow Cream the first thing I think of is the Sta-Puft Marshmallow man blowing up all over the Ghostbusters.  Then I think of the delicious fudge I make during the holidays.  Recently I made some brownies that use marshmallow cream and I have to say they were amazing!  That about covers my experience with marshmallow cream.  Today, I have learned about something new.  Something called Fluffernutter.  What this is, is a sandwich made with marshmallow cream, also called fluff, and peanut butter.  I am learning about it, because today is National Fluffernutter Day.

The fluffernutter is a particular favorite in the Northeastern states.  In fact, Massachusetts has proposed making it the official state sandwich.

A fluffernutter is made by spreading peanut butter on a slice of white bread, then spreading an equal amount of some kind of marshmallow (small, large or cream) on another slice, and finally combining them together to form a sandwich. Variations of the recipe include wheat bread instead of white, and the addition of bananas, honey, or other ingredients that are compatible with peanut butter, or the addition of chips (potato chips, corn chips, etc.) inside of the sandwich instead of on the side.

In June 2006, Massachusetts state senator Jarrett Barrios gained national attention when he proposed legislation restricting the serving of fluffernutter sandwiches in public schools. The proposal was criticized as an example of trivial and overly intrusive legislation, while Barrios' supporters pointed to concerns over the problem of childhood obesity.

So if you have never tried one of these sandwiches, why not have one today, on National Fluffernutter Day.

Dental Hygiene Month

By Akindman,

National Dental Hygiene Month Just Keeps Getting Better! 

Are You Ready to Celebrate this October?

Brushing your teeth for two minutes at least twice a day remains a critical component to maintaining a healthy smile.

Proper flossing or interdental cleaning removes plaque and food particles in places where a toothbrush cannot easily reach — under the gum line and between your teeth. Because plaque build-up can lead to tooth decay and gum disease, daily flossing is highly recommended.

Rinsing your mouth each day with an anti-microbial mouth rinse is another important step in preventing the gum disease known as gingivitis.

Chewing sugar-free gum after eating is clinically proven to be an important part of good oral health. It stimulates the most important natural defense against tooth decay - saliva - which, in turn helps fight cavities, neutralize plaque acids, remineralize enamel to strengthen teeth and wash away food particles. (American Dental Hygienists Association)

http://www.adha.org/ndhm/index.html