COLD INJURY PREVENTION: CDC Webpage on Cold Injury Prevention

[This is an indepth, long version for Cold Injury Prevention.  It is geared for Workplace Safety, but anyone going outside during cold weather, would be smart to re-familiarize themselves with this information.  Be safe.  SDF Blogger]

Types of Cold Stress

cdc.gov

Hypothermia  | Frostbite |Trench Foot | Chilblains

Hypothermia

When exposed to cold temperatures, your body begins to lose heat faster than it can be produced. Prolonged exposure to cold will eventually use up your body's stored energy. The result is hypothermia, or abnormally low body temperature. A body temperature that is too low affects the brain, making the victim unable to think clearly or move well. This makes hypothermia particularly dangerous because a person may not know it is happening and will not be able to do anything about it.    Read more

FREE BROCHURE: NIOSH Cold Injury Prevention

[This is a short and sweet printable document on the signs, symptoms and prevention of cold injuries including:  hypothermia, frostbite, trenchfoot and chilblains.  SDF Blogger]
 
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2010-115/pdfs/2010-115.pdf

CBRNE: Public Would Participate in Anthrax Countermeasure Release: Report

Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2011

A new study suggests U.S. residents would generally take part in a large-scale public health campaign to counter a deliberate release of anthrax into the air, despite concerns over potential threats to large gatherings of people and uncertainty about the government's ability to handle such an emergency, the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy reported on Monday (seeGSN, Aug. 4).

Most respondents to a telephone questionnaire expressed openness to retrieving antibiotic tablets from distribution locations as part of a public effort to supply countermeasures to all inhabitants of an urban jurisdiction within two days, according to the abstract for the Harvard University report. Willingness to participate in a preventive campaign was largely consistent between groups of roughly 500 people surveyed in three areas affected by the 2001 anthrax mailings -- New York City, Washington and Mercer County, N.J. -- and a more widely dispersed population of 1,092 individuals.

Inaccurate beliefs regarding anthrax as well as assumptions about the availability of countermeasures from alternative sources would pose additional difficulties for a response effort, the report states. Respondents noted reservations about the government's public health response capabilities amid setbacks in distributing the H1N1 flu vaccine in 2009, the study's authors said.

The journal Biosecurity and Bioterrorism published the report (Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy release, Aug. 8)
.

Tip of the Day: CDC Emergency Preparedness and Response Website

Hurricanes
Plus Cyclones, Typhoons, & Other Tropical Storms

 Hurricane Health and Safety Tip   8AUG2011 Be Prepared During a Power Outage  In case of power outage, keep an appliance thermometer in the refrigerator and frezzer to help determine the safety of food.Prepare for the Storm

• Get Supplies
  You should stock your home with supplies that may be needed during the emergency period.
• Make a Plan
  There are many steps you can take in advance to increase your safety during a storm.
  

FREE COURSES from CDC

Browse by topic, the growing collection of free learning products including e-learning, podcasts, test-based and webcasts.

Chronic Diseases

Emergency Management

Environmental Health

Epidemiology, Surveillance and Statistics

Food Safety

Genomics

Immunization

Infectious Diseases

Informatics / Technology

Injury and Violence Prevention

International Health

Legal / Ethical

Marketing

Maternal and Child Health

Nutrition, Obesity and Physical Activity

Policy / Planning

Preparedness and Response

Public Health Practice

FREE Medical Training > Immunization Project

[Great NEW training for nurses, immunizations and more. READ MORE]

photo courtesy of University at Albany, Center for Public Health

Nurse Training on Immunization Project

Nurse TIP

Nurse TIP recognizes that nurses play an integral role in the success of immunization programs. Nurses are often the first point of contact at any health care visit and can have considerable influence on the public health practices of a community.

Goals: Increasing the knowledge and competency of nurses in immunization by offering relevant content in a variety of distance-learning approaches.

Engaging nurses in program planning, dialogues with other nurses, and exploring strategies to promote immunization.

Target Audience: Nurses working in medical offices, clinics, community health centers as well as other settings.

FREE Course > Surviving Field Stress for First Responders

[For those of you that do not want to take the course, I have attached the 60 page  > handbook  that is of the same title.  A must have for anyone who is a first responder...]

First responders to a traumatic event are tasked with applying their expertise under incredibly stressful conditions. This webcast deals with the physical, emotional, and mental stressors first responders face when called to a technological disaster. It gives practical coping strategies and resources for dealing with stress.

Goal   To help the responder or those they assist be prepared for the stressors of twenty-first century disasters.

Objectives   Upon successful completion of the program, participants will be able to: Describe psychological stress. Explain common causes of stress. Describe the mental and physical health effects of excessive stress. Describe the social, physical, and emotional causes of first responders stress. Identify methods to cope with field related stress. Identify strategies for assisting members of the public adults and children, with their disaster-related stress in your role as first responder.

Target Audience   Health-care providers, federal, state, and local public health and emergency management officials.

Announcements > CDC's ATSDR Health Survey of Pre-1986 Personnel at Camp Lejeune

May 20, 2011 / 60(19);629

During June--December 2011, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry will conduct a health survey of persons who resided or worked at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina before 1986 and might have been exposed to contaminated drinking water. The purpose of the survey is to learn more about participants' health. Health surveys also will be mailed to a comparison group of former active duty marines, sailors, and civilian employees, sampled from those who lived or worked at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton in California.

Eligible participants who were formerly at Camp Lejeune include 1) former active duty marines and sailors who were stationed at Camp Lejeune any time during June 1975--December 1985, 2) civilian employees who worked at Camp Lejeune any time during December 1972--December 1985, 3) families who took part in the 1999--2002 ATSDR telephone survey of childhood cancers and birth defects, and 4) persons who registered with the Camp Lejeune notification registry.

Participants will receive a paper copy of the health survey and instructions for completing and mailing. A web-based version of the survey also will be available for those who prefer to answer online. Health-care providers are asked to share information regarding the Camp Lejeune survey with their patients who lived or worked at the base before to 1986 and to encourage those receiving a health survey for either Camp Lejeune or Camp Pendleton to fill it out and return it or complete it online. Additional information is available at here.

Swimming Safety > CDC promotes Recreational Water Illness and Injury Prevention Week --- May 23--29, 2011

image courtesy of
camarillo.macaronikid.com 

May 23-29, 2011, marks the seventh annual Recreational Water Illness and Injury Prevention Week. This observance highlights simple steps swimmers and pool operators can take to reduce health and safety risks at pools, water parks, and other recreational water venues.

Recreational water illness can result from ingesting, inhaling aerosols of, or having contact with contaminated water in swimming pools, hot tubs, water parks, water play areas, interactive fountains, lakes, rivers, or oceans. These illnesses also can be caused by chemicals in the water or chemicals that evaporate from the water.

This year's observance focuses on preventing swimmer's ear (acute otitis externa), a common and painful infection of the outer ear canal that results in 2.4 million health-care visits and nearly half a billion dollars in health-care costs every year (1). Simple steps, such as keeping ears as dry as possible, can help prevent this illness. More information on preventing swimmer's ear is available at http://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/swimming/rwi/illnesses/swimmers-ear-prevention-guidelines.html.

Injuries and drowning also can occur in and around the water. Drowning is the second leading cause of unintentional injury death among children aged ≤14 years (2). Additional information on drowning prevention is available at http://www.cdc.gov/safechild/drowning/index.html.

Post-Earthquake Haiti > Injuries Treated at a Field Hospital --- Haiti, 2010

CDC has done it again!  Great statistical data for disaster relief medical personnel, and for that matter, first responders. This link takes you to the short 4 page summary version of the report.  There is a much more indepth report that is a must read for medical response teams that is a 48 page .pdf.  Both are great!  Good readings!

photo courtesy of wn.com

CDC MMWR report January 7, 2011 / 59(51);1673-1677.
"On January 12, 2010, a 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck Haiti, resulting in an estimated 222,570 deaths and 300,000 persons with injuries. The University of Miami Global Institute/Project Medishare (UMGI/PM) established the first field hospital in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, after the earthquake (1). To characterize injuries and surgical procedures performed by UMGI/PM and assess specialized medical, surgical, and rehabilitation needs, UMGI/PM and CDC conducted a retrospective medical record review of all available inpatient records for the period January 13--May 28, 2010. This report describes the results of that review, which indicated that, during the study period (when a total of 1,369 admissions occurred), injury-related diagnoses were recorded for 581 (42%) admitted patients, of whom 346 (60%) required a surgical procedure. The most common injury diagnoses were fractures/dislocations, wound infections, and head, face, and brain injuries."

CDC > Traumatic Brain Injury-Related Deaths-US, 1997-2007

Surveillance for Traumatic Brain Injury–Related Deaths — United States, 1997–2007
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of death and disability in the United States. During 1997–2007, an annual average of 53,014 deaths among U.S. residents were associated with TBIs. During this period, overall TBI-related death rates decreased 8.2%; by age group, the rates decreased among persons aged ≤44 years but increased among those aged ≥75 years. Firearm- (34.8%), motor-vehicle– (31.4%), and fall-related TBIs (16.7%) were the leading causes of TBI-related death. Rates of TBI-related deaths were higher among young and older adults and certain minority populations.

for more

Free Training (NewOrleans,LA) > Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) one day and a half course has been designed to serve those who will perform crisis and risk communication and media relations in the event of a public health emergency. CERC is an approach used by scientists and public health professionals to provide information during natural or manmade disasters, when an individual or an entire community has to make health-related decisions under time constraints.-Read more

The target audiences include:

•  federal, state, and local public health professionals;
•  healthcare professionals;
•  emergency medical services professionals;
• preparedness partners; and.
• civic and community leaders.

The goals are to:

• Share communication strategies that will help to effectively prepare for and respond to public health emergencies.
• Introduce and disseminate crisis and emergency risk training curricula and tools.
• Train communicators in how to systematically plan, develop, implement, and evaluate crisis and emergency risk communication activities.

COST: Free      (Please note, travel and accommodations costs would need to be covered by the person attending or by his/her agency.    There’s limited travel scholarships available, please see “Scholarship” information/application located on the right-hand side of this page.)

WHEN:    Day 1: Tuesday, May 10, 2011 from 8:30 am – 5:00 pm

                Day 2: Wednesday, May 11, 2011 from 8:30 am – 12:00 pm

WHERE:  Auditorium Tidewater Building

                  Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine (SPHTM) 

Video > Expiration Dates Matter

This is a very good video by the FDA on drug expiration dates.  Emphasizes what and how the drugs may loose their efficacy and/or alter their chemical composition.  Only 1:26 seconds long.

FREE Course > Crisis Emergency Risk Communication

CDC just put this out. I am a huge proponent of Risk Communication. CDC's Training website, is hard to navigate thru.  You have to register first.  So pick a user ID and Password, then proceed.  You have to muddle thru it unfortunately.  But it is worth it.  This is a great course.

CERC Online (Web-Based)
Course Number: WB1138

This course will cover the fundamentals of Crisis Emergency Risk Communication (CERC). It is the online version of the classroom course. It contains downloadable job aids and the manual used in the classroom. It includes the video clips used to enhance learning in the classroom and the opportunity to practice the concepts online.
Course Link

TARGET AUDIENCE: This course is open to everyone although it was designed for CDC staff and the public health community. It will be particularly valuable to those people charged with the crisis and emergency risk communication.

MATERIALS: For additional information, contact the CDC Office of Enterprise Communication at either email CERCinfocdc.gov or CERCrequestcdc.gov.

CE Expiration Date: 1/15/2013

CDC Article > The Importance of Evidence-Based Disaster Planning

[This is an intense document, but well worth the hr dedicated to reading it.]

Document:  http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/emergency_response/importance_disaster_planning.pdf

atsdr.cdc.gov

FREE Course and Manual > Surviving Field Stress for First Responders

[This is a CDC online course.  Below is course description.]

atsdr.cdc.gov

ATSDR Surviving Field Stress for First Responders (Web on Demand)
Course Number: WD1650

This webcast is designed for all professionals who would be called to be first responders in todays all-hazards disasters. The purpose of the course is 1) to help first responders cope with the field stressors of the twenty-first century disaster and 2) to provide brief tips on how responders can perform psychological first aid in the field to help the general public during and in the immediate aftermath of a disaster. This course presents experienced responders talking about how they cope with stress as well as medical information on how to cope with stress, signs and symptoms of unusual stress, and some of the consequences of long-term chronic stress. In addition to the webcast, there is an accompanying manual with further information and a Powerpoint presentation summarizing the information presented.

TARGET AUDIENCE: Our primary target audience is all personnel (federal , state, and local) who could be called to respond to todays all-hazards disasters.

CE Expiration Date: 12/16/2011

Course Webpage >
 http://www2a.cdc.gov/TCEOnline/registration/detailpage.asp?res_id=2493
Here is a draft copy of the "Surviving Field Stress for First Responders" manual >
http://www2.cdc.gov/phtn/webcast/stress-05/TrainingWorkbookstress-editp1.pdf

FREE Course > CDC BioTerroRisk

image courtesy of:
barryeatonhealth.org

[Normally, I take the course before I post it: this time I didn't.  It looked too good to save for later.  Looking at the objectives, can't be much more than 1.5 hrs.  Let me know how long it is!  - SDFBlogger]


Course description:
Who is responsible for protecting the public's health against a bioterrorist threat?
Since the events of 9/11/2001 and the Anthrax outbreak in the U.S., it is now recognized that bioterrorist risk may come to attention and require "first response" from physicians, nurses, laboratory personnel, communicable disease surveillance specialists, public health officers, and environmental hazmat teams.
Bioterrorisk is a case-based, mini-course in hazard recognition, interagency communication, risk assessment, and risk communication for the public health workforce.

Target audience:  Public Health Officials, Physicians, Nurses, Laboratory, Epidemiology/Surveillance Staff,   Communicable Disease/Immunization Staff, Environmental Health Staff, Public Information, Veterinarians,   Enforcement Officers, Hazmat Team Members,Political Leaders

Course objectives:
1. Identify your role in responding to a bioterrorist event
2. Recognize circumstances that may indicate bioterrorism
3. Establish intra- and interagency communication
4. Follow an appropriate protocol for responding to a bioterrorist event
5. Communicate with the public regarding risk
6. Assemble a list of resources available to assist in a bioterrorist event

START COURSE >  http://www.uic.edu/sph/prepare/bioterrorisk/