Monthly Safety Briefings: May

The squadron safety briefing for the month of May focused on public health emergencies.

What is a public health emergency? Examples of such emergencies are infectious diseases like the pandemic flu, or food/waterborne illnesses.

The pandemic flu is a virus for which there is little or no immunity. Past outbreaks have occurred three times; in 1918, 1957, and 1968. Those outbreaks, lasting several weeks, killed millions of people.

It is important to take steps to protect yourself and your loved ones in such a crisis.

Wash your hands often with soap or other sanitizers.
Cover your mouth while coughing or sneezing.
Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
Stay home if sick.
Keep healthy: get plenty of sleep, exercise, eat right, etc.
No smoking.
Talk about how or where your loved ones would be cared for if you become sick.
Make sure someone can take care of the family.

Where do food/waterborne illnesses come from? An outbreak occurs when groups of people eat the same contaminated food and come down with the same illness. This can happen at places like a restaurant, or be a result of food bought at a grocery store.

To keep food safe, follow these steps:

Wash your hands.
Wash your cooking surfaces.
Separate raw foods like meat and poultry from other foods.
Cut raw meats on a separate cutting board than everything else.
NEVER place cooked food on a plate that previously held raw meat.

Cook to proper temperature.
Ground meat should be cooked to at least 160 degrees.
Cook eggs until the yolk and white are firm, not runny.
Cook fish to 145 degrees or until the flesh is opaque and separates easily with a fork.

Refrigerate meat and perishables as soon as you get home.
Keep them in the refrigerator.

Public Emergency Preparedness

Prepare two weeks worth of medical and health supplies. Examples:

Soap or water free alcohol based handwash
Medicines for fever like Tylenol
Cough Syrup
Thermometer
Oral rehydration solutions like Gatorade

Source: Emergency Survival Program Focus Sheet, County of Los Angeles. (www.espfocus.org)