(Helping Everyone Become Prepared in Case) The Roof Is On Fire!

Good morning, Charlotte!

In case you haven't noticed, Molly and I have had a pretty rad start to our week, and yesterday was absolutely no exception. In fact, we were so excited to be able to join one of our Charlotte-Mecklenburg Volunteer Emergency Support Team (CM-VEST) members, Tara, with her after-school group Girls on the Run at Tega Cay Elementary over in Tega Cay, South Carolina. We were even able to take a ten-minute pit stop on the side of Lake Wylie and soak up a few beautiful moments in nature before we arrived at the school. It was a beautiful day, if I do say so myself!

Perfect day for a quick stop by the lake!

At this presentation, we showed Tara's students a sample of a bag that we would want for everyone to have ready somewhere near where they sleep in case he or she wakes up in the middle of the night to a smoke alarm sounding and needs to escape within that two-minute (on average) window. It is a great idea to assemble one if you haven't already; you would be amazed what will fit into an average-sized backpack. Ours includes many of these items:

• Bottle of water
• Snacks
• Book
• Toilet paper 
• Soap
• First aid kit
• Tissues
• Notebook and pen
• Bag for trash
• Flashlight
• Batteries
• Toothbrush
• Toothpaste
• Baby wipes
• Blanket

This is certainly not an exhaustive list, and this is the main message of the presentation we were able to share with these girls. What you keep in your emergency go-bag is, essentially, completely up to you, and it should reflect what you will need in that immediate period of time, as well as some things that will provide comfort to you in a time of stress. 

At the end of the presentation, we had the girls draw out some of the items that they would choose to keep in their emergency go-bags. Molly and I were quite impressed with the thought the girls put into their supply lists, especially with those who thought to include matches or a lighter (What if you need to heat something up with a fire?!), as well as those who brought chargers for electronics like cell phones which could lose battery life quickly during an emergency response. Of course, Molly and I had to draw out some items we would keep in our go-bags as well. Molly's comfort items included Cheese-Its, a kimono, her Kindle, cash (in case you can't make it to the bank!), and while they certainly wouldn't fit in her bag, she plans to carry out her cats and guitar with her as well. I decided to stow away some pretzels, dice, a can of kidney beans (my favorite comfort food) with a manual can opener, as well as my favorite shirt and sweater, and my trumpet!

Tara, thank you so much for letting us share our preparedness knowledge and admittedly wild and crazy spirits with your Girls on the Run session yesterday, and please know that we had the most amazing time and cannot stop telling hilarious stories from our shared afternoon!

We all have some great ideas for what to keep ready in case we need to get out fast!

If you have any questions about emergency go-bags or want some presentation ideas for this age group, feel free to e-mail me at rob@handsoncharlotte.org. We love to keep sharing preparedness ideas with as many people as we can, and we like to think everyone in this world is as excited about preparedness as we are.

Stay safe, y'all!

Time (To Share Information about Summer Safety)!

Good morning, Charlotte!

Yesterday, Molly and I had the immense pleasure of joining organizations from all around Charlotte at Duke Energy's health fair uptown. We were able to represent the American Red Cross, and had a blast sharing preparedness information with hundreds of Duke Energy employees, who (if y'all are reading this, I'm totally serious) really might be some of the most entertaining people I've met uptown.

Max (another Red Cross volunteer) poses at our table with us!

It was really awesome to be able to share seasonally relevant information with so many bright personalities, and if you thought we were finished, you really need to think twice. All the information we shared on our table can be found on the Red Cross website in the links below. Be sure to click through the tabs about how to prepare, and how to respond during and after!

• Flood Safety
• Thunderstorm and Lightning Safety
• Tornado Safety
• Swimming and Water Safety

Duke Energy, thank you for hosting us yesterday; I really can't repeat enough how wonderful of a time it was (and Mary was the most awesome host in the hospitality room)! Red Cross, thanks as always for allowing us to help spread your message. And to all of you, enjoy your day, and as always,

Stay safe, Charlotte!

Takin' Care of Business (Plans for Disaster)!

Good afternoon, Charlotte!

So I know we have sang our praises for Do1Thing's amazing campaign quite a few times at this point, but they really only keep getting better, and we are thrilled to share their new campaign for emergency preparedness within businesses and organizations. With this new campaign, Do1Thing offers one action per month to take to assess your business or organization's ability to sustain a disaster.

Click here to check out their awesome twelve-step program! (See what we did there?)

And to take a brief break from our weird get back into our 1970's vibe, here's some tasty jammin' tunes for your afternoon!

Stay safe, Charlotte!

(Lobby Now So You're Able To Stay A) Digital Witness!

Good afternoon (again), Charlotte!

This morning, I came to work to find a quite applicable and concerning article in an e-mail from my supervisor (Thanks, Marcel!). Apparently two-thirds of today's smartphones have their FM radio switch turned off by the provider.

Click here to read the article by All Tech Considered's Emma Bowman.

While it makes sense from a financial standpoint for the provider to want for consumers to use data-dependent sources for their news, this raises a problem when power is lost and these data-searching apps suck up unnecessary battery life that could be used much more sparingly with FM radio waves. Further, Bowman notes that much of what she has found out is that mobile companies are doing this because there isn't a consumer demand for the FM ability to be switched back on. You may want to check and see if your provider allows for the use of FM radio on your phone, and if they do not, you may want to start asking for a switch. We never know how long we may be without power in the wrong situation, and the ability to find FM radio can be important if phone lines are bogged down like they were during Superstorm Sandy.

Also, Charlotte, you're on a tornado watch today so please be careful and be extra safe out there, y'all!

(How To Stay Safe While Gaining) Every Other Freckle!

Good afternoon, Charlotte!

With our couple hours of clearly visible sunlight finally breaking through after these few rain-soaked days, we figured it was only appropriate to make a sun safety post with summer just around the corner and our having already felt some pretty warm temperatures here in the Queen City!

One of the niftiest videos (from 34 years ago, as fate would have it) regarding sun safety was put out by the Slip! Slop! Slap! campaign in Australia. As this article in the Sunshine Coast Daily reports, Australia has the highest percentage of skin cancer cases in the world, with the number of cases there having risen by 60 percent from 1982 (immediately after the start of the Slip! Slop! Slap! campaign) to 2010.

Enjoy the original ad from 1981 below:

The Slip! Slop! Slap! campaign's message was simple: slip on a tee shirt, slop on some sunscreen, and slap on a hat to gain protection. Since 1981, they have added to seek shade and slide on some sunglasses.

And not necessarily this type of shade.

Regardless, the Slip! Slop! Slap! campaign's message still rings clearly. It's always smart to cover skin if able, add sunscreen to whatever remains exposed, use a hat and sunglasses to protect our skin and eyes, and seek shade when able to cut down on exposure to UVA and UVB rays. But, if you're like me and Molly, you probably want to know a little more about the science behind and effects of sun exposure, so we have some pretty exciting resources below:

This basic guide from the EPA has some action steps for sun protection, with an explanation of the UV index. 

This guide, also from the EPA, has some in-depth information on the differences between UVA and UVB rays, as well as some advice for effective sunscreen application and how sunlight adversely affects sensitive populations.

The CDC also has some recommendations regarding sun safety, including information on checking the expiration date and using sun protection with cosmetics, found here.

The American Cancer Society has a wealth of information on sun safety, including an image gallery helping you know what to look for in suspicious sections of skin.

And, to see the new Sun Smart campaign's website (the creators of Slip! Slop! Slap! back in 1981), click here and see what all they have going today!

And since you know we have to add a crazy jam, and because the Madison Square Garden show was amazing back on March 30 and I'm not sure if life has been the same since, here's some alt-J for your afternoon!

Stay safe, Charlotte!

(For When You Feel Ozone) In the Air Tonight!

Good morning, Charlotte!

As Laura Arenschield of the The Columbus Dispatch pointed out in her April 1 article, along with these beautiful spring blooms and warm weather comes the beginning of ozone season. While many of you will remember last summer's wonderful mild temperatures here on the east coast, this also meant a reduced ozone hazard, something not all of us may think about on a daily basis if we don't have a higher sensitivity. In fact, central Ohio went the entire summer without having to issue one single air quality warning!

However, last summer we were quite lucky with the way our temperatures never seemed to spiral out of control like I have seen in summers past. Who knows what this year may hold! And since it is the start of ozone season, I would love to pass along some great resources to help us all better understand the threats presented by high levels of ozone. Frankly, I didn't know all of the science behind it, and while it might the espresso talking (Thank you, Rhea, for your wonderful office gift to me and Molly!), it was pretty cool to see the effects of different levels of ground-level ozone.

In case you're trying to wave your nerd flag with me and Molly, check out this page from NASA with a more sciencey tilt!

Click here to read the CDC's page on air contaminants, the first of which gives some pretty grand details about ozone safety and populations who need to be particularly careful. Looking through this, I learned that you do not need to have a sensitive respiratory system to be more vulnerable to ozone. In fact, as a runner and as someone with an outdoor restaurant job, since I am outside as much as I am, I need to have an elevated consciousness of my ozone exposure as well. Other sensitive populations include anyone with a sensitive respiratory system, as well as older individuals, children and infants.

Looking for an easy way to check the air quality in your area? Look no further! Another amazing resource I found this morning is AirNow.Gov, where you can see the air quality not only for the entire country, but also in further detail for your local area just by typing in your zip code. Click here to check it out!

As always, stay safe, Charlotte, and enjoy your wonderful cloudy Wednesday! And, since you know we can't go without sharing a corny song with minimal relevance, enjoy some Phil Collins. The video's pretty weird, and we're pretty into it.

The Truth (about HIV Preparedness and Prevention in Light of the Indiana Outbreak)

Good afternoon, Charlotte!

This morning, while attempting to stay up-to-date on as much emergency preparedness-relevant material as I can, I ran across the rather concerning news from southern Indiana regarding the HIV outbreak declared by Governor Pence to be a public health emergency yesterday.

To read the Washington Post's article and catch some background on the information, click here. Essentially, Austin, Indiana has found itself becoming the epicenter of an HIV outbreak, spreading from its first confirmed case a mere three months ago to 72 confirmed cases as of Wednesday. While to some of you who find yourselves (as I do) more population statistically minded and living in a larger metropolis, this might not seem to be a huge number. However, note that Austin, Indiana has a population of only about 4,300, making this a public health emergency and a crisis emerging at an alarming rate.

In fact, Governor Pence has made a move to allow a pause for the state's ban on possession of syringes by anyone without a prescription in order to facilitate a needle exchange program by which residents can exchange previously used needles for clean syringes, regardless of the existence of a prescription, albeit in only Scott County, where Austin is located. The Governor, a Republican, had previously opposed any such policy allowing for needle exchanges, but it seems that drastic times are calling for drastic measures.

The declaration of a public health emergency in Indiana as the result of an HIV outbreak raises a lot of important points for emergency preparedness and readiness. Much of our work as Community Emergency Preparedness Corps members involves a focus on public health, and especially after going to college in DC and working in DuPont Circle for two years, a city and neighborhood hit especially hard by the AIDS crisis in the 1980's and the city with the highest prevalence of HIV in America, this is a concern that hits especially close to home.

First, there are the concerns about preventing the spread of HIV. If you are using intravenous drugs, please never utilize a previously used syringe. While I don't want to advocate for drug use, I understand that addiction is a very real and gripping concern, and I hope the needle exchange program put in place in Scott County, as well as in other parts of the country, is quick and effective. All it takes is one infected needle to contract the virus, so please take whatever steps are necessary to procure a clean syringe. When having sex, be safe. I cannot stress enough the availability of free condoms, and if you live in Charlotte you can visit either of two STD Control Clinics (addresses listed on this page) for free services, including free condoms and free screening for syphilis and HIV.

Further, if you are living with HIV, there are a number of concerns to be raised when preparing for disasters. Click this link to access the emergency preparedness page published by the US Department of Health and Human Services with specific relevance to those living with HIV. I am so happy that we are getting past the days of HIV/AIDS stigmatization and that treatment has progressed as far as it has over the past three decades, but there are some valid special considerations to think about. First, as with any prescription medication, always keep a two-week supply in stock. A tornado (or any other natural disaster) may cause you not to have access to your local pharmacy, whether by their closing or by your being stuck at home and unable to travel. Further, if the water supply is compromised during a disaster, infection can be easily spread through the water supply and HIV-positive status may make you more susceptible.

This outbreak of HIV in southern Indiana is a very real concern and a true public health emergency, but with a careful effort to prevent the spread of HIV, it is my hope that this contagion may soon be tamed. If you have any questions about what I've said in this article, or if you would like further resources on emergency preparedness relevant to living with HIV, feel free to e-mail me at rob@handsoncharlotte.org.

As always, stay safe, Charlotte, and after my visit to Asheville's Orange Peel for Dr. Dog's wonderful show last night, here's some great music for your damp afternoon!