In today's chapter, we'll be covering the number one threat to your life and well-being (besides yourself): other people. Now, don't get me wrong, you're not at all more likely to be a victim of violence than an accident of some sort- it's quite the opposite, in fact. However, were it not for other people driving, we'd lose a significant number of motor vehicle accidents (though most accidents are actually single-vehicle, some driver going down a rural road way above the speed limit trying to make a turn twice as fast as they should have); were it not for others, it's unlikely we'd ever catch the flu and a grudge for that person that didn't understand the concept of sneezing into a tissue or shoulder; were it not for other people, we'd rarely have anything even close to the violence against others that it seems we hear about every day. Back on track, though, we'll be more discussing the potential for interpersonal violence, how to recognize it, how to prevent it (the most effective way of dealing with crime), how to react should all else fail, and how to work with law enforcement officials and other responders after the fact. At the end, we'll review specific crimes, how to recognize the potential for them, how to prevent them, how to respond, and how to work with emergency officials.
What is interpersonal violence? I ask this because we sometimes take things at face value or for granted when there's actually a lot more to the issue to be examined. Interpersonal violence doesn't always have to be confined to physical harm- just the very threat of it, the impact an act or deed has on someone's day-to-day life, can be considered to be a violation inflicted on one's life by another. Take, for example, a breif bit of fiction in which a young woman in an average suburban neighborhood walks past a few low-lifes hanging out on the other side of the street. Now because these couple of guys are up to no good, they start making trouble in the neighborhood- starting by, in this instance, shouting to her that they're going to steal her phone. Even if they never actually make the effort to take her phone, the act of threatening her will probably make her change her routine in the future for the sake of avoiding future trouble because she feels her safety, as well as her phone's, has been violated and does not wish to recieve further violations. More saddening, though, is the reality that people do worse things than threaten with words- they sometimes actually abuse, lash out at, and attack other people's minds with words (verbal abuse).
Violence can be even more abstract than words- as an example, theft. What if someone held you up for your wallet, broke into your house while you were out, or stole your identity? You've just had a horrible thing done to you, and most of the time these days (as in two out of three of the preceeding examples), you never even see your assailant face-to-face. Think about what changes your life would undergo following such a horrible event, how insecure you would feel. Theft is almost a form of mental abuse, when you think about it. The point that I'm driving at is that in looking out for and recognizing interpersonal violence, don't limit your scope to just that which leaves blood, bruises, and broken bones.
Where can violence occur? Unfortunately, the fact of the matter is that violence can be a reality for anyone, anywhere, at any time. However, if you know the patterns, you can lessen your chances of being a victim of violence.
-In any area where you're clearly foreign, be it another country, or just another region or ethnic center, your risk is much higher than in your home territory. The reasons abound, but the most important ones are that you're recognized to not be someone who's going to have connections in that area, you're recognized as probably not knowing the area very well, and you're less likely to be sympathized with.
-Any area that's particularly less-traveled, secluded, or abandoned presents an increased risk. Primarily, this is because people don't like criminals in general, and criminals doing their deeds in public means airing their dirty laundry to everyone and their grandma- and, if grandma's feisty enough, getting their laundry washed as well as their clock cleaned.
-Night-time generally presents a higher risk for roughly the same reasons as a secluded area does: cover. Not only are people harder to see in the dark, but there's less people awake to see them, meaning that their chances of uninterrupted success are higher.
-Any area with just a few entrances and exits with little room to hide (such as an alleyway) makes a wonderful ambush point, so be wary of any strangers attempting to lead you through such a place and take pains to avoid these potential traps if you can.
- The vast majority of break-ins occur while nobody's home, since 'professional theives' generally aren't seriel killers, and vice-versa. For the most part, a theif would just as soon bolt for the nearest escape as he would deal with a rightously furious home owner.
- Listen to your gut- it's usually right. If an area gives you a bad feeling, it's probably for a good reason, and you should linger there as little as possible. If someone gives you the heebee-jeebees for no apparent reason, do your best to avoid them- if they're innocent, they'll get over it in no time and probably forget all about it by the end of the day, and if they're not, then you've saved yourself a world of trouble.
- Avoid standing out: They've got to pick someone, and people generally look at neon signs before the standard cardboard window signs, if you get my drift. If you're in unfamiliar or known dangerous territory, remain confident and maintain a driven, solid state of mind, but try to keep a lower profile than you normally would and take no steps to stand out. People who are quick to anger or other emotions, or are very prone to being outgoing are possibly the most common victims in some crimes.
- Helping: Preying on do-gooders is a classic criminal strategy. If someone comes to you desperately asking for a ride in your car or to come with them to help, take them seriously and advise them in a loud enough tone for others around you to hear that you're "dialing 911 for you right now". If you're not in a public place or in your car, remain where you're at and keep the doors locked and windows rolled up while you call for 911. If they're being honest with you, they'll probably appreciate the help, and if they're not, then you've just thrown the biggest monkey wrench possible in their plan.
-You are what you look: If you look calm, collected, and confident, not only will other people believe you are, but you'll begin to believe it too. It's important to maintain a look and act of cool, collected confidence in public, in riskier times and areas, and even in the face of danger because you'll be much harder to view as a prey item. Not only will you deter predators in general, but you might even be able to squash a violent situation in its socks by having the confidence to not get drawn in to the turmoil they're trying to create.
-Isolation: Lone individuals are easier targets to violence than groups of people. Try to always travel with at least one other person that you know well when going through a dangerous or new area. If someone attempts to isolate you with invitations to something, requests that you come over or come help, or tries to get in between you and your buddy to lead you in a new direction either physically or persuasively should be sternly, but politely, resisted.
- Loudmouth or dangerous?: Sometimes it's hard to tell when people are serious or when they're just shooting their mouths off. Someone who's just angry, doesn't necessarily want to fight, and is more putting on a show or display that 'ROAR, I'M MAD' will be red faced, screaming or yelling loudly, and will experience a complete inability to stop waving their hands around. The best policy is to just let them win, give them a way out that allows them to save face instead of getting sucked into their absurd righteous fury right along with them. The people you should genuinely worry about will generally be paler, more deliberate and in control, will say fewer words, and may keep their arms down by their sides with a slight inward bend at the elbows and balled fists or clenched hands.
The First Step: Certainly, violent crimes are some of the worst things that can ever happen to anyone, and the aftershocks of a single violent crime may be felt by many more people than just the victim and for many years after the crime itself. While it's true that there are times in which a firearm or weapon may be a useful tool in responding to an ongoing crime, and it's true that allocating extra funds to better staff and equipment law enforcement departments will help keep crime in check, it's an unfortunate fact that we in America have allowed ourselves to believe that responding is the only effective method of dealing with crime. The truth is that prevention is, at its worst, as effective as response, and infinitely more effective at its best. The truth is that response, at best, will not stop a crime from happening in the present- only stop a future or further crime from occurring. This noted, prevention should be your first step in dealing with the threat of crime. A lot of people have a misconception that they'll have to fork over a lot of cash- a lot more than it costs to keep their skill up with or purchase a new firearm-, but most prevention methods are largely a one-time cost, and some cost nothing at all! Some examples of one-time costs include jam-bars for sliding glass doors, shatter-proofing lamination for windows (handy for both keeping out crooks and darn neighbor kid's baseballs), dead-bolt locks for external and safe-room doors (because they'll much more readily resist a solid kick than your knob lock), solid doors, good jimmy-proof locks on your windows, a bolted-down safe (preferably fire and maybe even water-proof, making an excellent place to store valuables, small firearms, and personal documents that could be used for identity theft. Note that it MUST be bolted down, or any potential thieves will just use it as a convenient carrying case), and a combination-locked key box for your spare (see: Uh-oh) house key. Some examples of 'free' prevention are not leaving a ladder accessible in your yard(s), locking up before going anywhere, having a friend/neighbor/professional give you an honest review of your current level of security, adopting a dog (you don't need an attack dog- even a small yapadoodle can make all the difference because they'll notice people outside when you won't and, if they've lived with you long enough, can have an uncanny ability to know when something's not right), requesting the city install street lamps in front of or near to your house if they're not already there, reporting any unusual or suspicious activity to your local police department or sheriff's office (this is a big one, since a lot of violent crimes can take a surprising amount of preparation), requesting that your neighbors take your newspapers/mail in or house-sit for an hour or two a day if you're going out of town, planting spiney or thorny shrubs near a potential weak-point in your security, locking your car doors when you go in, and keeping most of your plant-life trimmed and well away from doorways.
Another really great thing you can do for prevention is to get active in your community- go and ask your local law enforcement office (or an officer who's got a little bit of time on their hands) what some of the current problems in the community are and what they would recommend for preventing or altogether stopping it. Also, start a neighborhood watch- get together with a few nearby families, set safety goals and parameters with each other (Such as "There shouldn't be ANYONE in my house between 2-4PM unless me or someone else from the family is there" or "We always go out for dinner on friday nights, so that's when our house is the most vulnerable"). Another great thing to do is to, again, designate a safe room and/or work with a neighbor to make a plan in the event of a disaster. Finally, see if there's anything you can do to help local law enforcement with public education, such as hosting or contributing to school events or handing out information fliers.
Last, but certainly not least, in prevention is the technique of active scanning. Active scanning is normally something that's mostly used for motorcycling, but can be adopted and adapted to other areas of life, such as keeping safe from violence. What active scanning means is that while you are in an area, you keep your eyes, ears, and brain functioning constantly- you observe and take note of anything you can and everything you can; pay attention to anything that seems suspicious, a potential threat, or catches your eye while you continue to search for things you didn't notice before. The most crucial part about active scanning is combining what you observe to formulate what's possible, probable, and definite, and how to respond to each scenario. They teach motorcycle riders to constantly be searching for the next best escape/evasion route should traffic suddenly encounter hell, high water, or both. Employing the same policy when out and about could help you greatly in avoiding a violent situation.
Response: Is the last and least effective phase of countering violence. At this point, a violent act has already occured or has started. If you feel you may be subject to violence, now is the time to deploy a set of tactics that you should have, by then, planned out according to the resources available. The key is to stay calm, confident, and in control of yourself, even when you're not in control of your situation. What I recommend for most situations is to follow the same ladder of escalating force that law enforcement and military officers employ:
1. Soft verbal exchange: "Please stop," "don't do that," and other general, inoffensive deterrent words that let people know that you're not interested and not amused. These should be said in a cool or even cold, confident or firm tone of voice, otherwise they may be viewed as a sign of weakness and actually make things worse. Now might also be a good time to employ a bit of verbal judo (NOT VERBAL KARATE- that is slinging insults or returning anger to someone. It's is a surefire way to escalate a problem. Verbal Judo is about redirecting their verbal momentum from a negative to a neutral or positive through maintaining a calm, confident, collected demeanor both in stature, tone, and language- think like a police negotiator, you're trying to resolve the incident, regardless of ego. Empathy is an extremely powerful tool in verbal judo) to try and get an angry person to calm down and cooperate.
2. If the soft verbal exchange doesn't work or it's apparent that you don't have enough time to let it work, then you move to the firm verbal command. "Stop!" is a wonderful example of the firm verbal command. The command should be issued firmly and confidently with an almost parental stature- exactly as if you're telling a three-year-old not to touch the stove or to stop playing with matches. Done right, it exhibits a very high level of confidence that may give your assailant pause, and it should draw on the fact that everyone was, at one time, a child, and was given similar powerful commands by their parents at some point or another. If you know the assailant's name, you can add it to your command for even more efficiency. If you're in a public area, this can be where you start talking in a somewhat louder tone to try and draw people's attention in case things are about to head south. If you're sure that your life will still be in iminent danger, this is the part where, now that they're thrown off-guard, you run and dial 911 or, if they continue, you move to the next level.
3. Light contact: At this point, they've made physical contact with you or have attempted to do so. At this point, all doubts need to be removed and 911 should be dialed if at all possible. Now is the point where you'd react by taking control, either evading further attacks, getting them in a joint lock, pinning them to a wall, or make time for an escape by delivering a swift, spontaneous open palm to their face- enough to stun anyone for a second or two, which should be enough for you to escape, reach for a non-lethal device such as pepper spray, or otherwise take control of the situation (though retreating to a safe area is always recommended). This segment should be skipped if they are armed and retreat is not an option.
4. Heavy contact: At this point, all else has failed and your life is in immediate danger. Because you are under serious risk of death or disablement, all bets are off and all stops should be removed- gouge at their eyes, bite at their ears or nose, deliver a flat-palmed smack to their ear for a ruptured eardrum, kick or knee them in the groin- bite, claw, kick and scream, and if all else has absolutely failed, begin lethal force measures such as a firearm, a knife, or a firm blow to the front of their throat. This stage should be one of absolute last resort, and will only be justified in the eyes of the law if it is seen that you felt your life was in imminent danger with all other options extinguishd. Once the threat has stopped, you must stop as well- anything done to 'teach them a lesson' will be considered use of excessive force or worse, and will not bode well for you in the eyes of the law.
The particulars:
Rape: A horrific crime that can ruin whole lives, no doubt. A good way to greatly reduce risk of rape is to use a buddy system when going through risky areas, to public events, or to bars or clubs. You might also consider carrying pepper spray, a contact taser, or a so-called 'rape whistle' or 'rape alarm' with you as both deterrents and tools in escaping an attacker. Be verbally firm with any suspicious persons from a fair distance and set up a 'don't come any closer' bubble of at least ten feet, avoid secluded areas, unlit areas at night, or isolation. If you find yourself the imminent subject of rape, move straight to heavy contact, make as much noise as possible, and do everything in your power to scar and injure this person because your life is in very real danger. If all else fails and the act is done, while waiting for emergency responders, do NOT clean up. Most rape victims feel a consuming urge to shower and clean off after the rape, but the fact is that this destroys much of the evidence that would have proven valuable in catching the rapist.
Hold-up, stick-up, mugging, robbery, etc: Nobody likes being victimized, especially when you can stare your attacker in the face, but if they've got a weapon drawn on you, fighting back is absolutely the worst thing possible for you to do. Most experts agree that the smart thing to do is just to cooperate, hand over their demands, try to gather as many details as possible, and alert law enforcement as soon as you're safe. Whatever it is you've got that they want, it's not worth your life, and unlike you, it's probably replaceable. Preventing theft can be a bit hit-and-miss, but the best policy is to pay attention and take preventative steps. When you're approaching the ATM, look out for any unusual or suspicious persons, as well as places they could be hiding, especially since drive-through ATMs have become popular focal points for carjackings. Watch anyone approaching you without apparent reason carefully, paying special attention to their hands to see if they're not concealing a knife. If a stranger approaches you suddenly, a good idea would be to tell them "woah, that's close enough," at a distance of five to ten feet or so. If you are the subject of a carjacking, you may be tempted to drive off, but the problem most people encounter when they attempt this is either that they're shot at or, because their attention was on the robber, they almost immediately crash in their hurry- sometimes both! If you've been the subject of a robbery of any kind, particularly a home robbery, ignore the urge to sift through and pick up things, retreat to a known safe area and contact law enforcement as soon as possible.
Kidnapping: This is an especially dangerous crime that isn't unique to small children anymore. You should educate yourself and your children on the latest safety advice to prevent a kidnapping. Again, paying attention is important, as the kidnapper may 'case' or investigate a child several days before actually comitting the act. The most important factor in kidnapping, however, is early reporting. The sooner a kidnapping is reported, the greater the chance is that the child will be located. With today's interstate system, even a few hours of lapsed time between the actual event and the reporting thereof could drastically hinder efforts to find the kidnapped person. You'll need to stay calm and provide law enforcement officials with as much of the information they ask for that you can. If you find yourself being subject to abduction, understand that being captured means putting your life entirely in another person's hands, so fight like the devil to NOT get captured while you can- fight dirty, fight savage, use whatever you can get your hands on and make as much of a scene as you possibly can (even if someone doesn't intervene, it turns everyone there into a witness). Once you are captured, the best time to try and make your escape is as early as possible, since during that primary phase, the kidnapper has you under only less-than favorable temporary conditions. If your life is under immediate threat, however, the best thing to do is just cooperate.
Road Rage/ Belligerent Persons: It's inevitable that you're eventually going to mess up in traffic (The average driver makes 400 observations, 40 decisions and 2 mistakes every 2-mile span), so you should be prepared to handle the reality that some people just stone cold lose their minds over minor errors. If you're in a situation in which a driver can and does exit their vehicle to confront you, stay inside your vehicle, keep your doors locked, windows up, and communicate without the benefit of unmuffled sound. Stay calm, confident, and in control of yourself and your passengers- because you're the driver, make sure they understand that only YOU are to deal with the situation. You should not confront the angered person or return their anger, even if you're not at fault. Consider scribbling 'Sorry!' on a piece of paper and showing it to them through the windshield, as a study found that in the vast majority of cases, this simple tactic defused the angered driver. If they're inconsolable and will not calm down with time, or they begin to start attacking you or your vehicle, dial 911 immediately and follow the dispatcher's instructions.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Some tips on staying healthy AND the very first ambuslap award.
Today I'll be discussing a few tips on how to stay healthy, even if what you're eating isn't. I'll also be covering steps you can take that will help you stay health, such as quitting smoking, and how you can achieve them. Also, at the end of today's post, I'll be issuing the very first Ambuslap Award. First thing's first, though. How does one stay- or even get- healthy?
If you're at a healthy weight- that is, your Body Mass Index (see below) indicates that you're at a healthy weight in comparison to your height- you can stay there by walking, even if it's just walking at a good pace around and around wal-mart, or preforming other moderate exercise for 30 to 60 minutes a day.
If you're underweight and want to gain healthily, then 30 minutes a day of moderate exercise is right for you. If you're overweight and want to lose weight, 60 to 90 minutes of moderate exercise is right for you. It sounds like a lot, right? Not necessarily- while according to the CDC, regular exercise is the only medically proven effective method for achieving sustained weight loss- the good news is that exercise doesn't mean you have to be a body builder. Moderate exercise can be just going for a walk while listening to your iPod or MP3 player of choice, going and playing paintball or airsoft twice or thrice a week, taking the dog for a walk, or even just walking around the mall (without stopping)- anything that's going to get your heart working. You don't even have to do it every day- you can see results with as little as two or three times a week.
Exercise is one of the most important and beneficial things you can do for yourself- not only for those who need to lose weight, but also for those of us in a relatively healthy state. Almost exactly opposite to the effects of cigarettes and alcohol abuse, exercise has been shown, in study after study after study, to improve the body's abilities to function normally. A wide range of diseases can be wrestled under control with regular exercise, and it's even been shown to improve your brain-power! Even if you don't need it to get out of an unhealthy state, exercise can make you healthier. Methods of exercising can vary from person to person- according to whatever they're looking to get out of it-, be it predominantly strength training for the body-builder, mostly cardio for those looking to maintain their frame with smaller endurance-type muscle, or about a 25/75% mix of both (the strength training is the 25% and comes first to burn up your muscles' sugar stores, the cardio comes second as the 75% and should be at least 60 minutes) for those looking to get fit. Even if you're overweight and can't run too well, just walk. You see, most of your cardio workout results are going to come from distance, not speed. Running 3 miles in 30 minutes (6 mph) will provide roughly the same results as walking 3 miles in 60 minutes (3 mph). The only major difference is that running will prepare you for more running, where walking generally won't. For most people, however, cardiovascular exercise (walking/running/etc) is more appropriate for them than strength training, though you should never have completely one or the other.
If you find that you just can't avoid eating fast food or junk food and you find it's making you pack on the pounds, here are a few tips that I know from personal experience will really help you out. First of all, instead of soda or sweet tea, drink water- a large fast food soft drink has nearly four times more sugar in it than a monster energy drink, and most places probably don't go light on the sugar in their tea, either- not to mention outrageous amounts of sodium. Second, when you order the meal, make sure you tell them you want a small meal, since most places simply assume a medium. The small box of fries and small drink (should you choose not to skip on the soft drink for a larger, more filling bottle of water) can fill you up just fine- if you don't believe me, just try it out and see for yourself. Third, avoid the sauces or dressings; with as little salad I see people adding to their blue cheese dressing, it's not at all an overstatement to say they'd be doing themselves- and their heart- a favor if they just stuck with the simple cheeseburger. A shocking amount of fat, calories, and sodium WILL- not can, will- be packed into a little bit of dressing or, yes, dipping and/or sandwich sauces. For those of you who are reading this and feeling good about just sticking with ketchup, think again- just a little bit of catsup is PACKED with sugar and other badness with merely a cameo appearance from the humble tomato. So, if you know your meal is going to come with sauces, condiments (including ketchup, mustard, and ESPECIALLY mayonnaise), or dressings on it, request that they please not add it to your meal at all when you place the order. Additionally, a neat thing that people don't think to take advantage of is just how customizable these fast food places will allow you to get with your order- I've found that most places will happily make a special order of french fries for you if you request your fries with less salt (since most places usually salt their fries the moment they come out of the oil). Finally, you can still have soda, but I'd recommend limiting yourself to a bottle or a can (two at the most) of regular non-diet soda a day- again, an unbelievable amount of sugar, sodium, and calories gets crammed into these drinks, not to mention that their acid contents make them terribly bad for your teeth.
If you and/or your kids are overweight or obese, listen to me very closely- Obesity (see the BMI chart earlier in the post) is as serious a medical problem as being a smoker or alcohol abuser. It is not excusable, it is not acceptable, it cannot wait until tomorrow, and unless you're (or they're) taking Synthroid, it's not your thyroid. You have to make the decision to stay unhealthy or to sentence yourself to an early death. Every year, more research indicates a link between obesity and serious, life-changing, and expensive medical conditions, such as diabetes (type 2, AKA non insulin dependent diabetes mellitus, in most cases), Cancer(s), heart disease, lung disease, bone disease, joint disease, brain disease, increased mortality in traumatic events, increased amount of time to heal from serious medical and traumatic events, and more sudden and serious problems such as an acute myocardial infarction (not nearly as cute as the name implies, I daresay), stroke, and the particularly lethal Pulmonary Embolism. Much like smoking does, you see, obesity holds the door wide open for a mind-bogglingly huge number of diseases to march right in and kill you. If you're serious about losing your weight or helping your family members lose weight, ignore all the TV commercials, ignore all the 'folk cures' or people who approach you with what helped their cousin, can the over-the-counter diet pills (they're just water pills and caffeine, really. If they were anything worth your time, you'd better believe they'd have an FDA stamp of approval with trial data to back it up and more than a few pharma companies scrambling to buy up the rights to it), pay your family doctor a visit and be serious with him or her about wanting to lose weight now- set a goal, establish methods of reaching that goal, and check back in on a monthly basis so they can monitor your progress. Losing those extra pounds could be the best thing you can ever do for yourself- you won't just lower your disease risks, but you'll look better, and you'll definitely feel better- losing just 10 lbs can cause a significant lowering in your blood pressure (thus greatly reducing your cardiovascular risk), a stabilization of your blood sugars, and take as much as 40 lbs of pressure off your knees (each lb of weight you lose takes up toe 4 lbs of pressure off your knees).
If you smoke, or use tobacco in ANY form, including the so-called E-cigarettes, you're unnecessarily sending your disease risks through the roof. Your cardiovascular disease risk- that is, how at risk you are for a stroke or heart attack- is WELL beyond that of any normal person's, sometimes even beyond someone busily stuffing themselves with fat-dipped fat wrapped in fat with extra fat on the side. If you smoke and take birth control, your cardiovascular risk can be as high as thirty times that of a non-smoker! Forget any preachy letters or commercials you've ever seen and listen to me- tobacco products WILL KILL YOU. It won't kill you just a little bit sooner, but a LOT sooner. Point to all the exceptions to the rule you like, but for 99.9999% of the population, it's going to shave a whole 20 years off your life. You've heard it before, I'm sure, but look at it like this- if you got sentenced to prison for 20 years for no reason other than deciding to smoke once, would you be so nonchalant about it? Surely not, right? The trippy part is that there's no difference, except that hanging out in prison and getting free food, lodging, and healthcare for 20 years is probably only slightly less uncomfortable than dieing a slow, miserable death from lung cancer, or dieing a horribly painful, more swift death from supermassive pnuemonia. Just like losing extra weight, stopping smoking can be the best thing you'll ever do for yourself, and you'll save tons of cash to boot. If you've tried and failed, try again- stopping smoking is one of the hardest addictions to quit, even more difficult than overcoming a cocaine addiction. Seek out support groups on the internet to learn tips and tricks that others found to help them, seek help from your doctor- who I'm sure will scramble to provide you with as much help as you can tolerate-, learn the science behind it all to demystify the addiction, just don't give up. Now, I'm about to tell something that others may, perhaps, scorn me for, but there is a somewhat less unhealthy way to use tobacco- and that's to go and buy dried tobacco leaves directly from a farmer's market and roll them into cigarettes yourself, which cuts out tons of bad stuff that's in industrial cigarettes- but don't mistake this for an endorsement, nicotine use and using tobacco at all is still so unhealthy for you, it's unreal.
If you use alcohol on a regular basis, consider cutting back a little. Regular alcohol use can massively contribute to significant blood pressure and cardiovascular problems, liver damage and diseases, esophageal diseases, brain diseases (the most significant of which being Korsakoff's or Korsakov's psychosis, currently recognized as Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome), heart diseases (including heart attack), traumatic problems (one such problem that alcohol users are famous for suffering is a subdural hematoma, where they've fallen or otherwise struck their head, initiated a slow, vein bleed in the linings of the brain, feel fine, and then die from massive intracrainial pressure hours to days later), and dozens of other assorted health issues such as contribution to obesity (as alcoholic beverages are often quite high in calories and carbohydrates). If your medication or doctor tells you not to take alcohol with your disease, just don't even tempt fate, seriously, there's usually a very good reason they tell you these things, so just drink a coke or something instead. You may want to try and keep it to a single serving (NOT BOTTLE) of alcohol per every other night or so. Yes, I know it's hard to make the healthy choice when you see how much fun everyone else is having being unable to think straight, falling off their stools, and lying in a puddle of their own vomit, but you'll thank yourself later, and so will your wallet.
Don't concern yourself TOO much with whatever latest study finds a link between something and cancer. Everything causes cancer- I've heard it all, from wearing flip-flops to flying to eating broccoli. I am of the conviction that oxygen causes cancer- after all, I'll wager you've never met anyone who wasn't breathing that got cancer. Still, you can take some simple steps to reduce your risk, such as getting regular mammograms or prostate exams once you've reached about 40 or so, eating the right foods, keeping a healthy weight, exercising regularly, and avoiding habits like alcoholism and smoking.
Protect yourself (don't worry, it's kid safe)- yeah, yeah, you've heard it millions of times already, if you're going to get busy, get protected. You should take it seriously, though. With all the nasty, ugly, and life-threatening diseases out there, many of which are communicable LONG before the person shows any symptoms, and considering how wrapping before you go packing is such an easy step to take these days, ignoring it would be like not locking your doors at night or when you leave the house- if something bad happens, you more than likely had it coming.
Finally, get some down-time every now and then- be it sleeping in an extra hour, or just relaxing with some good music, a puzzle, a game, or a good book. Most medical professionals can agree that unresolved and/or pent-up stress contributes to tons of bad things, such as irrational impatience or intolerance with friends or family members, high blood pressure, depression, weight-gain, decreased cognitive (thought) function, decreased immune function, and blah, blah, and blah. Sleeping in an extra hour can not only make you feel good, it's also good for your heart- as studies show that people who regularly sleep in an extra hour have generally better heart health than those who don't. Getting a full night's sleep can be therapeutic both physically and psychologically, and for a society with so little respect for sleep, I think we'd all be bowled over with how much better we'd feel (and how much healthier we'd be) all around if we'd stop making excuses and allow ourselves a full 8-hour sleep every night. Reading regularly and doing puzzles can keep your brain sharp (it's as much a muscle as your... muscles. Use it or lose it, people!) while teaching you a thing or two and empowering you with new and interesting information. Setting aside a little bit of time at some point in the day for a 15-minute catnap can really put a new spring in your step, as can taking the time to relax by yourself for 20 minutes or so at the start and finish of each day (perhaps while walking?). The point is, find a little bit of time to relax each day, and I'm sure you'll be surprised at how much better you feel at the end of the week.
Now, we'll wrap things up with the very first Ambuslap award. What is an ambuslap? It can be defined two ways: 1. The slap someone, be it a police officer, a bystander, a firefighter, even a somewhat less-than-competent EMT, delivers to the rear doors of an ambulance after loading the patient and closing said doors, resulting in a series of loud banging sounds that may startle the patient and/or cause the attending paramedic to unleash (or restrain) righteous fury towards the ambuslapper- OR 2. The result of an act, deed, thought, belief, or other similar method by which a degree of ignorance or stupidity is displayed to make the displayer a worthy target of some bored EMTs with too much time and/or red hair on their hands. The ambuslap awards lend themselves to the second definition. Now that we're clear on what the ambuslaps are about, let's give a big round of applause to the very first in a long, long line of winners of this prestigious award: Poison Ivy (Wo)man! You know him or her- in fact, you may be him or her-, they're that person that spots the telltale pink of the calamine lotion or notices the rash, and, before you can bolt for the nearest escape, begins bombarding you with unwanted, useless home remedies you've never heard of but reportedly worked for their mutant cousin. The gesture's appreciated since it shows empathy, but you know it's probably just a coincidence that their rash went away the day after they buried the potato under a full moon before swinging a dead cat over their head seven times while pouring beer over it. Besides, the last thing someone who's REALLY hurting from the rash wants to hear is how slathering themselves in sour milk, mustard, vinegar, or other human repellants will REALLY WORK, YOU SHOULD TRY IT, STAY HERE AND LET ME GET YOU SOME. If your rash doesn't get under control in less than a week, continues to spread despite continued efforts to control it with *AHEM* FDA-approved methods such as calamine lotion to dry it up and provide releif, benadryl (Diphenhydramine HCL) to control the itching and swelling, and ibuprofin to control the pain and swelling, if it's on over 10% of your body (estimate using your palm- each full palm of rash area equals 1%), or if it's extensively on your face, you need to call your doctor's office right away and schedule an urgent appointment so he can set you up with some steroids to control the swelling and something to relieve the pain. Also, not getting a rash in response to poison ivy exposure (you lucky dog) doesn't mean you're immune to it- it's quite the opposite, actually, since the rash is really just your immune system going into overdrive to try and fight the oily Urushiol for no good reason than to fight it.
If you're at a healthy weight- that is, your Body Mass Index (see below) indicates that you're at a healthy weight in comparison to your height- you can stay there by walking, even if it's just walking at a good pace around and around wal-mart, or preforming other moderate exercise for 30 to 60 minutes a day.
If you're underweight and want to gain healthily, then 30 minutes a day of moderate exercise is right for you. If you're overweight and want to lose weight, 60 to 90 minutes of moderate exercise is right for you. It sounds like a lot, right? Not necessarily- while according to the CDC, regular exercise is the only medically proven effective method for achieving sustained weight loss- the good news is that exercise doesn't mean you have to be a body builder. Moderate exercise can be just going for a walk while listening to your iPod or MP3 player of choice, going and playing paintball or airsoft twice or thrice a week, taking the dog for a walk, or even just walking around the mall (without stopping)- anything that's going to get your heart working. You don't even have to do it every day- you can see results with as little as two or three times a week.Exercise is one of the most important and beneficial things you can do for yourself- not only for those who need to lose weight, but also for those of us in a relatively healthy state. Almost exactly opposite to the effects of cigarettes and alcohol abuse, exercise has been shown, in study after study after study, to improve the body's abilities to function normally. A wide range of diseases can be wrestled under control with regular exercise, and it's even been shown to improve your brain-power! Even if you don't need it to get out of an unhealthy state, exercise can make you healthier. Methods of exercising can vary from person to person- according to whatever they're looking to get out of it-, be it predominantly strength training for the body-builder, mostly cardio for those looking to maintain their frame with smaller endurance-type muscle, or about a 25/75% mix of both (the strength training is the 25% and comes first to burn up your muscles' sugar stores, the cardio comes second as the 75% and should be at least 60 minutes) for those looking to get fit. Even if you're overweight and can't run too well, just walk. You see, most of your cardio workout results are going to come from distance, not speed. Running 3 miles in 30 minutes (6 mph) will provide roughly the same results as walking 3 miles in 60 minutes (3 mph). The only major difference is that running will prepare you for more running, where walking generally won't. For most people, however, cardiovascular exercise (walking/running/etc) is more appropriate for them than strength training, though you should never have completely one or the other.
If you find that you just can't avoid eating fast food or junk food and you find it's making you pack on the pounds, here are a few tips that I know from personal experience will really help you out. First of all, instead of soda or sweet tea, drink water- a large fast food soft drink has nearly four times more sugar in it than a monster energy drink, and most places probably don't go light on the sugar in their tea, either- not to mention outrageous amounts of sodium. Second, when you order the meal, make sure you tell them you want a small meal, since most places simply assume a medium. The small box of fries and small drink (should you choose not to skip on the soft drink for a larger, more filling bottle of water) can fill you up just fine- if you don't believe me, just try it out and see for yourself. Third, avoid the sauces or dressings; with as little salad I see people adding to their blue cheese dressing, it's not at all an overstatement to say they'd be doing themselves- and their heart- a favor if they just stuck with the simple cheeseburger. A shocking amount of fat, calories, and sodium WILL- not can, will- be packed into a little bit of dressing or, yes, dipping and/or sandwich sauces. For those of you who are reading this and feeling good about just sticking with ketchup, think again- just a little bit of catsup is PACKED with sugar and other badness with merely a cameo appearance from the humble tomato. So, if you know your meal is going to come with sauces, condiments (including ketchup, mustard, and ESPECIALLY mayonnaise), or dressings on it, request that they please not add it to your meal at all when you place the order. Additionally, a neat thing that people don't think to take advantage of is just how customizable these fast food places will allow you to get with your order- I've found that most places will happily make a special order of french fries for you if you request your fries with less salt (since most places usually salt their fries the moment they come out of the oil). Finally, you can still have soda, but I'd recommend limiting yourself to a bottle or a can (two at the most) of regular non-diet soda a day- again, an unbelievable amount of sugar, sodium, and calories gets crammed into these drinks, not to mention that their acid contents make them terribly bad for your teeth.
If you and/or your kids are overweight or obese, listen to me very closely- Obesity (see the BMI chart earlier in the post) is as serious a medical problem as being a smoker or alcohol abuser. It is not excusable, it is not acceptable, it cannot wait until tomorrow, and unless you're (or they're) taking Synthroid, it's not your thyroid. You have to make the decision to stay unhealthy or to sentence yourself to an early death. Every year, more research indicates a link between obesity and serious, life-changing, and expensive medical conditions, such as diabetes (type 2, AKA non insulin dependent diabetes mellitus, in most cases), Cancer(s), heart disease, lung disease, bone disease, joint disease, brain disease, increased mortality in traumatic events, increased amount of time to heal from serious medical and traumatic events, and more sudden and serious problems such as an acute myocardial infarction (not nearly as cute as the name implies, I daresay), stroke, and the particularly lethal Pulmonary Embolism. Much like smoking does, you see, obesity holds the door wide open for a mind-bogglingly huge number of diseases to march right in and kill you. If you're serious about losing your weight or helping your family members lose weight, ignore all the TV commercials, ignore all the 'folk cures' or people who approach you with what helped their cousin, can the over-the-counter diet pills (they're just water pills and caffeine, really. If they were anything worth your time, you'd better believe they'd have an FDA stamp of approval with trial data to back it up and more than a few pharma companies scrambling to buy up the rights to it), pay your family doctor a visit and be serious with him or her about wanting to lose weight now- set a goal, establish methods of reaching that goal, and check back in on a monthly basis so they can monitor your progress. Losing those extra pounds could be the best thing you can ever do for yourself- you won't just lower your disease risks, but you'll look better, and you'll definitely feel better- losing just 10 lbs can cause a significant lowering in your blood pressure (thus greatly reducing your cardiovascular risk), a stabilization of your blood sugars, and take as much as 40 lbs of pressure off your knees (each lb of weight you lose takes up toe 4 lbs of pressure off your knees).
If you smoke, or use tobacco in ANY form, including the so-called E-cigarettes, you're unnecessarily sending your disease risks through the roof. Your cardiovascular disease risk- that is, how at risk you are for a stroke or heart attack- is WELL beyond that of any normal person's, sometimes even beyond someone busily stuffing themselves with fat-dipped fat wrapped in fat with extra fat on the side. If you smoke and take birth control, your cardiovascular risk can be as high as thirty times that of a non-smoker! Forget any preachy letters or commercials you've ever seen and listen to me- tobacco products WILL KILL YOU. It won't kill you just a little bit sooner, but a LOT sooner. Point to all the exceptions to the rule you like, but for 99.9999% of the population, it's going to shave a whole 20 years off your life. You've heard it before, I'm sure, but look at it like this- if you got sentenced to prison for 20 years for no reason other than deciding to smoke once, would you be so nonchalant about it? Surely not, right? The trippy part is that there's no difference, except that hanging out in prison and getting free food, lodging, and healthcare for 20 years is probably only slightly less uncomfortable than dieing a slow, miserable death from lung cancer, or dieing a horribly painful, more swift death from supermassive pnuemonia. Just like losing extra weight, stopping smoking can be the best thing you'll ever do for yourself, and you'll save tons of cash to boot. If you've tried and failed, try again- stopping smoking is one of the hardest addictions to quit, even more difficult than overcoming a cocaine addiction. Seek out support groups on the internet to learn tips and tricks that others found to help them, seek help from your doctor- who I'm sure will scramble to provide you with as much help as you can tolerate-, learn the science behind it all to demystify the addiction, just don't give up. Now, I'm about to tell something that others may, perhaps, scorn me for, but there is a somewhat less unhealthy way to use tobacco- and that's to go and buy dried tobacco leaves directly from a farmer's market and roll them into cigarettes yourself, which cuts out tons of bad stuff that's in industrial cigarettes- but don't mistake this for an endorsement, nicotine use and using tobacco at all is still so unhealthy for you, it's unreal.
If you use alcohol on a regular basis, consider cutting back a little. Regular alcohol use can massively contribute to significant blood pressure and cardiovascular problems, liver damage and diseases, esophageal diseases, brain diseases (the most significant of which being Korsakoff's or Korsakov's psychosis, currently recognized as Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome), heart diseases (including heart attack), traumatic problems (one such problem that alcohol users are famous for suffering is a subdural hematoma, where they've fallen or otherwise struck their head, initiated a slow, vein bleed in the linings of the brain, feel fine, and then die from massive intracrainial pressure hours to days later), and dozens of other assorted health issues such as contribution to obesity (as alcoholic beverages are often quite high in calories and carbohydrates). If your medication or doctor tells you not to take alcohol with your disease, just don't even tempt fate, seriously, there's usually a very good reason they tell you these things, so just drink a coke or something instead. You may want to try and keep it to a single serving (NOT BOTTLE) of alcohol per every other night or so. Yes, I know it's hard to make the healthy choice when you see how much fun everyone else is having being unable to think straight, falling off their stools, and lying in a puddle of their own vomit, but you'll thank yourself later, and so will your wallet.
Don't concern yourself TOO much with whatever latest study finds a link between something and cancer. Everything causes cancer- I've heard it all, from wearing flip-flops to flying to eating broccoli. I am of the conviction that oxygen causes cancer- after all, I'll wager you've never met anyone who wasn't breathing that got cancer. Still, you can take some simple steps to reduce your risk, such as getting regular mammograms or prostate exams once you've reached about 40 or so, eating the right foods, keeping a healthy weight, exercising regularly, and avoiding habits like alcoholism and smoking.
Protect yourself (don't worry, it's kid safe)- yeah, yeah, you've heard it millions of times already, if you're going to get busy, get protected. You should take it seriously, though. With all the nasty, ugly, and life-threatening diseases out there, many of which are communicable LONG before the person shows any symptoms, and considering how wrapping before you go packing is such an easy step to take these days, ignoring it would be like not locking your doors at night or when you leave the house- if something bad happens, you more than likely had it coming.
Finally, get some down-time every now and then- be it sleeping in an extra hour, or just relaxing with some good music, a puzzle, a game, or a good book. Most medical professionals can agree that unresolved and/or pent-up stress contributes to tons of bad things, such as irrational impatience or intolerance with friends or family members, high blood pressure, depression, weight-gain, decreased cognitive (thought) function, decreased immune function, and blah, blah, and blah. Sleeping in an extra hour can not only make you feel good, it's also good for your heart- as studies show that people who regularly sleep in an extra hour have generally better heart health than those who don't. Getting a full night's sleep can be therapeutic both physically and psychologically, and for a society with so little respect for sleep, I think we'd all be bowled over with how much better we'd feel (and how much healthier we'd be) all around if we'd stop making excuses and allow ourselves a full 8-hour sleep every night. Reading regularly and doing puzzles can keep your brain sharp (it's as much a muscle as your... muscles. Use it or lose it, people!) while teaching you a thing or two and empowering you with new and interesting information. Setting aside a little bit of time at some point in the day for a 15-minute catnap can really put a new spring in your step, as can taking the time to relax by yourself for 20 minutes or so at the start and finish of each day (perhaps while walking?). The point is, find a little bit of time to relax each day, and I'm sure you'll be surprised at how much better you feel at the end of the week.
Now, we'll wrap things up with the very first Ambuslap award. What is an ambuslap? It can be defined two ways: 1. The slap someone, be it a police officer, a bystander, a firefighter, even a somewhat less-than-competent EMT, delivers to the rear doors of an ambulance after loading the patient and closing said doors, resulting in a series of loud banging sounds that may startle the patient and/or cause the attending paramedic to unleash (or restrain) righteous fury towards the ambuslapper- OR 2. The result of an act, deed, thought, belief, or other similar method by which a degree of ignorance or stupidity is displayed to make the displayer a worthy target of some bored EMTs with too much time and/or red hair on their hands. The ambuslap awards lend themselves to the second definition. Now that we're clear on what the ambuslaps are about, let's give a big round of applause to the very first in a long, long line of winners of this prestigious award: Poison Ivy (Wo)man! You know him or her- in fact, you may be him or her-, they're that person that spots the telltale pink of the calamine lotion or notices the rash, and, before you can bolt for the nearest escape, begins bombarding you with unwanted, useless home remedies you've never heard of but reportedly worked for their mutant cousin. The gesture's appreciated since it shows empathy, but you know it's probably just a coincidence that their rash went away the day after they buried the potato under a full moon before swinging a dead cat over their head seven times while pouring beer over it. Besides, the last thing someone who's REALLY hurting from the rash wants to hear is how slathering themselves in sour milk, mustard, vinegar, or other human repellants will REALLY WORK, YOU SHOULD TRY IT, STAY HERE AND LET ME GET YOU SOME. If your rash doesn't get under control in less than a week, continues to spread despite continued efforts to control it with *AHEM* FDA-approved methods such as calamine lotion to dry it up and provide releif, benadryl (Diphenhydramine HCL) to control the itching and swelling, and ibuprofin to control the pain and swelling, if it's on over 10% of your body (estimate using your palm- each full palm of rash area equals 1%), or if it's extensively on your face, you need to call your doctor's office right away and schedule an urgent appointment so he can set you up with some steroids to control the swelling and something to relieve the pain. Also, not getting a rash in response to poison ivy exposure (you lucky dog) doesn't mean you're immune to it- it's quite the opposite, actually, since the rash is really just your immune system going into overdrive to try and fight the oily Urushiol for no good reason than to fight it.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Preperation: Are you ready?
Right now, wherever you're sitting, what if someone starts pounding on your door. Before you can reach the door, however, the pounding abruptly cuts off, and when you open up, you see someone- maybe you know them, maybe you don't- collapsed in a heap in front of you. Would you know what to do? What would you do? Poke them with a pointy stick? Point and laugh? Get on the ground and start shaking them? Maybe call 911 and try to work through your panic to have the dispatcher walk you through the emergency? How about tell someone to call 911, kneel down beside them, check to see if they're at all responsive- which they're not-, position their head, check their airway to see if you can identify any foreign objects inside- you don't-, give two rescue breaths, check their pulse, and since they don't have one, you deliver 30 chest compressions at a rapid pace. After three cycles of CPR, the person you told to dial 911 tells you that the dispatcher has EMS en route, has asked you to continue CPR until EMS arrives, and is now going to stand outside to help flag down the ambulance.
Now, let's consider where you're at. Is your area especially prone to dry, windy weather and high fire-risk situations? Do you live in a region that regularly has tornadoes or heavy thunderstorms, or are you subject to the possibility of hurricanes? What about earthquakes? Have you ever considered how to manage a man-made threat such as a break-in, a riot, or if the political climate permits the possibility- war? If you've ever gone driving through a region you're unfamiliar with or gone camping, did you go with a plan or with a kit? Would you prefer to awaken in the middle of the night to the sound of tornado sirens and not know where to go or what to do- OR would you rather grab your disaster kit- handily packed in a regular briefcase or something else easily portable- grab your pets/family, and head to your pre-designated safe room (which can be as simple as a bathroom) with time to spare?
The last alternative in both cases certainly sounds more appealing to me, as I hope it does to you, for a number of reasons: First, because you've got a plan to follow, you're not going to lose your mind in the face of such a stressful event. Second, because you're not busy going coocoo for cocoa puffs, you can act swiftly and precisely to resolve or manage the problem with your plan. Third, because you planned ahead, you're much better equipped with the right things- be it knowledge, experience, or actual equipment- than others who didn't to handle the situation at hand, and thus stand a better chance of success than most other people.
Here's some simple steps that anyone can and should take:
- If you're not CPR certified, get certified. If you're certified, keep it up-to-date, since the way CPR is preformed is constantly evolving based on the latest clinical evidence. You can usually find classes at a local technical college, at a local medical center (such as a hospital), and even at your local fire department, ambulance service, police department, or public center. Classes are just a total of 8 hours (two 4 hour sessions or all-at-once, usually) long, and it only costs $5.00 to get your AHA certification. Also, Wii owners should keep an eye out for a downloadable program from the American Heart Association which will use the Wii to teach CPR- the best part is that they're working at making it available for free once it actually is released. CPR is a great skill that everyone should know, and early delivery of CPR to someone who needs it is a critical link in the chain to ensure patient survival.
- Learn the potential disasters in your area- know if you might be subject to blizzards, earthquakes, tornadoes, floods, flash floods, avalanches, landslides, even volcanoes and tsunamis- by researching your area's history and then researching the individual disasters and how they can pose problems to you. Then, you should formulate, understand, and (at least once a year) practice those plans with everyone at your household or involved in your family. Don't forget to include pets in the plan too, because I'll bet that you won't forget them when the problem actually occurs. Some plans everyone should know by heart are: House fire, medical emergency (so you know how to manage it- this can be preparing for a family member with failing health, knowing what to do if someone rolls down the stairs, or how to respond if someone falls in the pool. You should also have a plan on how to communicate what hospital EMS is taking them to and how to split up- because you will, I guarantee it- and how to rendezvous with each other later), local disasters (that is, those disasters specific to your area), break-in (if you have a firearm, you can run a scenario in which you utilize it based off of the training you have with it, but you must run a worst-case practice/plan in which you cannot access the weapon), and generalized evacuation.
- A great way to prepare for a disaster or emergency is to make a disaster kit. The kit needs to be relatively small and definitely needs to be portable, though you can make a cache in a designated safe room if you feel like it after you've made your kit. Some good ideas for a disaster kit would be a briefcase, a backpack, or framed hiking pack. This kit should include: A good flashlight (preferably something durable, such as a mag-lite) with spare bulbs and batteries (which should be replaced every year), a glowstick or two, a small or medium-sized medkit, whatever personal supplies you might need, at least a case or a 2 liter bottle of purified water (consider a canteen and some iodine water purification tablets, especially if the pack you're looking at won't fit any water bottles), some energy bars, peanut butter (some of the most nutrient-rich and calorie dense foods on the planet), and/or trail mix for food. Most important of all, you should pack a sturdy multi-tool or fixed blade knife (because I've found 95% of all folding knives I've encountered to be flimsy when faced with a real trial or of completely poor quality. Also, fixed blade doesn't mean machete, you can get a small, reliable fixed blade knife)- and keep in mind that this is one of those areas where the higher price for a more quality tool will almost certainly be worth it, though I would always recommend jotting down the names of whatever models catch your eye and then researching them for reviews on the internet. Finally, you should set aside $100-$200 in cash, if you can, in various sets (ex: $20 in 1's, $20 in 5's, $20 in 10's, $40 in 20's). The reason for this is that post-disaster, the power may be out for quite some time, meaning that cards are useless and ATM's are non-functional, so the only monetary resource you have is the cash on your person until power is restored. It may be a very good idea to make one of these cases for each adult family member, though in a scrape, a single kit will usually get you by much better than no kit at all.
-A Safe Room is a room- preferably on the ground floor or in the basement and as close to the center of your house as possible, with a sturdy door on a solid frame- that you and your family have designated to be the room to move to in the event of an emergency such as someone attempting to break in, a tornado warning in your area, or other similar problems. While the safe room can be just a regular old room the rest of the time, it should be able to give you the shelter you need the moment you need it. It should contain a much better first-aid kit or medical supply than your portable disaster kit- you may consider keeping a small medicine cabinet and a small supply of your prescription medicines (depending on how often you need to take them) in the room. Also, you might try keeping several gallons of purified water in the room at any given time, as well as a stash of food. A great idea, if you can afford it, is to keep a pre-paid cell phone on charge in this room at all times. This gives you guaranteed access to 911, even if the landlines are down, and even if your pre-paid phone doesn't have any minutes on it- though you should always try and have a few minutes on there and test the phone regularly, just to be safe. Your safe room should also be very secure- having a very sturdy door with at least a deadbolt on it and with the hinges on the inside of the door.
- A Home First-Aid Kit should, at minimum, include whatever you need to cover your personal needs, several packages of surgical dressings, a box of 4x4 gauze dressings, a box of 2x2 gauze dressings, some ACE bandages, some gauze roller dressings and bandages, a triangle bandage (can be substituted with a bandana), a box of benadryl (in case of insect bites or stings without life-threatening reactions to it), a bottle of ibuprofin (useful for management of pain and swelling), a bottle of Aspirin (useful for pain management and for taking immediately after you or someone in your family has started experiencing the classic crushing chest pain that is indicative of a heart attack- if you take the aspirin, keep the bottle with you so the medic knows how many milligrams of aspirin you took once EMS arrives), and at least a few cold and warm packs for the easing of soft-tissue injuries. Band-aids are mostly useless, so don't get too concerned about buying them except to keep a box around for the small stuff or for your kids. If you buy a first aid kit from wal-mart, it's bound to have band-aids instead of gauze-- trust me, can the band-aids, add the gauze. As far as antibiotic ointments go, I'd prefer if their use was limited or avoided altogether, as manual washing is still the best way to clean most small wounds. However, the ointments may prove useful in the management of smaller burns or especially dirty cuts (though you should definitely take the opportunity to get these evaluated by a medical professional, and ANY animal bites need to result in the bite getting cleaned right away if it's not torn wide open and should receive immediate evaluation from a medical professional).
- Training should also be a very important part of this whole equation. Anyone can quickly, cheaply, and easily receive CPR training. Any parents, future parents, or guardians should take whatever chance they can to take an NREMT First Responder course- which trains you on the basics of first aid for infants, children, and adults. While anyone, given the opportunity, should take a first responder course, it's far more imperative that parents get this training than most other family members. If you own a firearm for self-defense, you should take whatever safety and specialized classes unique to your type of firearm that you can, and keep the weapon stored in a gun safe that is secured in place and locked at all times. After all, the majority of 'black-market' weapons are actually those stolen out of perfectly legal gun-owner's homes, since most of the burglers that are actually dumb enough to break in while people are home have been shot to death already. Again, while having plans for escaping a house fire is a valuable thing, it's meaningless unless you actually practice.
- Using your local resources can help you out a lot. It's not at all unusual for parents or schools to schedule 'field trips' or 'show and tells' with Fire Department, EMS, and Law Enforcement agencies in their area. Because children are usually fascinated by these personell and the equipment they work with, it can be both educational and entertaining for both you and your child. Some services will even have special educational supplies- such as coloring books unique to their area's fire service- they can give you or your child. Just don't show up uninvited, since that means that they'll be unprepared to set aside time and resources for you and your family, and may even turn you away, undoubtedly a bad experience for both parties. Also, the more you can get other families with children or your child's classmates and their family to agree to join you, the more willing these services will be to set aside time and resources to really strut their stuff for you.
Now, let's consider where you're at. Is your area especially prone to dry, windy weather and high fire-risk situations? Do you live in a region that regularly has tornadoes or heavy thunderstorms, or are you subject to the possibility of hurricanes? What about earthquakes? Have you ever considered how to manage a man-made threat such as a break-in, a riot, or if the political climate permits the possibility- war? If you've ever gone driving through a region you're unfamiliar with or gone camping, did you go with a plan or with a kit? Would you prefer to awaken in the middle of the night to the sound of tornado sirens and not know where to go or what to do- OR would you rather grab your disaster kit- handily packed in a regular briefcase or something else easily portable- grab your pets/family, and head to your pre-designated safe room (which can be as simple as a bathroom) with time to spare?
The last alternative in both cases certainly sounds more appealing to me, as I hope it does to you, for a number of reasons: First, because you've got a plan to follow, you're not going to lose your mind in the face of such a stressful event. Second, because you're not busy going coocoo for cocoa puffs, you can act swiftly and precisely to resolve or manage the problem with your plan. Third, because you planned ahead, you're much better equipped with the right things- be it knowledge, experience, or actual equipment- than others who didn't to handle the situation at hand, and thus stand a better chance of success than most other people.
Here's some simple steps that anyone can and should take:
- If you're not CPR certified, get certified. If you're certified, keep it up-to-date, since the way CPR is preformed is constantly evolving based on the latest clinical evidence. You can usually find classes at a local technical college, at a local medical center (such as a hospital), and even at your local fire department, ambulance service, police department, or public center. Classes are just a total of 8 hours (two 4 hour sessions or all-at-once, usually) long, and it only costs $5.00 to get your AHA certification. Also, Wii owners should keep an eye out for a downloadable program from the American Heart Association which will use the Wii to teach CPR- the best part is that they're working at making it available for free once it actually is released. CPR is a great skill that everyone should know, and early delivery of CPR to someone who needs it is a critical link in the chain to ensure patient survival.
- Learn the potential disasters in your area- know if you might be subject to blizzards, earthquakes, tornadoes, floods, flash floods, avalanches, landslides, even volcanoes and tsunamis- by researching your area's history and then researching the individual disasters and how they can pose problems to you. Then, you should formulate, understand, and (at least once a year) practice those plans with everyone at your household or involved in your family. Don't forget to include pets in the plan too, because I'll bet that you won't forget them when the problem actually occurs. Some plans everyone should know by heart are: House fire, medical emergency (so you know how to manage it- this can be preparing for a family member with failing health, knowing what to do if someone rolls down the stairs, or how to respond if someone falls in the pool. You should also have a plan on how to communicate what hospital EMS is taking them to and how to split up- because you will, I guarantee it- and how to rendezvous with each other later), local disasters (that is, those disasters specific to your area), break-in (if you have a firearm, you can run a scenario in which you utilize it based off of the training you have with it, but you must run a worst-case practice/plan in which you cannot access the weapon), and generalized evacuation.
- A great way to prepare for a disaster or emergency is to make a disaster kit. The kit needs to be relatively small and definitely needs to be portable, though you can make a cache in a designated safe room if you feel like it after you've made your kit. Some good ideas for a disaster kit would be a briefcase, a backpack, or framed hiking pack. This kit should include: A good flashlight (preferably something durable, such as a mag-lite) with spare bulbs and batteries (which should be replaced every year), a glowstick or two, a small or medium-sized medkit, whatever personal supplies you might need, at least a case or a 2 liter bottle of purified water (consider a canteen and some iodine water purification tablets, especially if the pack you're looking at won't fit any water bottles), some energy bars, peanut butter (some of the most nutrient-rich and calorie dense foods on the planet), and/or trail mix for food. Most important of all, you should pack a sturdy multi-tool or fixed blade knife (because I've found 95% of all folding knives I've encountered to be flimsy when faced with a real trial or of completely poor quality. Also, fixed blade doesn't mean machete, you can get a small, reliable fixed blade knife)- and keep in mind that this is one of those areas where the higher price for a more quality tool will almost certainly be worth it, though I would always recommend jotting down the names of whatever models catch your eye and then researching them for reviews on the internet. Finally, you should set aside $100-$200 in cash, if you can, in various sets (ex: $20 in 1's, $20 in 5's, $20 in 10's, $40 in 20's). The reason for this is that post-disaster, the power may be out for quite some time, meaning that cards are useless and ATM's are non-functional, so the only monetary resource you have is the cash on your person until power is restored. It may be a very good idea to make one of these cases for each adult family member, though in a scrape, a single kit will usually get you by much better than no kit at all.
-A Safe Room is a room- preferably on the ground floor or in the basement and as close to the center of your house as possible, with a sturdy door on a solid frame- that you and your family have designated to be the room to move to in the event of an emergency such as someone attempting to break in, a tornado warning in your area, or other similar problems. While the safe room can be just a regular old room the rest of the time, it should be able to give you the shelter you need the moment you need it. It should contain a much better first-aid kit or medical supply than your portable disaster kit- you may consider keeping a small medicine cabinet and a small supply of your prescription medicines (depending on how often you need to take them) in the room. Also, you might try keeping several gallons of purified water in the room at any given time, as well as a stash of food. A great idea, if you can afford it, is to keep a pre-paid cell phone on charge in this room at all times. This gives you guaranteed access to 911, even if the landlines are down, and even if your pre-paid phone doesn't have any minutes on it- though you should always try and have a few minutes on there and test the phone regularly, just to be safe. Your safe room should also be very secure- having a very sturdy door with at least a deadbolt on it and with the hinges on the inside of the door.
- A Home First-Aid Kit should, at minimum, include whatever you need to cover your personal needs, several packages of surgical dressings, a box of 4x4 gauze dressings, a box of 2x2 gauze dressings, some ACE bandages, some gauze roller dressings and bandages, a triangle bandage (can be substituted with a bandana), a box of benadryl (in case of insect bites or stings without life-threatening reactions to it), a bottle of ibuprofin (useful for management of pain and swelling), a bottle of Aspirin (useful for pain management and for taking immediately after you or someone in your family has started experiencing the classic crushing chest pain that is indicative of a heart attack- if you take the aspirin, keep the bottle with you so the medic knows how many milligrams of aspirin you took once EMS arrives), and at least a few cold and warm packs for the easing of soft-tissue injuries. Band-aids are mostly useless, so don't get too concerned about buying them except to keep a box around for the small stuff or for your kids. If you buy a first aid kit from wal-mart, it's bound to have band-aids instead of gauze-- trust me, can the band-aids, add the gauze. As far as antibiotic ointments go, I'd prefer if their use was limited or avoided altogether, as manual washing is still the best way to clean most small wounds. However, the ointments may prove useful in the management of smaller burns or especially dirty cuts (though you should definitely take the opportunity to get these evaluated by a medical professional, and ANY animal bites need to result in the bite getting cleaned right away if it's not torn wide open and should receive immediate evaluation from a medical professional).
- Training should also be a very important part of this whole equation. Anyone can quickly, cheaply, and easily receive CPR training. Any parents, future parents, or guardians should take whatever chance they can to take an NREMT First Responder course- which trains you on the basics of first aid for infants, children, and adults. While anyone, given the opportunity, should take a first responder course, it's far more imperative that parents get this training than most other family members. If you own a firearm for self-defense, you should take whatever safety and specialized classes unique to your type of firearm that you can, and keep the weapon stored in a gun safe that is secured in place and locked at all times. After all, the majority of 'black-market' weapons are actually those stolen out of perfectly legal gun-owner's homes, since most of the burglers that are actually dumb enough to break in while people are home have been shot to death already. Again, while having plans for escaping a house fire is a valuable thing, it's meaningless unless you actually practice.
- Using your local resources can help you out a lot. It's not at all unusual for parents or schools to schedule 'field trips' or 'show and tells' with Fire Department, EMS, and Law Enforcement agencies in their area. Because children are usually fascinated by these personell and the equipment they work with, it can be both educational and entertaining for both you and your child. Some services will even have special educational supplies- such as coloring books unique to their area's fire service- they can give you or your child. Just don't show up uninvited, since that means that they'll be unprepared to set aside time and resources for you and your family, and may even turn you away, undoubtedly a bad experience for both parties. Also, the more you can get other families with children or your child's classmates and their family to agree to join you, the more willing these services will be to set aside time and resources to really strut their stuff for you.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Microbe Meltdown: The truth about bacteria, viruses, superbugs, and other things that go bump in the media
From an insider's perspective looking out, the closest thing I can relate our 'war on microbes' to is a classic greek tragedy, in which the hero (modern medicine) has seen the future (vicious microbes killing people), and in an overzealous attempt to prevent that future, they end up inadvertently fulfilling it. The first world is one that's terrified itself into a stupor over microbes, obsessing itself with being clean, germ-free, sanitary, and therefor healthy. We're surrounded up to our ears in anti-bacterial soaps, sanitizing solutions, antiseptics, UV irradiator vents (harmless to people because the vents block the UV light escaping when installed correctly), more and more antibiotics, antivirals, and many other anti-microbial innovations. What's more is that while the proverbial sea level of sanitation innovation rises, we seem all too ready to drown in it. It's no coincidence that as our collective anti-microbial efforts have reached an all-time high, we're seeing more and more aptly-named 'superbugs'. Of course, whenever the media runs out of terrorists, politicians from the opposing party, or dead celebrities, they fall back on scaring you into more anti-microbial products by sharing ghastly tales of bacteria with a hearty, heaping slathering on of exaggerations of the truth- invisible boogeymen, as they would have it, that strike heartlessly and at complete random to inflict much pain, suffering, and media attention on innocent people.
So does this mean that the media's to blame for the same superbugs it speaks out about? Yes, they can carry some of the blame for this problem, but only some. They were- and still are- really just one of many contributors to the superbug issue. Other sources of the problem can be traced to the medical profession- for practically inundating anyone with anything with enough antibiotics to stock an apocalypse shelter until we figured out that maaaaybe that wasn't the best course of action-, the public- for a general lack of education on the matter, not bothering to investigate any deeper than what the TV told them, and for buying into the whole thing-, and some pharmaceutical/health industry corporations- for promoting the belief that all 'germs' are evil and require elimenation for a healthy lifestyle, allowing them to push their antimicrobial products. Don't get me wrong, they've all got their uses and probably all had good intentions, but it's gone off the rails and started us down a bad path.
Now, you may be wondering, "Just what IS a 'superbug'?" Well, a so-called superbug is a malicious bacteria that's been forced into a sort of evolution by the overuse and inadvertent misuse of antibiotics and, in some cases, antivirals. Anyone who was prescribed antibiotics and only took them until they felt better instead of finishing off their whole course has probably created a superbug and never known it. The reason for this is that because the antibiotics helped kill off most of the bacteria, enough to turn things in your immune system's favor and thus leading to an easing of symptoms, but because you stopped taking the antibiotics, you didn't kill the strongest, more antibiotic-resistant bugs, thus allowing them to make more antibiotic-resistant kids. Eventually, this process repeats itself enough times to create a bacteria that's practically invulnerable to that particular antibiotic and/or related antibiotics. Now, to clarify, this process isn't just limited to medicinal antibiotics- it can also conceivably apply to antibiotic and antiseptic soaps, or any other substance, device, or process designed to kill microorganisms, as they're similar concepts.
So, does this mean that we need to abandon antibiotics completely in order to save ourselves? No, absolutely not. Antibiotics are absolutely a positive force in the medical field, and we've already gotten too far in over our heads to turn back now. What we can do, however, is take some simple, painless steps to avoid creating superbugs. First and foremost, when you or your child/dependent is prescribed antibiotics, make sure that you take all of them exactly as directed until you run out or your doctor/medical warnings (such as those sometimes packed with your prescriptions) tell you to stop. Next, if you're going to use hand sanitizer, make sure that when you apply it, your rub your hands as if washing them until all of the solution has dried up- when you fan your hands or blow on them to make the solution dry faster, you're actually making it ineffective by causing it to dry up too fast and not giving it a chance to kill the tougher bacteria. Also, you should choose washing your hands over using hand sanitizer whenever possible- handwashing is still the most effective method of controlling the spread of pathogens, so use some soap and warm water (as hot as you can tolerate for the duration of the wash), work the soap into a nice lather up to your wrists, make sure to get under your fingernails with the soap because they make wonderful hides for some of the nastiest bugs, then rinse off with the water travelling down towards your fingertips, touch anything that need be touched with your elbow if possible, and use the paper towel you dried your hands with to open the door before canning it on your way out. Finally, if you've got sores, don't pick at them. The reasoning here is that Staphylocaucus and its steroid abusing brother MRSA (Methicillin Resistant Staph. Aureus) just LOVE open sores, and tend to get transferred- almost injected- into them whenever you turn a pimple or a scab into an open sore again- brought in from under your fingernails, especially after you've picked at your nose.
Now, next on our list is Viruses; I'm not going to be doing much talking about Swine Flu because the data I've reviewed thus far indicates that H1N1 is even less dangerous than the average seasonal influenza, however I will tell you how to avoid (or at least drastically lower your chances of) getting the flu or whatever other viruses are floating around. Note that I'm talking from experience here- I successfully made it all the way through both halves of last flu season without so much as the sniffles. The first, and quite possibly most effective, step you can take is to start carrying your own pen with you everywhere you go. Most people are caught off guard by this, but seriously think about how many times each day you have to put your signature on something- a contract, a credit card receipt, a document- and now imagine how many people have touched that borrowed pen before you, knowing full well that at least one was probably sick, sneezed, coughed, or snotted into their hands, and then never washed them. The casheir's pen is possibly the filthiest object in any given store, and during the flu season, it surely becomes a virus magnet. In fact, any object, such as a doorknob, handrail, arcade controller, or even a popular book in a bookstore can become a trap waiting to spring. If you couldn't avoid exposure to one of these 'hot spots' by nudging the door open with your foot, shoulder, or elbow, or couldn't resist the urge to grab onto the handrail, then the best course of action to take is to duck into the next bathroom you run across and wash your hands- taking care not to touch your face until after you've washed up, as that's usually the port by which the virus enters. If a bathroom isn't immediately available but some hand sanitizer is, go ahead and use that- just be sure to rub your hands together until it dries up. Finally, encourage yourself and others to sneeze into their shoulders, upper arms, the bends in their elbows, or thick tissues instead of their hands, because sneezing into your hands is little short of just shoving your hands in a big bowl full of virus and then resuming normal activity in society.
Another wonderful tool to fall back on is vaccinations. Every year, the appropriate officials review the data to predict what flu strains are likely to be the dominant strains that year and then create and supply the appropriate vaccines to clinics, hospitals, health departments, and even pharmacies in some cases. If you have regularly contact with the sick, the elderly, the very young (I'd reckon about 8 to 10 and younger), regular smokers, or work in a high-contact or high-traffic area like an airport, a wal-mart, or anywhere that you lend pens to people, you should definitely get vaccinated to help avoid the spread of the flu. The part about vaccinations that people don't usually know is that you should actually get two vaccinations through flu season- one in early season and one in late season- because the flu is a highly mutation-prone virus, and by the time late season rolls around, a different virus may be the dominantly spreading virus, thus allowing you to catch the flu twice or despite a vaccine.
Now, there are people that insist that vaccines are bad for you, and I can assure you that, based on our current understanding, vaccines are perfectly okay and you should get them for you and your kids to prevent quite serious illness. You may have heard an argument that there's no point in getting vaccinated for something that's been declared eradicated in your country, but with international travel now a very common staple of our global society, we're seeing a resurgence of viruses that we had successfully starved to death in our country, but not in others (See: Measles). In other cases, we're facing a more constant threat of viruses or bacteria we haven't eradicated, such as those bacteria/viruses which cause meningitis, the Clostridium Tetani bacteria (AKA, the bug that causes Tetanus, 'Lockjaw', etc.), and the Hepatitis Viruses. Vaccines do not cause 'evolutionary immune system stupidity' (the argument that getting vaccinated instead of getting sick will cause the genetic code for our immune systems to be inadequate for future forms of the virus or other similar scenarios) in later generations simply because getting vaccinated IS getting exposed to the virus, albeit a very weak, inactivated, or dead form of the virus, which is roughly the same thing as what specialized white blood cells will provide your immune system with to make antibodies for in a non-vaccinated scenario. Vaccines are also safer these days, as we've learned our lesson from Guillon-Barre syndrome, though you should be aware that there is no medical treatment that is without risks. Finally, vaccines absolutely do not contain government mind-control solutions, nanomachines, or chips. I should know, being th- GOD BLESS AMERICA or else.
So does this mean that the media's to blame for the same superbugs it speaks out about? Yes, they can carry some of the blame for this problem, but only some. They were- and still are- really just one of many contributors to the superbug issue. Other sources of the problem can be traced to the medical profession- for practically inundating anyone with anything with enough antibiotics to stock an apocalypse shelter until we figured out that maaaaybe that wasn't the best course of action-, the public- for a general lack of education on the matter, not bothering to investigate any deeper than what the TV told them, and for buying into the whole thing-, and some pharmaceutical/health industry corporations- for promoting the belief that all 'germs' are evil and require elimenation for a healthy lifestyle, allowing them to push their antimicrobial products. Don't get me wrong, they've all got their uses and probably all had good intentions, but it's gone off the rails and started us down a bad path.
Now, you may be wondering, "Just what IS a 'superbug'?" Well, a so-called superbug is a malicious bacteria that's been forced into a sort of evolution by the overuse and inadvertent misuse of antibiotics and, in some cases, antivirals. Anyone who was prescribed antibiotics and only took them until they felt better instead of finishing off their whole course has probably created a superbug and never known it. The reason for this is that because the antibiotics helped kill off most of the bacteria, enough to turn things in your immune system's favor and thus leading to an easing of symptoms, but because you stopped taking the antibiotics, you didn't kill the strongest, more antibiotic-resistant bugs, thus allowing them to make more antibiotic-resistant kids. Eventually, this process repeats itself enough times to create a bacteria that's practically invulnerable to that particular antibiotic and/or related antibiotics. Now, to clarify, this process isn't just limited to medicinal antibiotics- it can also conceivably apply to antibiotic and antiseptic soaps, or any other substance, device, or process designed to kill microorganisms, as they're similar concepts.
So, does this mean that we need to abandon antibiotics completely in order to save ourselves? No, absolutely not. Antibiotics are absolutely a positive force in the medical field, and we've already gotten too far in over our heads to turn back now. What we can do, however, is take some simple, painless steps to avoid creating superbugs. First and foremost, when you or your child/dependent is prescribed antibiotics, make sure that you take all of them exactly as directed until you run out or your doctor/medical warnings (such as those sometimes packed with your prescriptions) tell you to stop. Next, if you're going to use hand sanitizer, make sure that when you apply it, your rub your hands as if washing them until all of the solution has dried up- when you fan your hands or blow on them to make the solution dry faster, you're actually making it ineffective by causing it to dry up too fast and not giving it a chance to kill the tougher bacteria. Also, you should choose washing your hands over using hand sanitizer whenever possible- handwashing is still the most effective method of controlling the spread of pathogens, so use some soap and warm water (as hot as you can tolerate for the duration of the wash), work the soap into a nice lather up to your wrists, make sure to get under your fingernails with the soap because they make wonderful hides for some of the nastiest bugs, then rinse off with the water travelling down towards your fingertips, touch anything that need be touched with your elbow if possible, and use the paper towel you dried your hands with to open the door before canning it on your way out. Finally, if you've got sores, don't pick at them. The reasoning here is that Staphylocaucus and its steroid abusing brother MRSA (Methicillin Resistant Staph. Aureus) just LOVE open sores, and tend to get transferred- almost injected- into them whenever you turn a pimple or a scab into an open sore again- brought in from under your fingernails, especially after you've picked at your nose.
Now, next on our list is Viruses; I'm not going to be doing much talking about Swine Flu because the data I've reviewed thus far indicates that H1N1 is even less dangerous than the average seasonal influenza, however I will tell you how to avoid (or at least drastically lower your chances of) getting the flu or whatever other viruses are floating around. Note that I'm talking from experience here- I successfully made it all the way through both halves of last flu season without so much as the sniffles. The first, and quite possibly most effective, step you can take is to start carrying your own pen with you everywhere you go. Most people are caught off guard by this, but seriously think about how many times each day you have to put your signature on something- a contract, a credit card receipt, a document- and now imagine how many people have touched that borrowed pen before you, knowing full well that at least one was probably sick, sneezed, coughed, or snotted into their hands, and then never washed them. The casheir's pen is possibly the filthiest object in any given store, and during the flu season, it surely becomes a virus magnet. In fact, any object, such as a doorknob, handrail, arcade controller, or even a popular book in a bookstore can become a trap waiting to spring. If you couldn't avoid exposure to one of these 'hot spots' by nudging the door open with your foot, shoulder, or elbow, or couldn't resist the urge to grab onto the handrail, then the best course of action to take is to duck into the next bathroom you run across and wash your hands- taking care not to touch your face until after you've washed up, as that's usually the port by which the virus enters. If a bathroom isn't immediately available but some hand sanitizer is, go ahead and use that- just be sure to rub your hands together until it dries up. Finally, encourage yourself and others to sneeze into their shoulders, upper arms, the bends in their elbows, or thick tissues instead of their hands, because sneezing into your hands is little short of just shoving your hands in a big bowl full of virus and then resuming normal activity in society.
Another wonderful tool to fall back on is vaccinations. Every year, the appropriate officials review the data to predict what flu strains are likely to be the dominant strains that year and then create and supply the appropriate vaccines to clinics, hospitals, health departments, and even pharmacies in some cases. If you have regularly contact with the sick, the elderly, the very young (I'd reckon about 8 to 10 and younger), regular smokers, or work in a high-contact or high-traffic area like an airport, a wal-mart, or anywhere that you lend pens to people, you should definitely get vaccinated to help avoid the spread of the flu. The part about vaccinations that people don't usually know is that you should actually get two vaccinations through flu season- one in early season and one in late season- because the flu is a highly mutation-prone virus, and by the time late season rolls around, a different virus may be the dominantly spreading virus, thus allowing you to catch the flu twice or despite a vaccine.
Now, there are people that insist that vaccines are bad for you, and I can assure you that, based on our current understanding, vaccines are perfectly okay and you should get them for you and your kids to prevent quite serious illness. You may have heard an argument that there's no point in getting vaccinated for something that's been declared eradicated in your country, but with international travel now a very common staple of our global society, we're seeing a resurgence of viruses that we had successfully starved to death in our country, but not in others (See: Measles). In other cases, we're facing a more constant threat of viruses or bacteria we haven't eradicated, such as those bacteria/viruses which cause meningitis, the Clostridium Tetani bacteria (AKA, the bug that causes Tetanus, 'Lockjaw', etc.), and the Hepatitis Viruses. Vaccines do not cause 'evolutionary immune system stupidity' (the argument that getting vaccinated instead of getting sick will cause the genetic code for our immune systems to be inadequate for future forms of the virus or other similar scenarios) in later generations simply because getting vaccinated IS getting exposed to the virus, albeit a very weak, inactivated, or dead form of the virus, which is roughly the same thing as what specialized white blood cells will provide your immune system with to make antibodies for in a non-vaccinated scenario. Vaccines are also safer these days, as we've learned our lesson from Guillon-Barre syndrome, though you should be aware that there is no medical treatment that is without risks. Finally, vaccines absolutely do not contain government mind-control solutions, nanomachines, or chips. I should know, being th- GOD BLESS AMERICA or else.
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