Do Your Kids Know Their Address?

From our friends at Clark Regional Emergency Services Agency:

This time of year marks a spike in community events, and here at CRESA, we are always happy to share important information in regards to better preparing for emergencies or what you need to know when you have to call 9-1-1. Over the past couple weeks, CRESA Public Educators have been out in full force, as we share information during our partners Open House events.


At one of these events I recently worked, I had the opportunity of chatting with a couple hundred young kids. As I shared 9-1-1 stickers, temporary firetruck tattoos and coloring pages, I would ask them the question, "What number do you call in an emergency if you need help?" Almost all of them knew the answer of "9-1-1." This usually would be followed by, "Do you know your address?" Sometimes I would get a shrug of the shoulders or a nodding of the head, sometimes "yes", sometimes "no." I had several parents urge their kids, asking them, to tell me if they knew. As they would respond, I would hear telephone numbers rattled off or perhaps a house number, but very few times did I hear a complete address. During our little discussions in the few minutes I had before their attention was distracted by a shiny fire truck or the Law Enforcement K-9's, I would share why it was important for them to know their address, and the importance this plays in helping 9-1-1 dispatcher's know where to send the help!


As the day went on, it got me thinking. Little things like learning our phone number and address easily slip through the cracks with all the technology we have at our fingertips. I can tell you from personal experience, there are very few phone numbers I honestly still have memorized. They are all conveniently stored in my smartphone. To this day, I still glance each time I give out my work cell number. Its just one of those numbers I take for granted. Yet if you ask me my childhood phone number or address, I can rattle them, along with my grandparents numbers off with ease. No matter where we keep these important pieces of information, to have them handy, nothing replaces having them stored to memory when you need them. For me learning needs to be interesting and fun. Doing a little research, I found some great fun ideas for you to use with your child in helping them learn their address. I hope the following ideas are useful in teaching your child important information that could be invaluable in an emergency. I know I may practice a couple of these myself.

Step 1

Point out the numbers on the side of your home and the street signs in your neighborhood. Say your address so that your child hears it and sees the street name and numbers together.

Step 2

Cut out a house shape from a piece of paper. Write the address in large print so it's easy to read. Hang the house picture in your child's room so he sees it every day and becomes familiar with it.

Step 3

Hand your preschooler a stack of envelopes so he can practice writing his address. Writing down the information may help it stick because he gets the repetition along with the visual of the numbers. If your economy friendly side cringes at using all that paper, laminate an envelope and use a dry erase marker so he can write, erase and repeat.

Step 4

Rhyme the address to make it easier to remember. For example, for the address 321 May St., say, "I have fun at 321; I play all day on a street called May." The rhyme doesn't have to make sense as long as it gets your child excited about learning his address.

Step 5

Belt out a tune about your address. Like rhymes, songs make it easier to commit the address to memory. Make up your own tune, or use your child's favorite song. Don't worry if you're off key. Your preschooler won't notice, but he will have an easier time learning his address.


References
 The Bump Blog "How to Teach a Child Their Address."

 International Reading Association: Learning Your Address and Phone Number

 DLTK: Address Practice Craft

 Nickelodeon Parents Connect: Child Safety: "Phone Number and Address" Song

How Social Media is Changing Disaster Response

I just finished reading an interesting article from Scientific American about how revolutionary the advent of social media has been in responding to disasters.  Is it a good thing?  Is it a bad thing?  Is it just another thing?  Check it out here: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=how-social-media-is-changing-disaster-response

Tips & Tricks

The link below has tips that are meant for camping, but would also come in handy for disaster preparedness.  See, life after a disaster is just like camping, only unplanned!

http://www.buzzfeed.com/peggy/camping-hacks-that-are-borderline-genius

Good weekend to stay local!

Info courtesy of KLOG

The Department of Transportation has some work planned on I-5 over the next few days, working both north and south of the Kelso-Longview area. Today, a series of single and double-lane closures are planned on I-5 northbound near Castle Rock, as pavement repairs are done. WashDOT officials say that they need to grind and repave a portion of the freeway that’s sagging. From noon to 3, the right lane will be closed, from 3 to 7 pm, the left lane will be closed, and from 7 to 10 pm, the left and center lanes will be closed. Delays are expected, so use alternate routes or budget extra time to get through this area.


The really big deal starts tomorrow night at the north end of Vancouver, when I-5 will be completely shut down for girder placement at the Salmon Creek interchange. The freeway will close at 11 pm tomorrow night, and will be shut down until 5 am on Monday morning. Massive backups are possible as traffic is shunted onto I-205 and SR 500 in Vancouver. Use alternate routes to avoid delays.

On Monday, rehab work on I-205 between SR 14 and I-5 gets under way. A WashDOT contractor will start work on repair and replacement of damaged concrete panels through that stretch of freeway; they’ll also be restoring the asphalt shoulders, along with striping work. Overnight lane closures will begin at 10 pm Monday night, and the speed limit will also be reduced from 60 to 50 mph. This project is expected to extend into September. Get more details by contacting the Washington Department of Transportation.

Drowning Doesn't Look Like Drowning

From www.Slate.com

Instinctive Drowning Response—so named by Francesco A. Pia, Ph.D., is what people do to avoid actual or perceived suffocation in the water. And it does not look like most people expect. There is very little splashing, no waving, and no yelling or calls for help of any kind. To get an idea of just how quiet and undramatic from the surface drowning can be, consider this: It is the No. 2 cause of accidental death in children, ages 15 and under (just behind vehicle accidents)—of the approximately 750 children who will drown next year, about 375 of them will do so within 25 yards of a parent or other adult. According to the CDC, in 10 percent of those drownings, the adult will actually watch the child do it, having no idea it is happening. Drowning does not look like drowning—Dr. Pia, in an article in the Coast Guard’s On Scene magazine, described the Instinctive Drowning Response like this:



1.“Except in rare circumstances, drowning people are physiologically unable to call out for help. The respiratory system was designed for breathing. Speech is the secondary or overlaid function. Breathing must be fulfilled before speech occurs.

2.Drowning people’s mouths alternately sink below and reappear above the surface of the water. The mouths of drowning people are not above the surface of the water long enough for them to exhale, inhale, and call out for help. When the drowning people’s mouths are above the surface, they exhale and inhale quickly as their mouths start to sink below the surface of the water.

3.Drowning people cannot wave for help. Nature instinctively forces them to extend their arms laterally and press down on the water’s surface. Pressing down on the surface of the water permits drowning people to leverage their bodies so they can lift their mouths out of the water to breathe.

4.Throughout the Instinctive Drowning Response, drowning people cannot voluntarily control their arm movements. Physiologically, drowning people who are struggling on the surface of the water cannot stop drowning and perform voluntary movements such as waving for help, moving toward a rescuer, or reaching out for a piece of rescue equipment.

5.From beginning to end of the Instinctive Drowning Response people’s bodies remain upright in the water, with no evidence of a supporting kick. Unless rescued by a trained lifeguard, these drowning people can only struggle on the surface of the water from 20 to 60 seconds before submersion occurs.”

This doesn’t mean that a person that is yelling for help and thrashing isn’t in real trouble—they are experiencing aquatic distress. Not always present before the Instinctive Drowning Response, aquatic distress doesn’t last long—but unlike true drowning, these victims can still assist in their own rescue. They can grab lifelines, throw rings, etc.
Look for these other signs of drowning when persons are in the water:
•Head low in the water, mouth at water level

•Head tilted back with mouth open

•Eyes glassy and empty, unable to focus

•Eyes closed

•Hair over forehead or eyes

•Not using legs—vertical

•Hyperventilating or gasping

•Trying to swim in a particular direction but not making headway

•Trying to roll over on the back

•Appear to be climbing an invisible ladder

So if a crew member falls overboard and everything looks OK—don’t be too sure. Sometimes the most common indication that someone is drowning is that they don’t look like they’re drowning. They may just look like they are treading water and looking up at the deck. One way to be sure? Ask them, “Are you all right?” If they can answer at all—they probably are. If they return a blank stare, you may have less than 30 seconds to get to them. And parents—children playing in the water make noise. When they get quiet, you get to them and find out why.

Hepatitis A Outbreak Linked to Frozen Berries

From Washington State Department of Health
No WA cases reported yet, but Costco shoppers who bought product urged to get checked

OLYMPIA  An outbreak linked to “Townsend Farms Organic Anti-Oxidant Blend” frozen berries has caused 30 cases of hepatitis A in five states. There have been no reported illnesses in Washington linked to these berries but they were sold in Costco stores throughout the state. The Washington State Department of Health advises against eating these berries; discard any remaining product from your freezers. Even if some of the product has been eaten without anyone in your home becoming ill, the rest of the product should be discarded.

Contact your health care provider right away if you have eaten these berries and develop yellow eyes or skin, abdominal pain, diarrhea, pale stools, or dark urine. Symptoms can start up to seven weeks from the time of exposure.

If you consumed this product in the last two weeks and have never been vaccinated for hepatitis A or had the disease, contact your health care provider to find out if you should be vaccinated or receive other treatment. If you have already received the hepatitis A vaccination in the past or had hepatitis A, you are unlikely to become ill with the disease.

People without a health care provider may contact the local health agency in their community. If it’s too late for a hepatitis A shot, be sure to wash hands thoroughly after using the toilet and don’t prepare food for others if you have diarrhea. Follow this advice even if you get the vaccine in time. The latest information about the national hepatitis A outbreak is available on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.

The Department of Health website (www.doh.wa.gov) is your source for a healthy dose of information. Also, find us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

Nature vs. Nurture

Are some people born with a greater ability to respond to and recover from disaster?  Or is it a learned behavior?  It's the classic nature vs. nurture question.  Here is an interesting article from NBC news: http://vitals.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/06/02/18660723-after-tragedy-who-bounces-back-keys-to-resiliency-may-lie-in-childhood?lite

If you are interested, here are a few more articles about what makes people resilient and how you can adapt your character to help take on life's curveballs:
http://www.asparker.com/ppts1109a.html
http://psychology.about.com/od/crisiscounseling/p/resilience-2.htm