Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Preparedness Humor - Aussey Style
It was April and the Aboriginals in a remote part of Northern Australia
asked their new elder if the coming winter was going to be cold or mild.
asked their new elder if the coming winter was going to be cold or mild.
Since he was an elder in a modern community he had never been taught the old secrets. When he looked at the sky he couldn't tell what the winter was going to be like. Nevertheless, to be on the safe side, he told his tribe that the winter was indeed going to be cold and that the members of the tribe should collect firewood to be prepared.
But being a practical leader, after several days he had an idea. He walked out to the telephone booth on the highway, called the Bureau of Meteorology and asked, 'Is the coming winter in this area going to be cold? 'The meteorologist responded, 'It looks like this winter is going to be quite cold.' So the elder went back to his people and told them to collect even more wood in order to be prepared.
A week later he called the Bureau of Meteorology again. 'Does it still look like it is going to be a very cold winter?'The meteorologist again replied, 'Yes, it's going to be a very cold winter. 'The elder again went back to his community and ordered them to collect every scrap of firewood they could find.
Two weeks later the elder called the Bureau again. 'Are you absolutely sure that the winter is going to be very cold?' he asked. 'Absolutely,' the man replied. 'It's looking more and more like it is going to be one of the coldest winters ever.
''How can you be so sure?' the elder asked. The weatherman replied,
'Our satellites have reported that the Aboriginals in the north are collecting firewood like crazy, and that's always a sure sign.'
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Practical Shooting for Preparedness
We were all fortunate enough to have watched 2 of the US Army Marksmanship Unit shooters demonstrate their superlative pistol shooting skills at the USPSA 2009 Northeast Invitational Practical Shooting Competition at Pathfinder Fish and Game Club in Fulton, New York.
Pictured here with Mark B is (L - R) Travis Tomasie and Lee Dimaculangan
Both Shooters Were Winners at the Event!
Travis was the first place finisher for the Limited Class Competiton
Lee was first place finisher for the Open Class Competition
See Lee on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9VDdllTsxc
See Travis on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StXMHw32kjA
Gentlemen we appreciate your service to our country and darn good shooting!
Watch CH12 Fox News in Oregon Story on Practical Shooting: http://www.kptv.com/video/20128648/index.html
Shooters of all ages (juniors to seniors) and skill levels can participate in IPSC (International Practical Shooting Competition) at ranges across the country. Many travelled across the country to participate at this sporting event. About 300 are competing this year.
ICE4SAFETY also provided ICE KITS to shooters at the event since ICE is practical too!
Learn more about USPSA and Practical Shooting at http://www.uspsa.org/ especially if you have or are considering the acquisition of a firearm for preparedness purposes or self defense.
IPSC also entails rifle and shotgun shooting skill competition as well.
Glock Firearms sponsors shooting events at various ranges across the country for all skill levels. Learn more about Glock Shooting Matches/Training at http://www.gssfonline.com/
Watch Travis Shoot a Stage
Watch Lee Shoot the Same Stage .....
See USA Today Survey on 2nd Ammendment: http://www.usatoday.com/news/quickquestion/2007/november/popup5895.htm
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Make the Right Choice - smart-ICE
Found on the Web.....
A simple critique of two of the most used iPhone ICE applications puts smart-ICE up against iEmergency+.
What I see is that there is no comparison in the quality of the product and ease of use by the iPhone user and paramedic........ who probably have never used an iPhone.
The advantage is clearly to smart-ICEtm!
smart-ICEtm
The smart-ICE application has a world wide recognized symbol for ICE, that uses eye catching safety colors as it's icon. You may first see this icon on the patients phone as part of it's wallpaper to alert EMS that the smart-ICE product is inside, or to provide a contact number for who has the code to unlock the patients phone.
It lists on the first page, when opened, a list of tabs to access Personal Information, Current Medical Problems, Medical Devices and Deficits, Medical History, Emergency Contacts, Expressed Wishes and Preferred Hospital.
All of these tabs open to provide information in an organized, detailed, and intuitive fashion for someone wanting critical information in an emergency. For example, Current Medical Problems are selected from a large list of approximately 200 common medical problems and medications are chosen from a long list of the most prescribed medications.
Both of these fields have an option to add something that is not on the list!
Details such as drug dosage, quantity, last filled, end date and a comments field, are all the things that could be needed by a paramedic in an overdose.
Medical Devices and Deficits provides information on medical devices that could make a difference in an emergency situation. Not all could be listed, but the notes section in Current Medical Problems will allow anything to be documented.
The Medical History tab allows you to document all of your past medical problems, surgeries, hospitalizations and immunizations, along with a notes section for items not covered.
Emergency Contacts provide unlimited entries for Emergency Contacts, Health Care Power of Attorney, Attorney (living will/DNR), Family Physician, Specialist and Next of Kin. All of these are selected directly from your contacts list and provide up to three phone numbers each that are dialed when touched by the paramedic.
The next tab contains your expressed wishes and allows you to list the person to contact to enforce that wish. Special wishes not listed can be added also! The last tab is the preferred hospital, which provides the medic crew with some guidance on your wishes should your insurance limit you to a certain network.
All of these items are quickly and easily set up by any iPhone user and more importantly, intuitive enough that a paramedic could actually find out something about you!
Most importantly, and the most often overlooked, lifesaving feature is the Alert EMS button on the main page. When selected, it will call the emergency (911) number that you selected in the set-up phase.
After the call, the phone is placed in an "Alert Mode" and will sound an audible sound every two minutes until reset by the user or EMS personnel. This will insure that if you used your phone to call 911, they will find your phone and all of your medical information.
iEmergency+
The name in of itself does not attract a medic to the application. The cute little ambulance and the word ICE, suggests it could contain some information, but the color does not attract me to the application and it could be lost among the rest of the applications.
It also has a wallpaper feature.....I wonder where they got the idea?
The main page opens to a My Info page and only provides for putting in your name, where's the rest of my info?
Oh, It lists three contacts also!
The next tab, if you notice it at the bottom of the page, is the Contacts page. It contains a confusing format for adding additional contacts, medical contacts, and INSURANCE INFORMATION. (How does INSURANCE INFORMATION fit into contacts? This would frustrate an emergency provider in search of critical medical information!)
Back to the bottom again, the Medical history tab leads you to a page that has Medical Information, with a multiple selection list of date of birth, Blood type, Weight, height, medical history and notes.
All of these require that you key in what you want them to see, there are no lists to select from.
If you figure out how to put the information in, consider how the paramedic will read it and if they can identify you as the user of the phone, or did you borrow someone elses? Probably the most important thing to understand it that it will be veiwed as medical history, not current medical problems!
To it's credit, it does have a HELP page......itt lists a few instructions and then goes into a sales pitch for the other applications made by the developer. (That is just what a paramedic is wanting to view when he is trying to save your life!)
The choice is yours!
ICE4SAFETY comments.......
We felt that this information was very helpful when you make your choice as to what particular type of smartphone App to purchase and how helpful it might be WHEN YOU NEED IT MOST!
The writer was correct - the choice IS yours......
A simple critique of two of the most used iPhone ICE applications puts smart-ICE up against iEmergency+.
What I see is that there is no comparison in the quality of the product and ease of use by the iPhone user and paramedic........ who probably have never used an iPhone.
The advantage is clearly to smart-ICEtm!
smart-ICEtm
The smart-ICE application has a world wide recognized symbol for ICE, that uses eye catching safety colors as it's icon. You may first see this icon on the patients phone as part of it's wallpaper to alert EMS that the smart-ICE product is inside, or to provide a contact number for who has the code to unlock the patients phone.
It lists on the first page, when opened, a list of tabs to access Personal Information, Current Medical Problems, Medical Devices and Deficits, Medical History, Emergency Contacts, Expressed Wishes and Preferred Hospital.
All of these tabs open to provide information in an organized, detailed, and intuitive fashion for someone wanting critical information in an emergency. For example, Current Medical Problems are selected from a large list of approximately 200 common medical problems and medications are chosen from a long list of the most prescribed medications.
Both of these fields have an option to add something that is not on the list!
Details such as drug dosage, quantity, last filled, end date and a comments field, are all the things that could be needed by a paramedic in an overdose.
Medical Devices and Deficits provides information on medical devices that could make a difference in an emergency situation. Not all could be listed, but the notes section in Current Medical Problems will allow anything to be documented.
The Medical History tab allows you to document all of your past medical problems, surgeries, hospitalizations and immunizations, along with a notes section for items not covered.
Emergency Contacts provide unlimited entries for Emergency Contacts, Health Care Power of Attorney, Attorney (living will/DNR), Family Physician, Specialist and Next of Kin. All of these are selected directly from your contacts list and provide up to three phone numbers each that are dialed when touched by the paramedic.
The next tab contains your expressed wishes and allows you to list the person to contact to enforce that wish. Special wishes not listed can be added also! The last tab is the preferred hospital, which provides the medic crew with some guidance on your wishes should your insurance limit you to a certain network.
All of these items are quickly and easily set up by any iPhone user and more importantly, intuitive enough that a paramedic could actually find out something about you!
Most importantly, and the most often overlooked, lifesaving feature is the Alert EMS button on the main page. When selected, it will call the emergency (911) number that you selected in the set-up phase.
After the call, the phone is placed in an "Alert Mode" and will sound an audible sound every two minutes until reset by the user or EMS personnel. This will insure that if you used your phone to call 911, they will find your phone and all of your medical information.
iEmergency+
The name in of itself does not attract a medic to the application. The cute little ambulance and the word ICE, suggests it could contain some information, but the color does not attract me to the application and it could be lost among the rest of the applications.
It also has a wallpaper feature.....I wonder where they got the idea?
The main page opens to a My Info page and only provides for putting in your name, where's the rest of my info?
Oh, It lists three contacts also!
The next tab, if you notice it at the bottom of the page, is the Contacts page. It contains a confusing format for adding additional contacts, medical contacts, and INSURANCE INFORMATION. (How does INSURANCE INFORMATION fit into contacts? This would frustrate an emergency provider in search of critical medical information!)
Back to the bottom again, the Medical history tab leads you to a page that has Medical Information, with a multiple selection list of date of birth, Blood type, Weight, height, medical history and notes.
All of these require that you key in what you want them to see, there are no lists to select from.
If you figure out how to put the information in, consider how the paramedic will read it and if they can identify you as the user of the phone, or did you borrow someone elses? Probably the most important thing to understand it that it will be veiwed as medical history, not current medical problems!
To it's credit, it does have a HELP page......itt lists a few instructions and then goes into a sales pitch for the other applications made by the developer. (That is just what a paramedic is wanting to view when he is trying to save your life!)
The choice is yours!
ICE4SAFETY comments.......
We felt that this information was very helpful when you make your choice as to what particular type of smartphone App to purchase and how helpful it might be WHEN YOU NEED IT MOST!
The writer was correct - the choice IS yours......
Inspect Hard Hats Daily!
Reprinted from Lab Safety Supply Saf-T News 8-5-09.
We make the same recommendation on a daily basis with our Loss Prevention Consultants working with construction companies - this also is a good time to discuss using a Helmet Safety Kit.
Inspect hard hats daily.
One of the most common yet sometimes overlooked pieces of safety equipment is the hard hat. Many workers put them on to start their workdays and don't give much thought to their condition or how the working conditions may affect their performance. Like any other piece of safety equipment, what a hard hat is subjected to during use and how it is cared for when not in use has an impact on how effective that hard hat will be in the long run.
Hard hats consist of a shell and a suspension that require inspection during assembly and before each use.
A shell inspection should focus on looking for cracks, nicks, dents, gouges and any damage caused by impact, penetration, abrasion or rough treatment. Polycarbonate or polyethylene shells should also be inspected for stiffness, brittleness, fading, dullness of color or a chalky appearance that may be due to extreme environmental conditions or regular ultraviolet (UV) radiation exposure. Shells that exhibit any of these signs or are otherwise damaged should not be used.
The hard hat's suspension, designed to absorb the shock of a blow, should be carefully inspected for cracks or tears, frayed or cut straps, loss of pliability or other signs of wear. All points must fit securely into their respective slots. Any damaged suspensions should be removed and replaced. Never use a suspension that is not intended for use with a particular shell or one made by another manufacturer because shells and suspensions are tested together for compliance.
One common misconception is that hard hats have a predetermined OSHA or ANSI service life; this is not the case. The ANSI Z89.1 standard addresses service life under maintenance and care of the hard hat. The standards state that all hard hat components should be inspected daily for signs of dents, cracks, penetration and any damage due to impact, rough treatment or wear. Although it is not considered a "shelf life," many manufacturers, including MSA and Bullard, publish general replacement guidelines.
These guidelines are based on general industry practices and suggest replacing the suspension every 12 months and the hard hat after five years of use. Any hard hat that fails the visual inspection should not be used until the problem is corrected.
View the LSS EZ Facts® document "Hard Hat Requirements" for more information on the hard hat regulations and standards.
Proposed Revisions ANSI Z89.1-2009
ANSI published a revision in January of 2009. The significant changes from the 2003 version are three non-mandatory tests and are easy to understand. Each of these tests if elected to be tested by the manufacturer will display three new markings on the helmet.
ANSI published a revision in January of 2009. The significant changes from the 2003 version are three non-mandatory tests and are easy to understand. Each of these tests if elected to be tested by the manufacturer will display three new markings on the helmet.
The three optional test criteria are:
Reverse Donning: Helmets marked with a "reverse donning arrow" can be worn frontward or backward in accordance with the manufacturer's wearing instructions. They pass all testing requirements, whether worn frontward or backward.
Lower Temperature: Helmets marked with a "LT" indicates that the hard hat meets all testing requirements of the standard when preconditioned at a temperature of -30°C (-22°F).
High Visibility: Helmets marked with a "HV" indicates that the hard hat meets all testing requirements of the standard for high visibility colors. This includes tests for chromaticity and luminescence.
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