Drowning Prevention Guidelines

Here is a video from the Cleveland Clinic:



Key risk factors for drowning are:

- male sex
- age of less than 14 years
- alcohol use
- low income
- poor education
- rural residency
- aquatic exposure
- risky behavior
- lack of supervision

For people with epilepsy, the risk of drowning is 15 to 19 times as high as the risk for those who do not have epilepsy.

For every person who dies from drowning, another four persons receive care in the emergency department for nonfatal drowning.

Drowning Doesn’t Look Like Drowning

- 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.

- 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.

- 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.

- 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.

- 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.

References:

Drowning Doesn’t Look Like Drowning. Mario Vittone.On Scene Magazine: Fall 2006 (page 14)
Drowning - free NEJM review, 2012 http://goo.gl/xSqLu

How to Avoid Dog Bites -- It's National Dog Bite Prevention Week

Dogs are the most diverse mammal species on the planet (http://buff.ly/1pxxt0k). They can vary in weight from 6 lb (3kg) to 200 lb (90kg) when fully grown and have widely differing body shapes and hair types.

Not surprisingly, dog-bite injuries in children (head and neck) peak in warmer weather. The family pet is to blame in 27% of cases, and pit bulls are most commonly involved.

Dog bites are the third leading cause of emergency room visits for children, and the majority of those bites are from a dog known by the child. The ASPCA's Director of Anti-Cruelty Behavior Research Dr. Katherine Miller discusses How to Avoid Dog Bites in this WSJ video:



Pay attention to the dog's body language

Put a safe amount of space between yourself and a dog if you see the following signals, that the dog is uncomfortable and might feel the need to bite:

tensed body
stiff tail
pulled back head and/or ears
furrowed brow
eyes rolled so the whites are visible
yawning
flicking tongue
intense stare
backing away

What to do if you think a dog may attack

Resist the impulse to scream and run away.
Remain motionless, hands at your sides, and avoid eye contact with the dog.
Once the dog loses interest in you, slowly back away until he is out of sight.
If the dog does attack, "feed" him your jacket, purse, bicycle, or anything that you can put between yourself and the dog.
If you fall or are knocked to the ground, curl into a ball with your hands over your ears and remain motionless. Try not to scream or roll around.

Here is a brief 3-minute summary from CNN with some practical tips how to prevent dog bites:



References:

How to Avoid a Dog Bite : The Humane Society of the United States http://buff.ly/1jTA6UO
How to avoid dog bites | Cesar Millan http://buff.ly/1gk2Gng
Dog-bite injuries in children peak in warm weather | Reuters http://buff.ly/1jTAhj4

"Talk to Frank" - British government website for drug abuse prevention and treatment

Talk to Frank" is a British government-funded website for drug abuse prevention and treatment tips for the general public available at http://www.talktofrank.com

The "A to Z" list of substances explains appearance and use, effects, chances of getting hooked, health risks and the UK law. It also includes information on peer pressure, etc.

Promise of Prevention: Effects of 4 Risk Factors on U.S. Life Expectancy and Disparities

This analysis included 4 preventable risk factors:

- smoking

- high blood pressure

- elevated blood glucose

- adiposity

The researchers estimated the effects of these 4 preventable risk factors on national life expectancy and on disparities in life expectancy and disease-specific mortality among 8 subgroups of the US population (the “Eight Americas”). The groups were defined on the basis of race, location and socioeconomic characteristics of county of residence, in 2005.

Who has the lowest number of risk factors?

Asians had the lowest mean body mass index, fasting plasma glucose, and smoking; whites had the lowest systolic blood pressure (SBP).

Who has the highest number of risk factors?

Systolic blood pressure (SBP) was highest in blacks, especially in the rural South - 5-7 mmHg higher than whites. The other three risk factors were highest in Western Native Americans, Southern low-income rural blacks, and/or low-income whites in Appalachia and the Mississippi Valley.

How much shorter is life expectancy if you have the risk factors?

These 4 risk factors reduced life expectancy at birth by 5 years in men and 4 years in women.

Life expectancy effects were smallest in Asians (M, 4.1 y; F, 3.6 y) and largest in Southern rural blacks (M, 6.7 y; F, 5.7 y).

Smoking and high blood pressure had the largest effect on life expectancy disparities.

Disparities in the 4 risk factors (smoking, blood pressure, blood glucose, and adiposity) explain a significant proportion of disparities in mortality from cardiovascular diseases and cancers. They also explain some of the life expectancy disparities in the US.

References:

Danaei G, Rimm EB, Oza S, Kulkarni SC, Murray CJL, et al. (2010). The Promise of Prevention: The Effects of Four Preventable Risk Factors on National Life Expectancy and Life Expectancy Disparities by Race and County in the United States. PLoS Med 7(3): e1000248. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000248

Image source: Wikipedia, public domain.

Professor Tracks Clusters of Terrible Sport Injuries in Hope of Prevention

From the NYTimes:

Prof. Mueller almost immediately noticed a previously hidden cluster in, of all things, pole-vaulting. Several high school and college athletes each year were killed or paralyzed simply by missing the pit with the pole, falling on their heads off the landing pad, or sliding down the pole and hitting their heads on hard surfaces. Pits were soon expanded and surrounded with softer padding.

Mueller detected a strange number of paralytic accidents in organized swimming, all from relay-type dives into water that was too shallow — resulting in today’s minimum depths.


Concussion Recovery - Mayo Clinic Video

References:
Professor Tracks Ghastly Injuries in Hope of Prevention - NYTimes.com.