It’s quite simple actually.  When the all American feast comes before you on this Thanksgiving, EAT SMALL PORTIONS! 

Our instructors will always bring this message to our students.  When training our students in CPR and First Aid, we talk briefly about how easy it is to eat healthier and safer. 

If  you have a family member with any health issues that concern their circulatory system, they need to heed this advise.  When a large meal is eaten, it puts undue stress on the heart and circulatory system.  This is the time when the person can have a Heart Attack, or even go into Cardiac Arrest!  For the many years I was in service in my fire Department, I would leave my family holiday to answer the 911 Call for a “Possible Heart” or “Full Arrest”.  This is disheartening to all who serve in EMS.  Knowing a time that is to be happy turns into turmoil.

You all can enjoy your holiday treats, just in smaller portions over a longer length of time!  Besides, think of how long that Cook was in the Kitchen making all that glorious food!!  Give them a compliment by taking your time and enjoying the gift of plenty. 

On this note, I will say have a happy Thanksgiving, may you stay healthy and happy.

Until we meet again,

Shannon, Jill, Mark, Mike and the rest of the Gang!  Oh, and Annie too..

If you’re with someone who could possibly be having a heart attack, you should never delay in getting help, even if you only suspect there is a problem.  It isn’t overreacting. Add your Comment below!

Heart Attack Symptoms: Knowing What to Look For
The symptoms of a heart attack aren’t always obvious and often differ between men and women. Those symptoms can be subtle — perhaps one reason why some people don’t make it to an emergency room — or they can be very painful. Knowing what to look for can help you know when to take action for a friend, colleague, or loved one in distress:

• For men: The typical male symptom is a crushing pressure behind the breastbone, also called the sternum. That pressure, Dennison says, can radiate to your arms (often the left arm) and can go into the back, shoulder blades, and jaw. Men suffering a heart attack can break out in a sweat, and sometimes they will pass out.The onset of pain may be gradual and last several minutes or more. Sometimes the pain fades and comes back.
• For women: Women can have any of the same symptoms that men experience, but women often have more “atypical” symptoms, such as shortness of breath, and they may feel some indigestion. A woman having a heart attack may also experience pain in her jaw, and could feel a little faint.
• Plan For the Possibility of a Heart Attack
  It’s good to have a plan in place before a heart attack occurs, especially if the person has close relatives who have had heart attacks. According to Dennison, genetics play a big part in who has a heart attack and who doesn’t. One thing he highly recommends is a medical ID bracelet so that the attending medical team will know about allergies and other medical issues.Chances of recovery are much better if the affected artery can be opened up within an hour-and-a-half of the heart attack, making it essential to get the person having the attack to the emergency room immediately. “By the time 90 minutes go by, you want to get that artery open,” Dennison says. “If you’re in a rural emergency room, and [the medical team can’t open the artery], you need clot-busting drugs.”You Think It’s A Heart Attack?
  Dennison says it’s extremely important for caregivers and friends to know the symptoms of a heart attack. Call 911 if you even suspect it’s a heart attack and here’s what you can do before help arrives:
  • Stay close.Do not leave the person to find medications to give them, UNLESS (they can tell you where their heart medication is) Don’t forget the adult dose asprin, giving this to the person could help save them.  It’s better to call for help first; emergency personnel can administer appropriate treatments.
  • Give a dose of nitro. If the person has been prescribed nitroglycerin in the past for heart disease, and the medication is close at hand, you can give them a dose.
  • Go for comfort. Make the heart attack victim more comfortable by placing them in a comfortable position, loosening clothing, and staying close to provide reassurance.
  • If needed, give CPR.Studies have shown that CPR given by a bystander can double or triple a victim’s chance of surviving cardiac arrest. If you are with someone who suddenly collapses, stops breathing, or is unresponsive, start performing hands-only CPR at 100 chest presses a minute with minimal interruptions if this is all you can do at the moment.  Learn more about how to perform CPR by signing up for a CPR certification class in your area, check out our class locations at Minnesotacprtraining. 

   Watch Mary’s story  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zk44DWDQnI

• The one thing you shouldn’t do? Drive the person to the hospital yourself. If you go into the emergency room with your spouse, they will say, ‘Fill out a form and sit down.’ And you are sitting there, and the next thing that happens, your spouse is on the floor. With 911, you get right in there. If it’s a panic attack, that’s fine. It could have been a heart attack!
• Please comment and add your thoughts below. 

Routes of Exposure

“Routes of exposure” means the different ways employees might be exposed to bloodborne pathogens in the workplace. Any of the following could be a route of exposure on the job:

• Contact with a co-worker who suffers a bleeding injury, such as a cut, abrasion, or amputation
• Contact with blood while administering first aid, such as when applying pressure to a wound or wrapping an injury
• Touching a contaminated surface, such as a table, tool, or control panel, that has been contacted with infected blood
• Being assigned to clean up blood or bodily fluids after an injury
• Contact with contaminated products or equipment in restrooms
• Using a tool covered in dried blood

Exposure Prevention

The best way for employees to avoid contact with BBPs is to:

• Treat all blood and bodily fluids as if they are infectious for HIV, hepatitis, or other bloodborne pathogens (“universal precautions”).
• Use barrier protection—gloves, masks, aprons, protective eyewear—to avoid contact with bodily fluids. Avoiding direct contact means there is no exposure.
• Immediately clean up and decontaminate surfaces and equipment that have been in contact with blood or bodily fluids.
• Decontaminate skin by washing hands after handling any type of bodily fluid, even if you have worn gloves.
• Immediately and properly dispose of contaminated items and materials used to disinfect contaminated items.

Questions to ask yourself: 

Do you know how long HBV lives on a surface?  What do I do when I remove my gloves?  Where do I put the bloody/fluid contained items?  Who do I call when I might have been exposed?  

Don’t know the answers??  Take our course!  Ask for Blood Borne Pathogens training for your employees or yourself NOW!!