Daylight saving time begins Sunday, March 10, 2013. Is your emergency preparedness stockpile up to date?
When it’s time to change your clocks because of daylight saving time, use it as a reminder to check your preparedness kit to make sure your emergency stockpile isn’t missing any items and that the food hasn’t expired. APHA’s Get Ready: Set Your Clocks, Check Your Stocks campaign is reminding people to refresh their emergency supplies before a disaster occurs.

If you haven’t created a stockpile yet, now is the time to create one! (And as always, don’t forget to check the batteries in your smoke alarms.)

This information is good year-round: You don't have to wait for the clock change to update your stockpile. So think about having these materials at your next health fair or community meeting!

FREE MATERIALS FROM APHA

Check out our FREE materials and tips you can share! Select our individual resources below, or download them all in English in one PDF toolkit.

• Stockpiling fact sheet (PDF) English or Spanish

• Stockpiling checklist (PDF) English or Spanish

• Water stockpiling fact sheet (PDF) English or Spanish

• Budget stockpiling fact sheet (PDF) English or Spanish

• Pets stockpiling fact sheet (PDF) English or Spanish

• Cold & flu supplies fact sheet (PDF) English or Spanish

• Grocery shopping list (PDF) Grocery list

• Stockpiling recipes (PDF) Stockpile recipes

March Is National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month

Colorectal cancer screening saves lives. If everyone who is 50 years old or older were screened regularly, as many as 60% of deaths from this cancer could be avoided.

Among cancers that affect both men and women, colorectal cancer (cancer of the colon or rectum) is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States. Every year, about 140,000 Americans are diagnosed with colorectal cancer, and more than 50,000 people die from it.

How Can You Reduce Your Risk?

The risk of getting colorectal cancer increases with age. More than 90% of cases occur in people who are 50 years old or older. Colorectal cancer screening saves lives, but many people are not being screened according to national guidelines.
If you're 50 years old or older, getting a screening test for colorectal cancer could save your life. Here's how—

• Colorectal cancer screening tests can find precancerous polyps so they can be removed before they turn into cancer. In this way, colorectal cancer is prevented.
• Screening tests also can find colorectal cancer early, when treatment often leads to a cure.

What Are the Symptoms of Colorectal Cancer?

Precancerous polyps and colorectal cancer don't always cause symptoms, especially at first. You could have polyps or colorectal cancer and not know it. That is why having a screening test is so important. Symptoms for colorectal cancer may include—

• Blood in or on the stool (bowel movement).
• Stomach pain, aches, or cramps that do not go away.
• Losing weight and you don't know why.

These symptoms may be caused by something other than cancer. If you're having any of these symptoms, the only way to know what is causing them is to see your doctor.

When Should You Begin to Get Screened?

You should begin screening for colorectal cancer soon after turning 50, then keep getting screened regularly until the age of 75. Ask your doctor if you should be screened if you’re older than 75.
Some people are at a higher risk than others for developing colorectal cancer. Having any of these things may increase your risk—

• Inflammatory bowel disease.
• A personal or family history of colorectal polyps or colorectal cancer.
• Genetic syndromes, like familial adenomatous polyposis or hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer (also known as Lynch syndrome).

If you think you may be at high risk for colorectal cancer, talk to your doctor about when and how often to get tested.

What Are the Screening Tests for Colorectal Cancer?

Several tests are available to screen for colorectal cancer. Some are used alone; others are used in combination with each other. Talk with your doctor about which test or tests are best for you. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends these tests to screen for colorectal
cancer—

• Colonoscopy (every 10 years).
• High-sensitivity fecal occult blood test (FOBT), stool test, or fecal immunochemical test (FIT) (every year)
• Sigmoidoscopy (every 5 years).

How Can I Pay for Screening Tests?

Many insurance plans and Medicare help pay for colorectal cancer screening. Check with your plan to find out which tests are covered for you. To find out about Medicare coverage, call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227).
CDC's Colorectal Cancer Control Program provides access to colorectal cancer screening to low-income, underinsured, or uninsured men and women aged 50–64 years in 25 states and four tribes.

Screen for Life: National Colorectal Cancer Action Campaign

CDC's Screen for Life: National Colorectal Cancer Action Campaign informs men and women who are 50 years old or older about the importance of having regular colorectal cancer screening tests.

Multiple Academy Award® winner Meryl Streep joins the Screen for Life campaign, appearing in new public service announcements (PSAs). Ms. Streep talks about how much there is in life that we can’t control, but says here’s something we can: colorectal cancer. She describes her own screening experience, and urges men and women to get screened beginning at age 50.
These new PSAs are the latest additions to a rich suite of Screen for Life resources for patients and health professionals. Print materials, including fact sheets, brochures, and posters, can be viewed, printed, and ordered online. Television and radio public service announcements can be viewed and heard online.

Content from CDC

How to Prevent Accidental Poisoning At Home

Poison control centers report that more than half of the incidents they handle each year involve children under the age of six. The majority of these poisoning injuries result from the inadvertent ingestion of common household substances. Learning to reduce the likelihood of a poisoning incident in your home is an essential part of safe parenting and childcare provision, simply because even the most closely-watched children can find a way to get into dangerous things during the split second an adult’s back is turned.

Keep an Eye on Medications
The prescription medications that safeguard your health and the over-the-counter pills that ease minor aches and pains can be a blessing to ailing adults, but present a very serious danger to young children. Making sure that all of your household medications are stored in a place children cannot reach and are inside child-resistant containers is imperative. It’s also very important to make sure that you keep an eye on visitors’ belongings. When Grandma stows her pills in a daily dosage container with a simple flip-top and tosses it in her purse for easy access on the go, there’s very little keeping an inquisitive child from ingesting those medications. This especially holds true for toddlers and preschoolers that may have learned to associate “Grandma’s Purse” with “candies and sweets.” Make sure that visitors have a safe place to store their bags while they spend time in your home.

Clean Up Your Household Cleaner Shelf
Keeping all of your household cleaners in the cabinet under the sink is both wildly common and quite convenient. Even if you spring for the cabinet locks touted by baby-proofing experts as infallible, it’s important to keep in mind that no baby-proofing product is immune to failure. Installing cabinet locks is a great idea that can keep children from accessing a variety of unsafe objects, but moving the chemical cleaners to a high cabinet is the most effective way of keeping them out of kids’ reach.

Check the Paint
Buying older houses in rebounding neighborhoods is a popular trend for lots of reasons. Older houses have character, the price point can be more manageable than a shiny, new McMansion and they’re generally packed with charming features. Before moving into your new-to-you home, however, you’ll want to make sure that none of the paint inside it contains lead before you start scraping. Using a lead testing kit is your safest bet, especially if you suspect that the existing paint is a relic from a society that wasn’t so aware of the danger of lead.

Food Poisoning is Still Poisoning
Just because food is intended to be ingested doesn’t mean that it can’t be poisonous. Making sure that you are well informed regarding safe food handling practices and that all foods you feed your child are kept at the proper temperature and prepared in such a manner so harmful bacteria is eliminated is essential to his health. It’s also important to make sure that your child isn’t able to access the contents of the garbage can. Adults might think that the off-putting smell of a garbage can is enough to repel anyone, but the curiosity of an inquisitive child knows no bounds.

Monitor Your Carbon Monoxide Detectors
When you change your clocks and the batteries in your smoke detector at the beginning and end of daylight savings, make sure that you also change the batteries in your carbon monoxide detector and test it to ensure full functionality. Carbon monoxide is tasteless, odorless and colorless, so the only way to truly protect your family from accidental poisoning is to make sure that your first line of defense, your detectors, are working.
Kitchens, bathrooms and garages are the most common sites of accidental household poisonings. Paying special attention to these areas of your home and making sure that any potentially dangerous substances are stored far out of kids’ reach can help you prevent a poisoning emergency in your home. It’s also imperative that you store all chemical products in their original containers, as they contain important information that your physician or poison control specialist will need to ensure that your child gets the proper treatment in the event of an inadvertent poisoning emergency. Parents and childcare providers should also know how to spot the signs of poison ingestion, which consist of burns or redness around the mouth and lips, a chemical smell on kids’ breath, vomiting, dizziness, sleepiness, confusion and other strange behavior, including difficulty breathing, seizures and unconsciousness.

Content from NannyBabysitters

FROSTBITE

Frostbite is an injury to the body that is caused by freezing. Frostbite causes a loss of feeling and color in affected areas. It most often affects the nose, ears, cheeks, chin, fingers, or toes. Frostbite can permanently damage the body, and severe cases can lead to amputation. The risk of frostbite is increased in people with reduced blood circulation and among people who are not dressed properly for extremely cold temperatures.

Recognizing Frostbite

At the first signs of redness or pain in any skin area, get out of the cold or protect any exposed skin—frostbite may be beginning. Any of the following signs may indicate frostbite:

• a white or grayish-yellow skin area
• skin that feels unusually firm or waxy
• numbness

A victim is often unaware of frostbite until someone else points it out because the frozen tissues are numb.

What to Do

If you detect symptoms of frostbite, seek medical care. Because frostbite and hypothermia both result from exposure, first determine whether the victim also shows signs of hypothermia, as described previously. Hypothermia is a more serious medical condition and requires emergency medical assistance.
If (1) there is frostbite but no sign of hypothermia and (2) immediate medical care is not available, proceed as follows:

• Get into a warm room as soon as possible.
• Unless absolutely necessary, do not walk on frostbitten feet or toes—this increases the damage.
• Immerse the affected area in warm—not hot—water (the temperature should be comfortable to the touch for unaffected parts of the body).
• Or, warm the affected area using body heat. For example, the heat of an armpit can be used to warm frostbitten fingers.
• Do not rub the frostbitten area with snow or massage it at all. This can cause more damage.
• Don’t use a heating pad, heat lamp, or the heat of a stove, fireplace, or radiator for warming. Affected areas are numb and can be easily burned.

These procedures are not substitutes for proper medical care. Hypothermia is a medical emergency and frostbite should be evaluated by a health care provider. It is a good idea to take a first aid and emergency resuscitation (CPR) course to prepare for cold-weather health problems. Knowing what to do is an important part of protecting your health and the health of others.
Taking preventive action is your best defense against having to deal with extreme cold-weather conditions. By preparing your home and car in advance for winter emergencies, and by observing safety precautions during times of extremely cold weather, you can reduce the risk of weather-related health problems.

Content from CDC

The Flu Strikes Back – 7 Free Online Tools to Guide You through the Flu Season

 

If you look around the office, it’s no surprise that more coworkers are out sick. Regions across the U.S. are experiencing an early influenza season, with activity elevated nationally.
Be informed and share these tools with your community to stay strong against the flu this season.
1. CDC Flu View is a flu activity and surveillance site that provides weekly influenza surveillance in the Unites States. In addition to the website, its mobile app gives you options to: explore Influenza-Like Illness (ILI) Activity Levels across the US; view ILI trends over several weeks; and get on-demand access to state health department websites for local surveillance information.
2. CDC Influenza Application for Clinicians and Health Care Professionals gives the latest recommendations and influenza activity updates on your iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch (Android support will be added in a future update). The app will automatically update information and content when your device is connected to the Internet. With this application, you can:

• View updated information on national flu activity
• Find influenza vaccination recommendations endorsed by CDC and the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP)
• Obtain information on diagnosis and treatment of influenza, including antiviral treatment recommendations by CDC and the ACIP
• Obtain information on laboratory testing for influenza
• Find CDC recommendations on influenza infection control
• View videos of CDC subject matter experts discussing influenza topics
• Order official CDC designed print products for posting in the workplace or distributing to patients.

3. MappyHealth is the winner of the “Now Trending – #Health in My Community” challenge hosted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, mines Twitter data to show diseases trending in communities. The data is presented through several visualizations which include maps and graphs. For more information on MappyHealth, see our interview with them here.
4. Google Flu Trends aggregates search terms in real time to estimate flu activity around the world. Google notes on their Flu Trends page that searches using flu related terminology have a close correlation to people having actual flu symptoms, according to a study published in the journal Nature. The current map (as of 1/17/13) of the U.S. shows mostly “intense” flu activity.
5. Flu Near You and Vaccine Finder are administered through HealthMap of Boston Children’s Hospital in partnership with the American Public Health Association and the Skoll Global Threats Fund. Flu Near You is a popular tool among the public health community and gives a weekly reporting of influenza like symptoms (also an open data set), and shows where people are reporting symptoms within their community. A component of Flu Near You is Vaccine Finder which helps users find locations offering flu shots. Per the website, Flu Near You allows the user to do the following:

• Complete quick surveys to advance our collective understanding of the flu
• See flu activity in your area at the regional or state level
• Explore flu trends around the world with Google Flu trends
• Use the Flu Vaccine Finder to find nearby locations offering flu shots or nasal spray flu vaccine
• Connect to local public health links
• Receive customized email disease alerts at your location
• Learn more about flu news, information, and resources at flu.gov
• Explore the RSS feed on updates on nearby flu outbreaks and related flu news
• Browse the Disease Daily to discover summaries of important outbreaks and expanded coverage through the Outbreaks 101 news section

6. Flu.gov is a Department of Health and Human Services site that has all the resources you need from print materials to widgets you can add to your website. Flu.gov provides information on symptoms, treatments, and vaccination locations for influenza.
7. Flu Defender is the third place winner of CDC’s Flu App Challenge and is a iOS app that raises awareness about influenza while providing useful information on: vaccine finder, flu activity, symptom identifier, etc. The app uses the following data sources: CDC Weekly Flu Activity Report, RSS Feed of Influenza Updates, RSS Feed of Influenza Podcasts, CDC.gov/flu website and print materials, CDC Flu Twitter feed and the Flu.gov website.

Content from ePublic Health Blog

Flu Season is Here--Take Action Now

The United States is experiencing an early influenza season, with flu activity reported in 47 states. Do your part to protect yourself and others against the flu.
If you have the flu,

• Stay home
• Follow your health care provider’s recommendations
• Prevent the spread of the flu with these flu-fighting tips.

If you don’t have the flu, it’s not too late to get a flu shot! The best protection against the flu is to get the vaccine. Seasonal flu vaccines have a very good safety record.

Everyone 6 months of age and older should get vaccinated. It is especially important to get the vaccine if you, or someone you live with or care for is at high risk of complications from the flu. Our flu infographic shows you what you need to know about the flu vaccine.

• Video: What is the best protection against the flu?
• Video: How can I prevent the spread of the flu?
• Find a place to get the flu vaccine in your area

Content from Flu.gov

Treatment for the Flu

Treatment

If you have been diagnosed with the flu, you should stay home and follow your health care provider’s recommendations. Talk to your health care provider or pharmacist about over-the-counter and prescription medications to ease flu symptoms and help you feel better faster.

• You can treat flu symptoms with and without medication.
• Over-the-counter medications may relieve some flu symptoms but will not make you less contagious.
• Your health care provider may prescribe antiviral medications to make your illness milder and prevent serious complications.
• Your health care provider may prescribe antibiotics if your flu has progressed to a bacterial infection.

Are there ways to treat the flu or its symptoms without medication?

You can treat flu symptoms without medication by:

• Getting plenty of rest
• Drinking clear fluids like water, broth, sports drinks, or electrolyte beverages to prevent becoming dehydrated
• Placing a cool, damp washcloth on your forehead, arms, and legs to reduce discomfort associated with a fever
• Putting a humidifier in your room to make breathing easier
• Gargling salt water (1:1 ratio warm water to salt) to soothe a sore throat
• Covering up with a warm blanket to calm chills

How can I treat congestion?

Decongestants can ease discomfort from stuffy noses, sinuses, ears, and chests. Talk to your health care provider or pharmacist about which kind is right for you.

How can I treat coughing and sore throat?

Cough medicine, cough drops, and throat lozenges can temporarily relieve coughing and sore throat. Talk to your health care provider or pharmacist about which kind is right for you.

How can I reduce fevers and discomfort?

Fevers and aches can be treated with a pain reliever such as acetaminophen (Tylenol®, for example), ibuprofen (Advil®, Motrin®, Nuprin®), or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) (Aleve®).If you have kidney disease or stomach problems, check with your health care provider before taking any NSAIDS.

Is it safe to take flu medications with other over-the-counter or prescription medicines?

Many over-the-counter medications contain the same active ingredients. If you take several medicines with the same active ingredient you might be taking more than the recommended dose. This can cause serious health problems. Read all labels carefully.
If you are taking over-the-counter or prescription medications not related to the flu, talk to your health care provider or pharmacist about which cold and flu medications are safe for you.

What are antiviral medications and how can they help?

Antiviral medications are prescription pills, liquids, or inhalers used to prevent or treat flu viruses. They are approved for adults and children one year and older. There are four antiviral drugs approved for treating the flu in the United States—oseltamivir (Tamiflu), zanamivir (Relenza), amantadine (generic), and rimantadine (Flumadine).
If you get the flu, antiviral medications can make your illness milder and make you feel better faster. They may also prevent serious complications from the flu. Antiviral medications work best when started within the first two days of getting sick.
If you are exposed to the flu, antiviral medication can prevent you from becoming sick. Talk to your health care provider if you have been or may be near a person with the flu.

Do I need antibiotics?

Antibiotics are used to treat bacterial infections. They are not effective against viral infections like the flu. Some people have bacterial infections along with or caused by the flu and will need to take antibiotics. Severe or prolonged illness or illness that seems to get better but then gets worse may be a sign of bacterial infection. Contact your health care provider if you think you need antibiotics.

Related Links

The Flu: What To Do If You Get Sick
Get Smart: Know When Antibiotics Work
FDA Tamiflu Information
The best way to take your over-the-counter pain reliever? Seriously.
What You Should Know About Flu Antiviral Drugs
Antiviral Drugs: Seasonal Flu (Podcast)
Content from Flu.gov