Safety & Wellness Fair Gifts
Does your company have an annual Safety Day, Wellness Day or Safety Fair for employees? If so, we have the perfect gift.
These inexpensive books are full of lessons that could save you hours of your time, thousands of dollars in medical bills, and what is more important, your health or your life.
“Easily as entertaining as is The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook, but a hundred times more relevant.” – Jeff Archibald, fitness trainer,Boldfitness.com
“A great mix of preventive medicine, humor and wit. Full of advice that should be common sense but is unfortunately not common practice.” – Richard Santarius, parent
“How many other gifts can prevent injuries and save lives? A great gift for any household. Full of sound advice that is easy to follow and well written” – Ayn Carrillo-Gailey, writer
“The ‘Darwin Awards’ of the Emergency Department.” — Donna Bellard-Brendt, ER Nurse
“An ‘Information Vaccination’ that protects the reader from preventable emergencies. Probably more useful and definitely more enjoyable than a Tetanus shot.” — Alex Thayer, MD
“The author’s knowledge and sense of humor show throughout the book. It should be read by anyone who’d like to improve the health of their family and themselves.” — Susan, ER volunteer
“Unfortunately I read your book too late. A while back I descended some stairs in the dark, forgot I had left a case of water on one of the bottom steps, and ended up with a displaced fracture of my tibia and fibula.” — Paul R., Los Angeles
WELCOME TO GOTSAFETY.ORG
GotSafety.ORG is devoted to keeping people safe and out of the Emergency Department (ED). The tips contained in our Safety Books have been collected from the medical literature, the general health literature, and from the sometimes zany stories of thousands of ER patients. You can supportGotSafety.ORG by purchasing one of our Safety Books for yourself or a friend (they make great gifts). In addition, please consider making a $20 donation. Each donation “buys” ten copies of the pocket version of Think Twice: More Lessons from the ER for ten ED patients. All of our books are available on this website and Think Twice is also available as a Kindle book through Amazon.com. If you or someone you know works in an Emergency Department or Urgent Care have them visit EMresource.org for our other products.
SPRING: WHOOPING COUGH
- Spring and summer are the time of year when pertussis or whooping cough are most prevalent. This nasty infections starts like the typical viral infections, so most savvy people don’t rush to see their doctor and instead let their immune system take care of things. Viral bronchitis being far more common than, pertussis, this strategy usually works out OK. Unfortunately pertussis can turn in to a nagging cough that lasts months and months.
- It’s rarely fatal, except in infants, but it can make adults quite sick for a vary long time. Once you are at this stage, antibiotics are unlikely to help you, but they may help prevent the spread to other people – up to 80% of close contact eventually get it.
- Fortunately there is a vaccine that we all received as children to prevent pertussis. The bad news is that the immunity wanes over time and most adults need a booster. These booster shots were rarely given until recently.
- Now most tetanus boosters also contain the pertussis booster and it should be good for 5-10 years, just like the tetanus shot. I got mine about 3 years ago. When will you get yours? Ask your doctor about this and other adult vaccines.
FALL: HALLOWEEN SAFETY
- Daylight savings time and Halloween are coming. Here are some important safety tips for trick-or-treaters and their parents.
- Be Carving Safe: Buy and use a carving kit rather than a kitchen knife. Every year hundreds of people end up in the ER for finger lacerations from carving pumpkins. Some severe tendons, and end up requiring more major surgery.
- Be Crosswalk Safe: When holding a child’s hand crossing the street make sure you are holding their hand rather that the other way around. If they are holding your finger or part of your hand, they could let go. If you have your hand around theirs, then you are in control and they are safer. A little life could depend on it.
- Be Street Safe: Avoid dark costumes. Choose light colors or add reflective material to costumes. Carry flashlights. Avoid masks that obscure peripheral vision or teach your children to keep the masks tipped up and back until they ring the doorbell. Stay out of the street except for crosswalks and even then be very careful.
- Be House Safe: Check your property yearly, if not more often, for tripping hazards, poor lighting or low branches that could injure a running teen or child. What better month to do this than in October, when on the 31st many strangers may be walking up and back from your front door? Also make sure your pets are not going to put anyone at risk. We see as many injuries from dogs causing trips and falls as we do from bites.
- Be Fire Safe: Try to use battery powered lights rather than candles. Avoid costumes with low hanging material or that are not flame-resistant. Teach your children how to “Stop-Drop-and-Roll” (Dropping is the most important part of this)
- Be Food Safe: Prepare a large wholesome meal so your family doesn’t overindulge. Inspect candy before your children eat it. Allergies to undiscovered peanut products are the number one cause of ER visits from Halloween candy.
FALL/WINTER: FLU SEASON SAFETY
- If we all are better about keeping our germs to ourself not only could that protect us from the Influenza, RSV, Covid and E. coli but also from the many more common conditions that we unfortunately share.
- “How should I sneeze or cough?” is actually an important question to ask yourself. The best places to aim are probably down your shirt or into your elbow. The worst places are in your hands or into space.
- To watch a funny yet educational video on this topic click here
WINTER: HOLIDAY SEASON SAFETY
- Real Trees: Don’t buy a Christmas tree (or Hanukkah bush) that doesn’t look fresh. Dry needles increase the risk of fire. Each year there are more than 400 home fires related to these trees. Look for green needles that don’t seem dried out. A fresh cut on the trunk before immediately putting the tree in water will help it stay green longer. Check the water level in the tree-stand daily as the tree may “drink” a lot, especially at first. Also keep the tree away from heat sources and don’t use more than three sets of lights on one extension cord. Lights out at bedtime.
- Fake Trees: Consider a “fake” tree. You have to store it, but no needle mess, no landfill space and you’ll end up saving money after a few years.
- House Lights: If you haven’t yet, reset the timers for your outdoor lights. Daylight savings time was over a month ago. Proper lighting prevents accidents and may also prevent crime.
- Holiday Lights & Ladders: Don’t fall off the ladder. If your driveway is sloped of the ground the ladder stands on is uneven, sloped or wet, have someone hold the base of the ladder. If your ladder has to lean against the house, make sure you use the proper angle. With your feet at the base, and your arms held out straight in front of your body at 90 degrees, your hands should touch a rung.
OUR FIRST iPHONE APP
Think Twice: More Lessons from the ER came out today as an app for the iPhone. Thanks to a partnership with Harvey Castro, MD and Deep Pocket Series, LLC this app will be available at the introductory price of $2.99, which is more than half off the regular price of $6.99 and the print price of $7.50. In the world of iPhone apps, visibility and the degree of ongoing success is highly dependent on getting into the “Top 100? for your category (ours is Medicine) early on, so please consider purchasing a copy this week and please forward this email to anyone you know who has an iPhone. To purchase, click the title above or CLICK HERE
“Easily as entertaining as is The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook, but a hundred times more relevant.” – Jeff Archibald, fitness trainer,Boldfitness.com
“A great mix of preventive medicine, humor and wit. Full of advice that should be common sense but is unfortunately not common practice.” – Richard Santarius, parent
“How many other gifts can prevent injuries and save lives? A great gift for any household. Full of sound advice that is easy to follow and well written” – Ayn Carrillo-Gailey, writer
“The ‘Darwin Awards‘ of the Emergency Department.” — Donna Bellard-Brendt, ER Nurse
“An ‘Information Vaccination’ that protects the reader from preventable emergencies. Probably more useful and definitely more enjoyable than a Tetanus shot.”– Alex Thayer, MD
“The author’s knowledge and sense of humor show throughout the book. It should be read by anyone who’d like to improve the health of their family and themselves.” — Susan, ER volunteer
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Safety Lessons from the ER
These inexpensive books are full of lessons that could save you hours of your time, thousands of dollars in medical bills, and what is more important, your health.