What was that? What that an EARTHQUAKE?

Shake, Boom, Slam, Rumble, Roll, Thud. Was that an Earthquake?
Earthquakes are not just a California Phenomenon. they occur in Ohio, Illinois, Hawaii, Oregon, Texas… everywhere.
We are deep in Earthquake Country, in North Coastal San Diego County, so we are pretty used to earthquakes – both large and small… the problem is knowing if the little ones are really earthquakes or not. When a major shaker comes through, it hits the news, and we also hear a lot about “after-shocks” and to be ready in case they occur. Hello… what about warning before? Well, Earthquake prediction is a young science, still akin to an art in some minds, closer too a Ouija Board in others. But we DO know that there can be “fore-shocks” as well, so we can get some warning to batten down the hatches and hold on.
Problem. Remember we explained we’re on the coast in North San Diego County. This means we’re on the edge of Camp Pendleton, one of the largest Military bases in the world at 125,000 acres.. Could that be shelling sounds from artillery practice aims at nearby San Clemente Island? Maybe a sonic boom? (Lucky us! We also have Marine Corps Air Station Miramar just South of us.) It’s important to know when a tremor is geological, so how can one tell?
There’s an App for that!
Ahhh… technology! No londer a need to scan the local radio broadcast, or hope for something on TV News”
ShakeMap and ShakeCast are post-earthquake information tools for rapid situational awareness, using data from seismic monitoring systems to help emergency managers gauge an earthquake’s impact and plan response activities. These tools can be found at earthquake.usgs.gov.
Preparedness is everything, and whether in Kent or Kalamazoo, you need to be prepared!

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Concussions and Youth Sports

The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) Heads Up campaign is a series of educational initiatives that all share a common goal: help protect children and adolescents from concussions and other serious brain injuries and their potentially devastating effects.
Youth Sports are exciting, beneficial activities which help maturation, development, and overall health – but there are dangers as well.

• Sports participation has become a major cause of serious injury among youth.
• Sports activities are the second most frequent cause of injury for both male and female adolescents.
• Each year it is estimated that more than five million children seek treatment in hospital emergency rooms because of sports injuries.
• Most sports injuries are preventable.

According to USA Today, 1.35 Youths have serious sports injuries each year. 14% of these injuries occur to the head and neck areas – including over 160,000 concussions.

CDC has created free tools for youth and high school sports coaches, parents, athletes, and health care professionals that provide important information on preventing, recognizing, and responding to a concussion.
To help ensure the health and safety of young athletes, CDC developed theHeads Up: Concussion in Youth Sports initiative to offer information about concussions to coaches, parents, and athletes involved in youth sports. The Heads Up initiative provides important information on preventing, recognizing, and responding to a concussion.
Learn how CDC’s Heads Up has helped to raise awareness of the need for improved prevention, recognition, and response to concussion and other serious brain injuries in the Heads Up 10 Year Anniversary Viewbook.
If you think your athlete has sustained a concussion…

• don’t assess it yourself.
• Take him/her out of play,
• and seek the advice of a health care professional.

Evaluation of the Implementation and Effectiveness of Concussion Education and Awareness Programs: Special Focus on CDC Heads Up Concussion Initiative in Youth Sports
Download the Heads Up app today!
CDC released RFA-CE-15-005, Research to Evaluate the CDC Heads Up Concussion Initiative in Youth Sports.

Sports First Aid & Medicine

Sports First Aid Kits, Team Sports Safety Supplies, Coaches Medic Bags and Sports injury supplies – Ice Packs, Bandages & Cold Sprays, Athletic Tape and even a Mini Golf First Aid Kits.

CDC’s Injury Center intends to commit up to $1,650,000 total funding over the entire 3-year project period with a maximum of $550,000 per award per year. This funding will support one cooperative agreement to rigorously evaluate the implementation and effectiveness of concussion education and awareness programs that use CDC’s Heads Up training, toolkits, and other materials within local youth sports organizations (leagues, clubs) or high school sports. There is a strong preference for investigations targeted at youth sports organizations because of the limited evidence base developed with this population and the greater potential for a more rigorous research design. The primary benefit of the evaluation is to understand how local programs are implementing concussion education and initiatives, and the local benefit of those programs, so that sports organizations and schools can make local improvements.

Outcomes of interest include:

• Training and material use;
• Policy change (e.g., sports organization/school policies);
• Knowledge and attitudes change about concussion;
• Coach and athlete behavior; and
• Athlete health outcomes (e.g., negative health outcomes after one or more concussions).

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FDA on AEDs (Automated External Defibrillators)

While Public Access Defibrillation (PAD) means thousands of AEDs on street corners for anyone to use in other countries, here in the USA, our government tends to “err on the side of caution”. In other places, the approval for these critical lifesaving devices is streamlined to fast-track to market, while in the US regulatory agencies continue to impede production and supply.

We’re not saying thorough testing and engineering controls aren’t essential, but rather governing agencies like the FDA should do more to assist in the process and lower the high cost- and time-barriers the impose. It is a very frustrated market where some agencies and legislation require AEDs in public (places such as gyms and restaurants) yet others are regularly slowing production or halting shipping altogether.

Below is a press release from the FDA yesterday. Suddenly and “un-relatedly” at least two of the top five AED brands suddenly went on “backorder” and aren’t shipping for a few weeks.

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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced today that it will strengthen its review of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) to help improve the quality and reliability of these devices.

The FDA issued a final order that will require AED manufacturers to submit premarket approval applications (PMAs), which undergo a more rigorous review than what was required to market these devices in the past. The agency’s strengthened review will focus on the critical requirements needed to ensure the safety and reliability of AEDs and their necessary accessories, including batteries, pad electrodes, adapters and hardware keys for pediatric use.

“Automated external defibrillators save lives,” said William Maisel, M.D., M.P.H, deputy director for science, chief scientist and acting director of the Office of Device Evaluation in the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health. “These changes to the way these devices are reviewed will allow us to more closely monitor how they are designed and manufactured. This will go a long way towards correcting long-standing problems and ultimately improving the reliability of these devices.”

Automated external defibrillators are portable, electronic medical devices that automatically sense potentially life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias and either automatically deliver or advise the user to deliver electrical stimulation to re-establish normal heart rhythms. They are often stored in public locations for use in an emergency and, while they can be lifesaving, there has been a history of malfunction issues.

From January 2005 through September 2014, the FDA received approximately 72,000 medical device reports associated with the failure of these devices. Since 2005, manufacturers have conducted 111 recalls, affecting more than two million AEDs. The problems associated with many of these recalls and reports included design and manufacturing issues, such as inadequate control of components purchased from other suppliers.

By requiring premarket approval for these devices, the FDA will receive important information about an AED manufacturer’s quality systems information. The FDA will also conduct inspections of manufacturers’ facilities prior to approval. After approval, manufacturers will be required to submit to the FDA any changes made to the devices that affect safety or effectiveness, and annual reports on device performance.

Given the importance of these devices in emergency situations, AEDs currently on the market will remain available while manufacturers work to meet the new PMA requirements. The FDA does not intend to enforce the PMA requirement for AEDs until July 29, 2016, as long as manufacturers notify the FDA of their intent to file a PMA by April 29, 2015. The FDA does not intend to enforce the PMA requirement for currently marketed, necessary AED accessories until January 29, 2020.

The Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act calls for the FDA to publish proposed and final orders to reclassify or call for PMAs for pre-amendments devices. The FDA’s Circulatory System Devices Panel recommended that AEDs remain Class III medical devices and require PMAs. The FDA originally issued a proposed order in March 2013 calling for PMAs to ensure the appropriate regulation of Class III pre-amendments devices.

The FDA, an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, protects the public health by assuring the safety, effectiveness, and security of human and veterinary drugs, vaccines and other biological products for human use, and medical devices. The agency also is responsible for the safety and security of our nation’s food supply, cosmetics, dietary supplements, products that give off electronic radiation, and for regulating tobacco products.

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Looking for an AED?

AEDGrant.com Public & Private Entities Grant for funding Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs).This program is designed to help institutions and individuals everywhere place these amazing life saving devices at an affordable price. You may even apply as an Individual for a Home AED!Generous participation and corporate backing have been secured by AEDGrant.com for this corporate sponsored AED Buy Down Grant Project .AEDGrant.com also offers training for CPR and AEDs.

AEDGrant.com can help you donate an AED, receive funding for an AED Device, place defibrillators in your home or workplace, help public facilities obtain AED Grants for Automated External Defibrillators and discounts on AED Batteries and AED Cabinets. We work with AED Manufacturers such as Medtronic, Philips, Defibtech, Heartsine, and Zoll to provide state of the art AED machines like the the OnSite, FRx, LifePak, PAD, Lifeline, Samaritan, CPR Plus, LifePak 500 and more… let us know your Defibrillation of AED Training need, and we can help you find your AED answers. We even have resources for refurbished AEDs and AED Refurbishers.

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How Babies are Made and Modern Ways to keep Your Children Safe

Canadian photographer Patrice Laroche surely will have no trouble explaining to his kids about the birds and the bees. During his wife Sandra’s pregnancy, the artist created this hilarious explanatory photo series titled

“How to Make a Baby“…

 

The creative couple planned and carried out their project throughout the whole period of 9 months, taking pictures in the same settings as Sandra’s belly expanded. The pregnancy saga of Sandra and Patrice basically denounces all the traditional cabbage and the stork stories.

Modern Methods to Keep your Children Safe:

When our kids are with us or around us, we pay attention to their safety. However, when we cannot see them and they are away from us, it becomes challenging to ensure their safety, especially in a scenario where we hear of bullying, assault and harassment cases taking place on campuses on an everyday basis. With this in mind, a personal safety app is highly recommended to ensure their safety when they head off to school. Here are some steps that your student can keep in mind, to be prepared against danger.

Must-Know Information and Tips

• They should keep their phone with them at all times. They should save important contacts into the phone book on their phone for quick reference, when needed.
• Secondly, it is a good idea to keep your personal information safe in their dorm room instead of carrying it with you on a daily basis such as their social security card, a passport and other important docs. If you are new to the campus, it is a good idea to take a walk around so you can know your surroundings well. Keep your belongings at arm’s length, be it your laptop, backpack, iPod & never leave it unattended as these things can be swiped without you even noticing, till it’s too late.
• When traveling, avoid traveling alone, especially during late hours, it is always better to have your friends with you. Avoid taking short cuts, especially crossing through alleys or back streets, stay on lighted paths.
• Lastly, if you have to travel late at night, let your friend or family know where you will be going and route you are taking, you can never be too careful in today’s world.

Apart from the above-mentioned guidelines, download a personal safety app that can save you in case of a danger or crisis. These Apps are designed to provide users with real time hand holding during the time of danger and distress Look for one with 24×7 user support system and real time GPS location tracking. Whenever you find yourself in trouble, you just need to tap your app to make an immediate call and emergency text to alert those close to you or first responders such as Police, Fire & EMS.

Kids’ First Aid & Child ID Kits

Ow-Wee-Kit, Child I.D. & Records Mini Kit • Latex Free & Fun MediBag 4 Kidz & Kid Friendly First Aid Kits in FUN COLORS! • FUN BANDAGES… Many themes to suit Kids of all ages (we like them ourselves!) • Also see the great new Diaper Bag Buddy… Know an Infant? 15 quality baby on the go travel kit items – ALL ORGANIC & NATURAL products.

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Sudden, Violent and Without Warning

Earthquakes; Not just a California issue. Earthquakes Can Happen at Any Time of the Year, and Anywhere. Texas, Idaho and California have already had significant earthquakes in the first Month of the year – last year, Tremors struck Arizona, Kansas, Oklahoma, Alaska, Guam, Montana, South Carolina, New Mexico, and of course Old Mexico and California,

Earthquakes can strike suddenly, violently, and without warning any time of day or night.

You can stay up-to-date with near real-time earthquake information for a variety of time windows in a variety of formats, from the United States Geological Survey (USGS).Earthquake Feeds

Whether at home, at work, or in an automobile, learn what steps to take and which supplies to have ready in case of an emergency.

Become familiar with escape routes, safe locations to ride out the disaster, and what to do in the following 72 hours while awaiting professional rescue crews.

What is your risk? Probabilistic seismic hazard maps from the United States Geological Survey (USGS). Earthquake Hazard Assessments

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Disaster Preparedness Apps

Apps… whether for you mobile device or desktop, they can be fun – or LIFESAVING.

We’ve shared plenty of information of free safety apps in the past, but these are particularly useful Disaster related programs:

The White House Innovation for Disaster Response and Recovery Initiative was first launched by the Administration in the wake of Hurricane Sandy to find the most effectiveways technology can empower survivors, first responders, and local, state, tribal, territorial, and Federal Governments with critical information and resources.

Many Apps and tools were shared at the White House Innovation for Disaster Response and Recovery Demo Day to help address the challenges that severe weather and other disasters can pose to our communities.

To better prepare and empower survivors and communities in the wake of a disaster, the public and private sectors announced the following technology initiatives and platforms:

Civic Ninjas’ Shining Light Project is a wearable device for emergency responder credentialing and disaster access control, with color-coded LEDs to indicate whether an emergency responder is allowed into an area based on geo-fenced GPS information. More details can be found at http://civicninjas.org/.

The MITRE Corporation tools for disaster response and recovery include Smart Phone Ad-hoc Networking (SPAN) communication when typical infrastructure is unavailable and Sociocultural Analytics for the Global Environment (SAGE) for real-time understanding of online and social media sources. Emergency managers may obtain these technologies under a simple license agreement through MITRE’s Technology Transfer Office.

Twilio is open sourcing a Rapid Response Kit for developers to stand up communications solutions during an emergency response, featuring SMS-powered volunteer signup and survivor surveys, flexible push and pull conference calling, and phone tree configuration. Users can start with $500 free credit by visiting Twilio.org to clone or download the Rapid Response Kit.

GeoQ crowdsources geo-tagged photos of disaster-affected areas to assess damage over large regions. Programmers can use the existing services and add features to customize the GeoQ code for their own community. GeoQ can be downloaded fromhttp://github.com/ngageoint.

SeeClickFix provides a database of citizen requests to help generate clear and actionable data on the state of infrastructure in the wake of a disaster. To learn more visithttp://en.seeclickfix.com/.

The Incident Waste Decision Support Tool (I-WASTE) offers emergency responders, industry representatives, and officials reliable information on waste characterization, treatment, and disposal options, as well as guidance on how to incorporate waste management into disaster planning and response. I-WASTE is available online athttp://www2.ergweb.com/bdrtool/login.asp.

ShakeMap and ShakeCast are post-earthquake information tools for rapid situational awareness, using data from seismic monitoring systems to help emergency managers gauge an earthquake’s impact and plan response activities. These tools can be found atearthquake.usgs.gov.

Lantern Live is a mobile app that allows users to report the operational status of local gas stations, find fuel, and look up power outage maps from local utilities, while also accessing useful tips and guidelines. Lantern Live is available for Android at Google Play:https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=gov.doe.lanternlive

NPR Labs has developed technology that utilizes secure satellite and over-the-air broadcasts to provide emergency information to the 36 million Americans who are deaf and hard-of-hearing using a battery-operated radio and Android tablet. This collaboration with the Department of Homeland Security Science & Technology Directorate, FEMA, and 25 local public radio stations in the Gulf Coast could be expanded to partnerships with other local, state, and regional entities.

The Weather Company is building a localized alerting platform and API to enable state, local, and private authorities to manage and distribute alerts via The Weather Channel and existing local distribution points to two-thirds of the U.S. adult population. For more information contact globalalerts@weather.com.

The City of San Francisco and IDEO are launching the City72 Toolkit, an open-source platform leveraging human-centered design, to enable cities to customize and build their own local preparedness tools. Johnson County, Kansas is already using the toolkit to launch JoCo72. Download the toolkit at http://toolkit.sf72.org.

The American Red Cross provides different disaster preparedness apps in English and Spanish to deal with first aid emergencies, weather emergencies, and natural disasters. Users can download the apps for free at http://www.redcross.org/mobileapps.

The USAID’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA) and the U.S. Department of State are supporting open data initiatives through the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT), MapGive, and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) – Humanitarian Data Exchange (HDX).

Disaster Assistance and Assessment Dashboard (DAAD) from Appallicious visualizes nearby environmental hazards, and allows local government to identify community resources to aid in recovery. For a product demo, email:info@appallicious.com.

Airbnb, a community marketplace for housing, will pre-identify and activate hosts for displaced persons and disaster service workers when an emergency occurs. To learn more and engage this initiative, contact:emergencyresponse@airbnb.com.

TaskRabbit Needs for First Responders is a web portal offering a real-time marketplace to connect local service providers with those that need assistance, without any fees. Those interested in joining the pilot program can email:DisasterRelief@TaskRabbit.com.

Yammer Survivor Network hosts private, online community spaces to serve as connection points and support networks for survivors and responders as they recover and rebuild.

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