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Saturday, August 14, 2010
Why did Obama turn down offers of help?
In April 2009, the Obama administration granted BP, a big supporter of Obama, a waiver of environmental regulations. But after the oil spill, it blocked Louisiana from protecting its coastline against the oil spill by delaying rather than expediting regulatory approval of essential protective measures. It has also chosen not to use what has been described as “the most effective method” of fighting the spill, a method successfully used in other oil spills. Democratic strategist James Carville called Obama’s handling of the oil spill “lackadaisical” and “unbelievable” in its “stupidity.”
Obama is now using BP’s oil spill to push the global-warming legislation that BP had lobbied for. Obama’s global warming legislation expands ethanol subsidies, which cause famine, starvation, and food riots in poor countries by shrinking the food supply. Ethanol makes gasoline costlier and dirtier, increases ozone pollution, and increases the death toll from smog and air pollution. Ethanol production also results in deforestation, soil erosion, and water pollution. Subsidies for biofuels like ethanol are a big source of corporate welfare: “BP has lobbied for and profited from subsidies for biofuels . . . that cannot break even without government support.”
Sheesh. The disaster in the Gulf of Mexico is exceeded only by the disaster in Pennsylvania Avenue...
Palin's Oily Lies Drip from the Pages of Going Rogue
When Sarah Palin was asked by Katie Couric what Supreme Court decisions other than Roe v. Wade she disagreed with, she couldn't think of one. NOT ONE! Sarah squandered an opportunity, the perfect chance to tell America our story, an Alaskan story: dozens of suicides, thousands sick from clean up, tens of thousands bankrupt from a dead fishery.
exxonvaldez-disaster
Sarah Palin is to Alaska what Velveeta is to cheese; sadly unsatisfying and empty of nutrition. She had the national stage to plead Alaska's case to citizens who had long forgotten the images of a once pristine Prince William Sound turned into a thick, black, rolling sea; the oiled sea otters and birds; unrecognizable seals and whales; an initially deformed and diseased herring run that became extinct -- costing Cordova $100 million a year. Exxon exploited Alaska and turned pain into profit.
AND NOW, Palin is claiming to be part of a victory for the people of Alaska? Reality Deficit Disorder...now in book form.
The Exxon Shipping Co. v. Baker Supreme Court decision in June 2008 all but pardoned Exxon's negligence. The highest court in the land condoned the half-assed cleanup. (My radio interview on the day of the ruling with Greg Palast). Exxon, the company that set and broke Planet Earth's quarterly profit record three quarters in a row, was let off the hook. Because of this unprecedented landmark decision, future corporate punitive damages are now forever minimally capped at literally pennies on the dollar!
The Roberts Court based its activist ruling on 19th century maritime law. Really! 21st century corporations can now view punitive damages as the small cost of doing business. Due to Exxon's negligence and the corporate sympathy of the Supreme Court, one the largest acts of environmental terrorism in history was treated like an accidental littering. The RATS -- Roberts, Alito, Thomas and Scalia, (Alito recused himself, confident that Souter and Kennedy would fill the business-friendly void) winked at their corporate masters as the Judas Court betrayed Justice.
exxon-not-doneExxon doesn't have marked offices in Alaska. There are some pretty hard feelings even 20 years later for some pretty good reasons. When Palin was pointing fingers at Letterman in July of this year, she did it from Houston, Texas. She was there to sign a deal with Exxon on behalf of Alaska. The state's willingness to do business with Exxon was like having your parents rent the basement to the guy who date raped you on prom night. Am I clear?
So Sarah was against the decision before she couldn't remember it before she was for it. And now, courtesy of Going Rogue, Sarah Palin manages to insult and injure Alaskans who will never be made whole with yet another one of her documented lies.
The jury originally punished Exxon with $5 billion in punitive damages -- a year's profit at the time. In 2008, nearly 20 years later, Exxon reported the largest annual profit in US history at $45.22 billion. The company shattered its own record set the previous year. Would the original $5 billion in punitive damages been punishment enough? The answer is now slowly dripping onto victims at 10 cents on the dollar. Opening your mailbox to an Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Settlement check is like getting a royalty payment for the snuff film your kid brother was in. Hey, you're getting paid, but he's still dead and you got to watch.
exxonvaldez-disaster
Sarah Palin is to Alaska what Velveeta is to cheese; sadly unsatisfying and empty of nutrition. She had the national stage to plead Alaska's case to citizens who had long forgotten the images of a once pristine Prince William Sound turned into a thick, black, rolling sea; the oiled sea otters and birds; unrecognizable seals and whales; an initially deformed and diseased herring run that became extinct -- costing Cordova $100 million a year. Exxon exploited Alaska and turned pain into profit.
AND NOW, Palin is claiming to be part of a victory for the people of Alaska? Reality Deficit Disorder...now in book form.
The Exxon Shipping Co. v. Baker Supreme Court decision in June 2008 all but pardoned Exxon's negligence. The highest court in the land condoned the half-assed cleanup. (My radio interview on the day of the ruling with Greg Palast). Exxon, the company that set and broke Planet Earth's quarterly profit record three quarters in a row, was let off the hook. Because of this unprecedented landmark decision, future corporate punitive damages are now forever minimally capped at literally pennies on the dollar!
The Roberts Court based its activist ruling on 19th century maritime law. Really! 21st century corporations can now view punitive damages as the small cost of doing business. Due to Exxon's negligence and the corporate sympathy of the Supreme Court, one the largest acts of environmental terrorism in history was treated like an accidental littering. The RATS -- Roberts, Alito, Thomas and Scalia, (Alito recused himself, confident that Souter and Kennedy would fill the business-friendly void) winked at their corporate masters as the Judas Court betrayed Justice.
exxon-not-doneExxon doesn't have marked offices in Alaska. There are some pretty hard feelings even 20 years later for some pretty good reasons. When Palin was pointing fingers at Letterman in July of this year, she did it from Houston, Texas. She was there to sign a deal with Exxon on behalf of Alaska. The state's willingness to do business with Exxon was like having your parents rent the basement to the guy who date raped you on prom night. Am I clear?
So Sarah was against the decision before she couldn't remember it before she was for it. And now, courtesy of Going Rogue, Sarah Palin manages to insult and injure Alaskans who will never be made whole with yet another one of her documented lies.
The jury originally punished Exxon with $5 billion in punitive damages -- a year's profit at the time. In 2008, nearly 20 years later, Exxon reported the largest annual profit in US history at $45.22 billion. The company shattered its own record set the previous year. Would the original $5 billion in punitive damages been punishment enough? The answer is now slowly dripping onto victims at 10 cents on the dollar. Opening your mailbox to an Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Settlement check is like getting a royalty payment for the snuff film your kid brother was in. Hey, you're getting paid, but he's still dead and you got to watch.
Mental experts: Man-made disaster more difficult to comphrehend; trust is the key
While oil gushes at a heart-break pace, destroying the environment and killing tourism across the shores of five Gulf Coast states, as well as Mexico, experts are beginning to put a tape measure on the long-term effects, and repercussions of one aspect that is "dangerously overlooked," according to LiveScience.com, that would be human mental health.
Psychologically speaking, one expert who is a noted author, Raymond Goldsteen, public health researcher at Stony Brook University in New York who penned "Demanding Democracy After Three Mile Island" (University Press of Florida, 1991), equated the oil spill to among the worst disasters in U.S. history.
As reported on LiveScience.com, not all disasters are created equally when it comes to mental health.
"Severity really drives the [psychological] consequences," said Fran Norris, director and researcher at the National Center for Disaster Mental Health Research at Dartmouth Medical School in New Hampshire. But all other factors being equal, the type of disaster can exacerbate certain feelings and reactions in the affected population, Norris said.
Psychologists historically lump disasters into two categories:
Natural (hurricanes, earthquakes)
Man-made (bombings, nuclear plant explosions)
The oil spill, while increasingly becoming a battle with the Earth, was undoubtedly caused by us humans. And man-made disasters are particularly hard for people to cope with, Goldsteen told LiveScience.
"This being the worst man-made disaster to hit the States," Goldsteen said, "we should not take lightly the mental health aspects of it. We can't expect people to just get over it. They need immediate help in the form of counseling — either peer counseling or professional counseling."
Natural disasters are viewed as normal events -- they are suppose to happen -- for a functioning planet (for instance, forest fires clearing trees as a process of renewal), and thus are usually easier to rebound from psychologically, Goldsteen said.
But man-made disasters are viewed as outside the normal order of life and are thus more threatening to an individual's worldview, Goldsteen explained.
In man-made disasters, It takes much longer for people to psychologically recover, he said. People worry more about health consequences, for themselves and their children, and have greater feelings of uncertainty after a man-made disaster because there is no history to reflect on in order for us to chart a better understanding.
"People looking at the oil in the marshes and all the damage ... are thinking, 'This is not what is supposed to happen,'" Goldsteen told LiveScience.com.
Relatively recently, disaster psychologists have started dividing man-made disasters into two categories:
Intentional (bombings, terrorist attacks)
Technological (nuclear plant explosions, bridge collapses, oil spills)
While victims of intentional attacks often suffer severe psychological consequences, technological disasters can tear at the social fabric in more insidious ways.
Technological disasters highlight the long chain of strangers we all rely on for the health and safety of ourselves and loved ones, explained Goldsteen. This ranges from engineers, shift workers and safety inspectors to CEOs and policy makers.
A disaster such as the Gulf oil spill makes people wonder if their trust has been misplaced — a psychological shake-up that has far-reaching consequences, researchers say.
"Trust is part of a person's ability to frame the world for themselves," Goldsteen said. "[It determines] how we are going to deal with our everyday life."
Trust in institutions and the government becomes a critical player in the psychological aftermath of a disaster, he said. If people trust what they are being told, feel that authorities are taking adequate responsibility and believe an event is truly accidental, stress levels are abated somewhat.
"But, in the BP oil spill, if the valve that blew is attributed to poor management or people taking short cuts, that is worse for people's psychic outlooks," Goldsteen said.
When trust frays in the fabric of our interwoven communities, people become demoralized and hopelessness prevails, he said. This can lead to an increase in the risk of suicide; drug and alcohol abuse become more prevalent; some people withdraw from society, some lose their appetites and/or feel mentally numb, others become angry, increasing rates of intrapersonal violence.
Activism is a positive. "Although we wish they wouldn't happen, some people will make good use of these events," Norris told LiveScience. "People can use events like this to call attention to problems and galvanize for change."
The toll of the nation's worst oil spill is yet to be tallied. But if trust is an issue, President Obama has issues. He's been in California as many times working the crowds to get Sen. Barbara Boxer re-elected as he has been tending to the Gulf Coast, where countless industries and species are at stake.
President Bush looked, well, presidential, with a bullhorn in his hand amid the rubble where the World Trade Towers once stood. But he looked lost when he was hugging Mike Brown, glad-handing the progress in New Orleans, just after Hurricane Katrina.
President Obama is facing his political hurricane as we speak. The world is not awash of memories of him on the scene, concerned and leading. Instead, he contiues to campaign instead of preside.
Trust. Who do we trust as this oil-spill disaster nears its 50th day of dominating the headlines?
trouble since the perception is he's jetting around campaigning for his agenda instead of presiding over a disaster where the perception is a mega-giant foreign oil company is in control of the future of the Gulf of Mexico.
know what he was doing.
Heat Emergencies
Heat Cramps – caused by loss of salt
Heat Exhaustion – caused by dehydration
Heat Stroke – shock, caused by the above plus high internal body temperature: life–threatening
Interventions:
Remove victim from the heat
Loosen or remove clothing
Have them lie down
Elevate feet
Apply cold compresses
Give fluids
Fan to lower temperature
Get medical help, if needed; immediately for heat stroke.
Environmental Health Training in Emergency Response 2009 (CA-047-RESP) (CDC-CDPH) A DHS–approved introductory–level course, delivered in a 16–hours (2–days). Provides emergency response personnel with the knowledge, skills, and resources, to address the environmental health impacts of emergencies and disasters. Customized for use in California by the California Department of Public Health.
Livestock Safety (NASD) Orientation or awareness–level training in understanding the potential dangers associated with livestock.
Personal Protective Equipment – Explains the hierarchy of controls to manage hazards; describes various types of personal protective equipment (PPE), and outlines standards and programs for proper use.
Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) Course
Tractor and Machinery Virtual Classroom (ISU Ext) Web–based curriculum designed to enhance and supplement traditional tractor and machinery certification programs by overcoming some of the barriers in traditional delivery methods.
New Coalition Government Could Halt Britain’s Nuclear Plans
Tories and Lib Dems are closely aligned on a number of very important issues to secure the safety of the UK energy industry, like the creation of the UK’s green investment bank to support renewable energy generation investments, enhance the overall energy efficiency as well as government intervention in the carbon allowance market.
However, when the subject is Nuclear power both parties have opposite policies. The Tory policy wants to allow new nuclear power stations to be opened every 18 months whilst a key Lib-Dem manifesto goal was to halt the building of new nuclear power stations.
According to experts, Britain’s nuclear power programme of building up to 10 new stations could be at risk if the Liberal Democrats gain influence over energy in this new coalition government.
Ben Caldecott, head of policy at investment manager Climate Change Capital, said a Coalition Government could cause delays when investors need certainty.
“Nuclear is the biggest difference in energy policy and I can see it potentially getting kicked into the long grass if there’s a deal between the Tories and the Lib Dems, it could conceivably be one of the concessions that the Tories make and, as a result, an ambitious new build nuclear programme could be delayed. There’s no doubt a hung parliament does bring additional uncertainty.” he said.
And he added:
“If DECC [Department for Energy and Climate Change] did change hands and go yellow, then an ambitious new build nuclear programme is less likely to get going.”
John McNamara speaking on the behalf of 200 companies involved in the nuclear sector better known as the Nuclear Industry Association said that he the sector is confident that the nuclear plants will be built.
“We would just urge the Politicians to move forward with forming UK energy policy quickly,” he said.
Britain’s biggest energy suppliers like EDF, Centrica, RWE Npower and EON, all of which have plans to invest in new nuclear power plants have remained publicly silent during the negotiations.
Experts believe these negotiations could be costly and lengthy right when these companies are in need of certainty to start investing in the sector.
What is your onion about all this? Could Britain’s new coalition government put a halt on the construction of new nuclear power plants? Are you in favour or against nuclear power generation?
Make a difference and share your thoughts in our comments sections.
According to experts, Britain’s nuclear power programme of building up to 10 new stations could be at risk if the Liberal Democrats gain influence over energy in this new coalition government.
Ben Caldecott, head of policy at investment manager Climate Change Capital, said a Coalition Government could cause delays when investors need certainty.
“Nuclear is the biggest difference in energy policy and I can see it potentially getting kicked into the long grass if there’s a deal between the Tories and the Lib Dems, it could conceivably be one of the concessions that the Tories make and, as a result, an ambitious new build nuclear programme could be delayed. There’s no doubt a hung parliament does bring additional uncertainty.” he said.
And he added:
“If DECC [Department for Energy and Climate Change] did change hands and go yellow, then an ambitious new build nuclear programme is less likely to get going.”
John McNamara speaking on the behalf of 200 companies involved in the nuclear sector better known as the Nuclear Industry Association said that he the sector is confident that the nuclear plants will be built.
“We would just urge the Politicians to move forward with forming UK energy policy quickly,” he said.
Britain’s biggest energy suppliers like EDF, Centrica, RWE Npower and EON, all of which have plans to invest in new nuclear power plants have remained publicly silent during the negotiations.
Experts believe these negotiations could be costly and lengthy right when these companies are in need of certainty to start investing in the sector.
What is your onion about all this? Could Britain’s new coalition government put a halt on the construction of new nuclear power plants? Are you in favour or against nuclear power generation?
Make a difference and share your thoughts in our comments sections.
pocket guide on first aid for disaster management in india project
Introduction
“First aid is the provision of initial care for an illness or injury. It is usually performed by a lay person to a sick or injured patient until definitive medical treatment can be accessed. Certain self-limiting illnesses or minor injuries may not require further medical care past the first aid intervention. It generally consists of a series of simple and, in some cases, potentially life-saving techniques that an individual can be trained to perform with minimal equipment.”
What is the aim of First Aid ?
The key aims of first aid can be summarised in three key points
Preserve life is the overriding aim of all medical care, including first aid, is to save lives
Prevent further harm also sometimes called preventing the condition worsening, this covers both external factors, such as moving a patient away from a cause of harm, and applying first aid techniques to prevent worsening of the condition, such as applying pressure to stop a bleed becoming dangerous.
Promote recovery - first aid also involves trying to start the recovery process from the illness or injury, and in some cases might involve completing a treatment, such as in the case of applying a plaster to a small wound.
First aid training often also incorporates the prevention of initial injury and responder safety, as well as the treatment phases.
What are the Key Skills Required?
Certain skills are considered essential to the provision of first aid and are taught ubiquitously. Particularly, the “ABC”s of first aid, which focus on critical life-saving intervention, must be rendered before treatment of less serious injuries. ABC stands for Airway, Breathing, and
Circulation. The same mnemonic is used by all emergency health professionals. Attention must first be brought to the airway to ensure it is clear. Obstruction (choking) is a life-threatening emergency. Following evaluation of the airway, a first aid attendant would determine adequacy of breathing and provide rescue breathing if necessary. Assessment of circulation is now not usually carried out for patients who are not breathing, with first aiders now trained to go straight to chest compressions (and thus providing artificial circulation) but pulse checks may be done on less serious patients.
Some organizations add a fourth step of “D” for Deadly bleeding or Defibrillation, while others consider this as part of the Circulation step. Variations on techniques to evaluate and maintain the ABCs depend on the skill level of the first aider. Once the ABCs are secured, first aiders can begin additional treatments, as required. Some organizations teach the same order of priority using the “3 Bs”: Breathing, Bleeding, and Bones. While the ABCs and 3Bs are taught to be performed sequentially, certain conditions may require the consideration of two steps simultaneously. This includes the provision of both artificial respiration and chest compressions to someone who is not breathing and has no pulse, and the consideration of cervical spine injuries when ensuring an open airway.
Preserving life
As the key skill to first aid is preserving life, the single most important training a first aider can receive is in the primary diagnosis and care of an unconscious or unresponsive patient. The most common mnemonic used to remember the procedure for this is ABC, which stands for Airway,
Breathing and Circulation.
In order to preserve life, all persons require to have an open airway – a clear passage where air can move in through the mouth or nose through the pharynx and down in to the lungs, without obstruction. Conscious people will maintain their own airway automatically, but those who are unconscious (with a GCS of less than 8) may be unable to maintain a patent airway, as the part of the brain which autonomously controls in normal situations may not be functioning.
If an unconscious patient is lying on his or her back, the tongue may fall backward, obstructing the oropharynx (sometimes incorrectly called “swallowing” the tongue). This can be easily rectified by a first aider tipping the head backwards, which mechanically lifts the tongue clear.
If the patient was breathing, a first aider would normally then place them in the recovery position, with the patient leant over on their side, which also has the effect of clearing the tongue from the pharynx. It also avoids a common cause of death in unconscious patients, which is choking on regurgitated stomach contents.
The airway can also become blocked through a foreign object becoming lodged in the pharynx or larynx, commonly called choking. The first aider will be taught to deal with this through a combination of ‘back slaps’ and ‘abdominal thrusts’.
Once the airway has been opened, the first aider would assess to see if the patient is breathing. If there is no breathing, or the patient is not breathing normally, such as agonal breathing, the first aider would undertake what is probably the most recognized first aid procedure – Cardiopulmonary resuscitation or CPR, which involves breathing for the patient, and manually massaging the heart to promote blood flow around the body.
Promoting recovery
The first aider is also likely to be trained in dealing with injuries such as cuts, grazes or broken bones. They may be able to deal with the situation in its entirety (a small adhesive bandage on a paper cut), or may be required to maintain the condition of something like a broken bone, until the next stage of definitive care (usually an ambulance) arrives.
When First Aid is Required ?
Altitude sickness, which can begin in susceptible people at altitudes as low as 5,000 feet, can cause potentially fatal swelling of the brain or lungs.
Anaphylaxis, a life-threatening condition in which the airway can become constricted and the patient may go into shock. The reaction can be caused by a systemic allergic reaction to allergens such as insect bites or peanuts. Anaphylaxis is initially treated with injection of epinephrine.
Battlefield First aid – This protocol refers to treating shrapnel, gunshot wounds, burns, bone fractures, etc. as seen either in the ‘traditional’ battlefield setting or in an area subject to damage by large scale weaponry, such as a bomb blast or other terrorist activity.
Bone fracture, a break in a bone initially treated by stabilizing the fracture with a splint.
Burns, which can result in damage to tissues and loss of body fluids through the burn site.
Choking, blockage of the airway which can quickly result in death due to lack of oxygen if the patient’s trachea is not cleared, for example by the Heimlich Maneuver.
Childbirth.
Cramps in muscles due to lactic acid build up caused either by inadequate oxygenation of muscle or lack of water or salt.
Joint dislocation.
Diving disorders resulting from too much pressure.
Near drowning or asphyxiation.
Gastrointestinal bleeding.
Gender-specific conditions, such as dysmenorrhea and testicular torsion.
Heart attack, or inadequate blood flow to the blood vessels supplying the heart muscle.
Heat stroke, also known as sunstroke or hyperthermia, which tends to occur during heavy
exercise in high humidity, or with inadequate water, though it may occur spontaneously in some chronically ill persons. Sunstroke, especially when the victim has been unconscious, often causes major damage to body systems such as brain, kidney, liver, gastric tract. Unconsciousness for more than two hours usually leads to permanent disability. Emergency treatment involves rapid cooling of the patient.
Heat syncope, another stage in the same process as heat stroke, occurs under similar conditions as heat stroke and is not distinguished from the latter by some authorities.
Heavy bleeding, treated by applying pressure (manually and later with a pressure bandage) to the wound site and elevating the limb if possible.
Hyperglycemia, or diabetic coma.
Hypoglycemia, or insulin shock.
Hypothermia, or Exposure, occurs when a person’s core body temperature falls below 33.7°C (92.6°F). First aid for a mildly hypothermic patient includes rewarming, but rewarming a severely hypothermic person could result in a fatal arrhythmia, an irregular heart rhythm.
Insect and animal bites and stings.
Muscle strain.
Poisoning, which can occur by injection, inhalation, absorption, or ingestion.
Seizures, or a malfunction in the electrical activity in the brain. Three types of seizures include a
grand mal (which usually features convulsions as well as temporary respiratory abnormalities, change in skin complexion, etc) and petit mal (which usually features twitching, rapid blinking, and/or fidgeting as well as altered consciousness and temporary respiratory abnormalities).
Sprain, a temporary dislocation of a joint that immediately reduces automatically but may result in ligament damage.
Stroke, a temporary loss of blood supply to the brain.
Sucking chest wound, a life threatening hole in the chest which can cause the chest cavity to fill with air and prevent the lung from filling, treated by covering with an occlusive dressing to let air out but not in.
Toothache, which can result in severe pain and loss of the tooth but is rarely life threatening, unless over time the infection spreads into the bone of the jaw and starts osteomyelitis.
Wounds and bleeding, including laceration, incision and abrasion, and avulsion.
Pocket First Aid & CPR Guide
Be prepared 24/7 for a medical emergency.
Whether you’re at home, on the road, or in the woods, Jive Media’s Pocket First Aid & CPR Guide is at your fingertips with concise, clear instructions to care for you and your loved ones.
Dozens of articles, including CPR, the Heimlich Maneuver, bites, bruises, burns, seizures, diabetic emergencies, and many more. All articles are stored on your iPhone, so you can provide first aid even when out of cell phone range.
Enter your medical information on the My Info tab. Save your doctor’s contact information along with your hospital, emergency contacts, allergies, and medications. You can also save your insurance information for quick access.
First aid can and does save lives. Be as prepared as possible!
Features:
- Articles are grouped by category for quick access
- First aid instructions are available even when out of cell-phone range. Perfect for wilderness outings.
- Linked articles, for quick access
- First aid kit information
- Save you medical information for quick retrieval. Look up your doctor or emergency contacts with a single click.
- Store your insurance information in an easy-to-access location.
You surely got a paper guiding you to the other projects of which one of them was first aid guide no ? if not then here it is
Prepare a pocket guide on First Aid for your school. The First Aid pocket guide should contain aid that needs to be given for fractures, poisoning, cuts and burns, heat and cold wave and other threats that are prevalent in that area. The content shared in the guide should be supported with adequate pictures so as to give a clear and elaborate understanding about the topic. Choose awareness campaign strategy for either senior citizens or illiterate people and prepare a brief write-up.
(Note for the Teachers: The project can be carried out by a group of students in a class and work can be equally divided amongst the students so that the teachers are able to evaluate them easily. Doctors, local health practitioners, trained volunteers of Red Cross and professionals from other agencies/bodies/institutes, proficient in this field can be consulted to prepare the first-aid pocket guide. This guide can be printed by the school administration and shared with all the students, teachers and other staff members of the school. It can be used as a ready reckoner for any First Aid related information.
“First aid is the provision of initial care for an illness or injury. It is usually performed by a lay person to a sick or injured patient until definitive medical treatment can be accessed. Certain self-limiting illnesses or minor injuries may not require further medical care past the first aid intervention. It generally consists of a series of simple and, in some cases, potentially life-saving techniques that an individual can be trained to perform with minimal equipment.”
The key aims of first aid can be summarised in three key points
Preserve life is the overriding aim of all medical care, including first aid, is to save lives
Prevent further harm also sometimes called preventing the condition worsening, this covers both external factors, such as moving a patient away from a cause of harm, and applying first aid techniques to prevent worsening of the condition, such as applying pressure to stop a bleed becoming dangerous.
Promote recovery - first aid also involves trying to start the recovery process from the illness or injury, and in some cases might involve completing a treatment, such as in the case of applying a plaster to a small wound.
First aid training often also incorporates the prevention of initial injury and responder safety, as well as the treatment phases.
What are the Key Skills Required?
Certain skills are considered essential to the provision of first aid and are taught ubiquitously. Particularly, the “ABC”s of first aid, which focus on critical life-saving intervention, must be rendered before treatment of less serious injuries. ABC stands for Airway, Breathing, and
Circulation. The same mnemonic is used by all emergency health professionals. Attention must first be brought to the airway to ensure it is clear. Obstruction (choking) is a life-threatening emergency. Following evaluation of the airway, a first aid attendant would determine adequacy of breathing and provide rescue breathing if necessary. Assessment of circulation is now not usually carried out for patients who are not breathing, with first aiders now trained to go straight to chest compressions (and thus providing artificial circulation) but pulse checks may be done on less serious patients.
Some organizations add a fourth step of “D” for Deadly bleeding or Defibrillation, while others consider this as part of the Circulation step. Variations on techniques to evaluate and maintain the ABCs depend on the skill level of the first aider. Once the ABCs are secured, first aiders can begin additional treatments, as required. Some organizations teach the same order of priority using the “3 Bs”: Breathing, Bleeding, and Bones. While the ABCs and 3Bs are taught to be performed sequentially, certain conditions may require the consideration of two steps simultaneously. This includes the provision of both artificial respiration and chest compressions to someone who is not breathing and has no pulse, and the consideration of cervical spine injuries when ensuring an open airway.
Preserving life
As the key skill to first aid is preserving life, the single most important training a first aider can receive is in the primary diagnosis and care of an unconscious or unresponsive patient. The most common mnemonic used to remember the procedure for this is ABC, which stands for Airway,
Breathing and Circulation.
In order to preserve life, all persons require to have an open airway – a clear passage where air can move in through the mouth or nose through the pharynx and down in to the lungs, without obstruction. Conscious people will maintain their own airway automatically, but those who are unconscious (with a GCS of less than 8) may be unable to maintain a patent airway, as the part of the brain which autonomously controls in normal situations may not be functioning.
If an unconscious patient is lying on his or her back, the tongue may fall backward, obstructing the oropharynx (sometimes incorrectly called “swallowing” the tongue). This can be easily rectified by a first aider tipping the head backwards, which mechanically lifts the tongue clear.
If the patient was breathing, a first aider would normally then place them in the recovery position, with the patient leant over on their side, which also has the effect of clearing the tongue from the pharynx. It also avoids a common cause of death in unconscious patients, which is choking on regurgitated stomach contents.
The airway can also become blocked through a foreign object becoming lodged in the pharynx or larynx, commonly called choking. The first aider will be taught to deal with this through a combination of ‘back slaps’ and ‘abdominal thrusts’.
Once the airway has been opened, the first aider would assess to see if the patient is breathing. If there is no breathing, or the patient is not breathing normally, such as agonal breathing, the first aider would undertake what is probably the most recognized first aid procedure – Cardiopulmonary resuscitation or CPR, which involves breathing for the patient, and manually massaging the heart to promote blood flow around the body.
Promoting recovery
The first aider is also likely to be trained in dealing with injuries such as cuts, grazes or broken bones. They may be able to deal with the situation in its entirety (a small adhesive bandage on a paper cut), or may be required to maintain the condition of something like a broken bone, until the next stage of definitive care (usually an ambulance) arrives.
When First Aid is Required ?
Altitude sickness, which can begin in susceptible people at altitudes as low as 5,000 feet, can cause potentially fatal swelling of the brain or lungs.
Anaphylaxis, a life-threatening condition in which the airway can become constricted and the patient may go into shock. The reaction can be caused by a systemic allergic reaction to allergens such as insect bites or peanuts. Anaphylaxis is initially treated with injection of epinephrine.
Battlefield First aid – This protocol refers to treating shrapnel, gunshot wounds, burns, bone fractures, etc. as seen either in the ‘traditional’ battlefield setting or in an area subject to damage by large scale weaponry, such as a bomb blast or other terrorist activity.
Bone fracture, a break in a bone initially treated by stabilizing the fracture with a splint.
Burns, which can result in damage to tissues and loss of body fluids through the burn site.
Choking, blockage of the airway which can quickly result in death due to lack of oxygen if the patient’s trachea is not cleared, for example by the Heimlich Maneuver.
Childbirth.
Cramps in muscles due to lactic acid build up caused either by inadequate oxygenation of muscle or lack of water or salt.
Joint dislocation.
Diving disorders resulting from too much pressure.
Near drowning or asphyxiation.
Gastrointestinal bleeding.
Gender-specific conditions, such as dysmenorrhea and testicular torsion.
Heart attack, or inadequate blood flow to the blood vessels supplying the heart muscle.
Heat stroke, also known as sunstroke or hyperthermia, which tends to occur during heavy
exercise in high humidity, or with inadequate water, though it may occur spontaneously in some chronically ill persons. Sunstroke, especially when the victim has been unconscious, often causes major damage to body systems such as brain, kidney, liver, gastric tract. Unconsciousness for more than two hours usually leads to permanent disability. Emergency treatment involves rapid cooling of the patient.
Heat syncope, another stage in the same process as heat stroke, occurs under similar conditions as heat stroke and is not distinguished from the latter by some authorities.
Heavy bleeding, treated by applying pressure (manually and later with a pressure bandage) to the wound site and elevating the limb if possible.
Hyperglycemia, or diabetic coma.
Hypoglycemia, or insulin shock.
Hypothermia, or Exposure, occurs when a person’s core body temperature falls below 33.7°C (92.6°F). First aid for a mildly hypothermic patient includes rewarming, but rewarming a severely hypothermic person could result in a fatal arrhythmia, an irregular heart rhythm.
Insect and animal bites and stings.
Muscle strain.
Poisoning, which can occur by injection, inhalation, absorption, or ingestion.
Seizures, or a malfunction in the electrical activity in the brain. Three types of seizures include a
grand mal (which usually features convulsions as well as temporary respiratory abnormalities, change in skin complexion, etc) and petit mal (which usually features twitching, rapid blinking, and/or fidgeting as well as altered consciousness and temporary respiratory abnormalities).
Sprain, a temporary dislocation of a joint that immediately reduces automatically but may result in ligament damage.
Stroke, a temporary loss of blood supply to the brain.
Sucking chest wound, a life threatening hole in the chest which can cause the chest cavity to fill with air and prevent the lung from filling, treated by covering with an occlusive dressing to let air out but not in.
Toothache, which can result in severe pain and loss of the tooth but is rarely life threatening, unless over time the infection spreads into the bone of the jaw and starts osteomyelitis.
Wounds and bleeding, including laceration, incision and abrasion, and avulsion.
Pocket First Aid & CPR Guide
Be prepared 24/7 for a medical emergency.
Whether you’re at home, on the road, or in the woods, Jive Media’s Pocket First Aid & CPR Guide is at your fingertips with concise, clear instructions to care for you and your loved ones.
Dozens of articles, including CPR, the Heimlich Maneuver, bites, bruises, burns, seizures, diabetic emergencies, and many more. All articles are stored on your iPhone, so you can provide first aid even when out of cell phone range.
Enter your medical information on the My Info tab. Save your doctor’s contact information along with your hospital, emergency contacts, allergies, and medications. You can also save your insurance information for quick access.
First aid can and does save lives. Be as prepared as possible!
Features:
- Articles are grouped by category for quick access
- First aid instructions are available even when out of cell-phone range. Perfect for wilderness outings.
- Linked articles, for quick access
- First aid kit information
- Save you medical information for quick retrieval. Look up your doctor or emergency contacts with a single click.
- Store your insurance information in an easy-to-access location.
You surely got a paper guiding you to the other projects of which one of them was first aid guide no ? if not then here it is
Prepare a pocket guide on First Aid for your school. The First Aid pocket guide should contain aid that needs to be given for fractures, poisoning, cuts and burns, heat and cold wave and other threats that are prevalent in that area. The content shared in the guide should be supported with adequate pictures so as to give a clear and elaborate understanding about the topic. Choose awareness campaign strategy for either senior citizens or illiterate people and prepare a brief write-up.
(Note for the Teachers: The project can be carried out by a group of students in a class and work can be equally divided amongst the students so that the teachers are able to evaluate them easily. Doctors, local health practitioners, trained volunteers of Red Cross and professionals from other agencies/bodies/institutes, proficient in this field can be consulted to prepare the first-aid pocket guide. This guide can be printed by the school administration and shared with all the students, teachers and other staff members of the school. It can be used as a ready reckoner for any First Aid related information.
Disaster Management Working Group
Volunteers for Haiti- More Hurt than Help?
Trouble was, that was all they had in a land where food, water, shelter and transportation are at a desperate premium, said Laura Blank, a disaster communications manager on the ground for World Vision, a Christian humanitarian aid group with long ties to the country.
“They seemed very eager and very passionate about helping the people of Haiti, but they didn’t have a ride to get out of the airport,” said Blank, who had to direct the pair to assistance.
More than a week after a magnitude-7 earthquake devastated the country, disaster organizers say they’re seeing the first signs of a problem that can hinder even the most ambitious recovery efforts: good intentions gone wrong.
From volunteer medical teams who show up uninvited, to stateside donors who ship boxes of unusable household goods, misdirected compassion can actually tax scarce resources, costing time, money, energy — and lives, experts say.
“Everyone wants to be a hero. Everyone wants to help,” said Dr. Thomas Kirsch, co-director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Refugee and Disaster Response. “It’s not the way to do it.”
Even a medical crew from his own school — Kirsch declined to identify them — arrived in Haiti so ill-prepared they had to seek sustenance from non-governmental organizations.
“They had no bedding, supplies or food,” he said. “They ended up glomming onto some of the NGOs.”
Volunteers simply show up
What to do with well-meaning volunteers is not a new problem. In every disaster, large numbers of people simply show up to help. A handbook published by California disaster officials estimates organizers can count on 50,000 “convergent” volunteers after any severe earthquake. After the Sept. 11 terror attacks, more than 40,000 unsolicited volunteers arrived at Ground Zero in New York.
In the U.S. and around the world, aid organizations are walking a fine line, trying to encourage skilled professionals who can provide indispensable assistance — and waving off those who might not be
up to the task. At the federal Center for International Disaster Information, a stern note warns the well-intentioned:
“Volunteers without prior disaster relief experience are generally not selected for relief assignments,” it reads. “Most offers of another body to drive trucks, set up tents, and feed children are not accepted.”
It’s an effort to help would-be Samaritans recognize the reality of the situation, said CIDI director Suzanne H. Brooks.
“It’s very romantic in the TV and movies,” she said. “They think it’s flying in for a weekend. They need to think of it in terms of months.”
Those best suited to help are probably already there, experts said. They’re trained crews who not only have experience working in disasters, but also in developing nations, Kirsch said. The best teams also have a command of Haitian Creole and French, if possible.
When teams arrive without those skills and without their own supplies, they drain resources that could better be used for actual victims, said Dr. Kristi L. Koenig, an emergency physician at the University of California, Irvine, who specializes in disaster response.
“Unless you’re part of a team before the disaster happens with a formal mission, you’re going to be part of the problem,” she said.
“Most people do quite well, but about 10 percent don’t,” he said. “They end up totally freaking out and having to be evacuated.”
Winter coats and high-heeled shoes?
A different but equally pressing problem is the flood of ill-advised donations that aid agencies already are facing, organizers said. A handful of “Help Haiti” food and clothing drives across the country are inspiring cringes among some workers, said Diana Rothe-Smith, executive director of the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster, a coalition of agencies.
“I would strongly recommend that no donation drives be conducted unless there’s an existing organization on the ground, in Haiti, that has asked for the help,” Rothe-Smith said. “It does pile up very quickly.”
Donations of old clothes, canned goods, water and outdated prescriptions are accumulating, said Brooks. While such items sound useful, they’re actually expensive to sort, to transport and to distribute, she said. Cast-off drugs can be dangerous.
Oftentimes, the household items donated are simply not useful to the disaster victims they’re intended to help.
“I guarantee you someone is going to send a winter coat or high-heeled shoes,” Brooks said.
In fact, after the tsunami in Indonesia in 2004, aid organizers in Sri Lanka were forced to deal with donations of stiletto shoes, expired cans of salmon, evening gowns and even thong panties, according to news reports. In Florida, a truckload of mink coats showed up during the 2004 hurricane season, Rothe-Smith said, a likely tax write-off for a retailer having trouble pushing furs.
The compassion behind some donations is understandable — and laudable, she added. People see dire images on television or in news reports and they want to help.
“It seems to make logical sense to go through your own cupboard and gather those items,” Rothe-Smith said.
The reality, however, is that inappropriate donations actually do more harm than good.
“If you buy a can of peas and it costs 59 cents, it’ll cost about $80 to get it where it needs to go,” Rothe-Smith said.
Mathematics of donation favor cash
Many agencies try to motivate donors with the mathematics of the situation. Jeff Nene, a spokesman for Convoy of Hope, a Springfield, Mo., agency that feeds 11,000 children a day in Haiti, urges cash donations that allow his group to buy in bulk from large suppliers and retailers.
“When people give $1, it translates into $7 in the field,” he said. “If they spend $5 for bottled water, that’s nice and it makes them feel good, but probably it costs us more than $5 to send it. If they give us $5, we can get $35 worth of water.”
That’s a sentiment echoed by virtually every aid agency.
“I would really say at this point, honestly, right now, money is the best thing to give,” Rothe-Smith said.
Donors can find vetted agencies helping in Haiti on sites such as Charity Navigator.
Still, trying to direct the flood of compassion can be tricky, Nene acknowledged.
“Some people get a little miffed by it. They think they’re trying to help and when you don’t receive it in that attitude and spirit, they get upset,” he said.
Latest updates and pictures from the BP oil spill
- BP's containment operation is now consistently capturing over 20,000 barrels each day. On Saturday the company claims to have captured or flared a total of 22,750 barrels. The first 12 hours of Sunday saw 7,935 barrels collected and 4,075 barrels flared. The total amount of oil leaking is still projected to be anywhere from 35,000 to 60,000 barrels of oil. By the end of the week BP hopes to add a third vessel to the containment effort which may increase capacity to 53,000 barrels per day.
- Tropical Storm Alex moved over the Yucatan peninsula and will now head into the Gulf of Mexico. There some forecasts have it strengthening into a hurricane before coming ashore in Mexico. At this time, it appears the storm system will not directly impact the BP oil spill which is good new for the relief effort. Click here for the most recent projection of the storm system.
- For the first time oil is now coming ashore in Mississippi due to the prevailing winds of the area. Previously, the state had only seen "tar balls" come across their shores. Mississippi now reluctantly joins Florida, Alabama, and Louisiana in the group of states impacted by heavy oil.
- BP's total cost for the spill now exceed $2.65 billion dollars. The total costs are expected to far exceed that, especially when the $20 billion escrow account is factored in the equation.
- The most recent projection of the oil spill has it impacting a large area across the Gulf Coast. Generally, the spill has tended to shift north and east over the past few days and that trend appears to be continuing with these projections.
WHY THE DISASTER IN HAITI WAS PREVENTABLE
During the Clinton administration, I helped lead an interagency effort to assist the country after our intervention there in 1994. Our reasons for wanting to help were not, of course, entirely or even primarily charitable. While we acted out of a sincere commitment on the part of a president who is now the U.N. special envoy to that battered country, we naturally also worried that further social disintegration would result in waves of unwanted immigrants arriving on our shores. Viewing tiny Haiti primarily as a source of problems for America has been—after neglect—the single most important driver of U.S. policies toward that country since its independence.
Traveling regularly to Port-au-Prince, I could not help but be struck by Haiti’s vibrancy or its largely untapped promise. Nor, sadly, could I ignore the deprivation or the petty infighting among the island’s elites that blocked Haitians from the few opportunities at progress that ever wafted across their shores. We tried to help, to organize business missions, to mobilize funding of local projects, to apply comparatively low-voltage policy paddles to the heart of a nearly lifeless economic victim. But given the island’s manifold, often heartbreaking, problems—weak governance, feeble infrastructure, illiteracy—it was clear that our efforts would likely be only palliative.
And it was also clear that America’s interest would wane and Haiti would remain on life support. Year to year, such countries receive just enough aid for them to fade from our consciousness and consciences. Development dollars seem to have two purposes: buying friends we may need to advance specific national interests and renting a little peace of mind by postponing calamity. But inevitably the money is too little, and countries like Haiti come crashing into our lives with the next crisis—almost invariably a crisis that is more costly in human and financial terms than the steps we might have taken to prevent or mitigate it in the first place.
Weep as one might at the pictures now streaming out of Port-au-Prince, what is sadder still is that it is just the latest example of a blight to which the international community has devoted too little attention and too few resources. Take every terror attack in the past 20 years. Add every airline crash. Add SARS or H1N1. Add many of the diseases whose causes are championed by high-profile telethons and gala fundraisers. The total death toll pales when compared with what might be called the world’s megadisasters. Before Haiti, an estimated 70,000 people perished in 2008’s earthquake in Sichuan, China. Before that almost 150,000 died when the cyclone Nargis struck Burma. In 2005, the death toll from an earthquake in the mountains of Kashmir approached 90,000. The year before, in the greatest such recent disaster, the Indian Ocean tsunami killed perhaps 230,000.
While the events seem disparate, in each case telltale traits recur. Fragile communities of the world’s most vulnerable people were forced by circumstance to root themselves in treacherous soil—near shorelines but below or too near sea level, on mountainsides, and in cities along fault lines. As in the case of Haiti, scientists warned that the situations were precarious. As in the case of Haiti, local governments failed—often due to lack of resources—to establish or enforce minimum building codes or to put in place the infrastructure that could make warning, escape, or rescue likely.
These stunning calamities are almost inevitably reported as “out of the blue” events, “acts of God,” proof of fate’s fickleness. But in fact they are a class of global threat as real and as manageable as pandemics or many of the other problems with which the international community grapples. We could take several more meaningful steps to prevent natural disasters from becoming megadisasters: establishing and effectively promoting best practices for building, safety inspection, and remedial construction that can work in impoverished settings; sharing technical know-how; providing early-warning technologies; better training societies and preparing the international community to respond; providing essential infrastructure; and where necessary relocating communities or providing needed sea walls, retaining walls, structural supports, survivable power, water systems, and first-response capacity.
Organizations like the United Nations have made earnest and periodic efforts to address these concerns. But the results have clearly fallen far short of what is required. Would it be expensive to promote these changes more fully? By what measure? Tens of billions? Yes. Hundreds of billions? Perhaps. But compared to the cost of the war in Iraq or the Wall Street bailout? Just a fraction. To the human cost of the disasters themselves? Incalculably less.
Current trends—from rising seas and the changing severe weather patterns associated with global warming to the rapid, often poorly planned urbanization of the developing world—mean megadisasters will only become more likely. Wouldn’t it be fitting—and a sign that we appreciated the true costs of what has happened in tragic Haiti—if the rebuilding there became a case study in how the international community can work together to develop new standards, new designs, and a genuine commitment to reducing the risk of such calamities in the future? A reborn Port-au-Prince could be a showcase for ideas about affordable, durable housing, for enhanced regional cooperation—and for how we can apply lessons that have been learned at an unfathomably great cost.
Rothkopf is a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and president of Garten Rothkopf, an international consultancy. He served as U.S. deputy undersecretary of commerce for international trade during the Clinton administration.
Thick oil soils Mississippi shore, storm looms
Miss./CAMPECHE, Mexico (Reuters) - Large patches of thick oil from BP Plc's Gulf of Mexico oil spill washed ashore in Mississippi for the first time on Sunday while the Atlantic hurricane season's first named storm posed an uncertain threat to the gulf.
The oil spill, which began on April 20, has caused an economic and environmental disaster along the U.S. Gulf Coast, threatening fisheries, tourism and wildlife.
Tropical depression Alex moved into the southwestern gulf, prompting the closure of two key Mexican oil ports, and was likely on Monday to regain tropical storm status, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
Forecasters expect Alex to make landfall again as a hurricane early on Thursday between Brownsville, Texas, and Tuxpan de Rodriguez Cano in Mexico, sparing BP's oil collection efforts in the Gulf.
The British newspaper the Sunday Times reported that BP's drilling of relief wells, intended to plug its leaking deep-sea well, is going more quickly than expected and the company could stop the flow of oil in mid-July. That would be about two weeks earlier than BP's current public projection of early August.
The newspaper cited sources with knowledge of the operation. A BP spokesperson declined to comment on the report and referred to a company statement on Friday that the two relief wells -- begun on May 2 and May 16 -- were estimated to take approximately three months to finish.
Louisiana's fragile wetlands have been hardest hit by the oil but Mississippi had escaped damage until Sunday, although some oil had tainted its barrier islands. Oil has also come ashore in Alabama and Florida's Gulf coast.
Oil from the spill hit two tourist beaches at Ocean Springs, about 10 miles east of Biloxi, Mississippi, and a beach used by fishermen close to an inland marsh.
Mississippi state officials and the U.S. Coast Guard, who said they expect more oil to arrive, were waiting on BP contractors to start cleaning up.
"We cannot clean up or catch the oil until BP gets here. They have all of our people," said Earl Etheridge, a spokesman for Mississippi's Department of Environmental Quality.
ALEX AWAITS
Alex, the first named storm of the 2010 Atlantic hurricane season, had sustained winds of 35 mph and was about 55 miles south-southwest of Campeche. The system was moving west-northwest at 9 mph.
Even if it misses the spill area, large waves could hamper clean-up efforts from Louisiana to Florida from the spill.
Shell Oil Co evacuated nonessential workers from production platforms and drilling rigs in U.S.-regulated areas of the Gulf oil fields on Saturday, anticipating Alex's impact, and on Sunday shut subsea production at two platforms.
Meteorologists predict a very active Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to November 30.
The U.S. government estimates that up to 60,000 barrels of oil (2.5 million gallons/9.5 million liters) per day are spewing from BP's damaged well on the seabed about a mile below the surface.
While awaiting the completion of the relief wells to finally plug the leak, BP has been using two oil collection systems to prevent some of the oil from its ruptured well from spewing into the sea. BP said on Sunday its crews had collected or burned off 22,750 barrels of oil on Saturday.
Equipment going to the leak site this week could raise daily collection to 53,000 barrels, officials say, and a review is scheduled of a system that may boost it to 80,000 barrels.
The oil spill was a topic at a weekend meeting in Canada of leaders of the Group of 20 world's biggest economies.
G20 sources said the summit communique included a reference to the spill and urged the sharing of best practices to protect marine life, prevent accidents and deal with the consequences when accidents occur.
Shares of BP have been savaged since the crisis started and fell another 6 percent to a 14-year low on Friday.
The costs to BP include but are not limited to a $20 billion compensation fund it set up under U.S. pressure. BP said it has paid out $2.35 billion so far in clean-up and compensation costs.
Tropical depression Alex moved into the southwestern gulf, prompting the closure of two key Mexican oil ports, and was likely on Monday to regain tropical storm status, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
Forecasters expect Alex to make landfall again as a hurricane early on Thursday between Brownsville, Texas, and Tuxpan de Rodriguez Cano in Mexico, sparing BP's oil collection efforts in the Gulf.
The British newspaper the Sunday Times reported that BP's drilling of relief wells, intended to plug its leaking deep-sea well, is going more quickly than expected and the company could stop the flow of oil in mid-July. That would be about two weeks earlier than BP's current public projection of early August.
The newspaper cited sources with knowledge of the operation. A BP spokesperson declined to comment on the report and referred to a company statement on Friday that the two relief wells -- begun on May 2 and May 16 -- were estimated to take approximately three months to finish.
Louisiana's fragile wetlands have been hardest hit by the oil but Mississippi had escaped damage until Sunday, although some oil had tainted its barrier islands. Oil has also come ashore in Alabama and Florida's Gulf coast.
Oil from the spill hit two tourist beaches at Ocean Springs, about 10 miles east of Biloxi, Mississippi, and a beach used by fishermen close to an inland marsh.
Mississippi state officials and the U.S. Coast Guard, who said they expect more oil to arrive, were waiting on BP contractors to start cleaning up.
"We cannot clean up or catch the oil until BP gets here. They have all of our people," said Earl Etheridge, a spokesman for Mississippi's Department of Environmental Quality.
ALEX AWAITS
Alex, the first named storm of the 2010 Atlantic hurricane season, had sustained winds of 35 mph and was about 55 miles south-southwest of Campeche. The system was moving west-northwest at 9 mph.
Even if it misses the spill area, large waves could hamper clean-up efforts from Louisiana to Florida from the spill.
Shell Oil Co evacuated nonessential workers from production platforms and drilling rigs in U.S.-regulated areas of the Gulf oil fields on Saturday, anticipating Alex's impact, and on Sunday shut subsea production at two platforms.
Meteorologists predict a very active Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to November 30.
The U.S. government estimates that up to 60,000 barrels of oil (2.5 million gallons/9.5 million liters) per day are spewing from BP's damaged well on the seabed about a mile below the surface.
While awaiting the completion of the relief wells to finally plug the leak, BP has been using two oil collection systems to prevent some of the oil from its ruptured well from spewing into the sea. BP said on Sunday its crews had collected or burned off 22,750 barrels of oil on Saturday.
Equipment going to the leak site this week could raise daily collection to 53,000 barrels, officials say, and a review is scheduled of a system that may boost it to 80,000 barrels.
The oil spill was a topic at a weekend meeting in Canada of leaders of the Group of 20 world's biggest economies.
G20 sources said the summit communique included a reference to the spill and urged the sharing of best practices to protect marine life, prevent accidents and deal with the consequences when accidents occur.
Shares of BP have been savaged since the crisis started and fell another 6 percent to a 14-year low on Friday.
The costs to BP include but are not limited to a $20 billion compensation fund it set up under U.S. pressure. BP said it has paid out $2.35 billion so far in clean-up and compensation costs.
Volunteers in Action
Oil Spill: SOS Calling for Intervention of a Higher Order
Oil Spill In Gulf Of Mexico
SOS – Animals, Plants, Oceans Caught in Giant Oil Spill
A most severe disaster has occurred in the Gulf of Mexico, polluting the waters more than has ever been seen. Thousands of animals are at risk. Crude oil is pouring out of the ocean floor after an under-water well exploded during its drilling. The oil slick could become the nation’s worst environmental disaster. For more info, see group, Animals of the Earth
With humility we call on our Divine Source
and the angelic realm to support us
in cleansing the oil from the Gulf of Mexico.
We welcome and pray for intervention of a Higher Order
to step in and provide a solution,
that is in accordance with the
Divine Plan for our ascending Earth.
Move those involved rightly
in thought, word and deed
to to serve the highest good of all life concerned.
SOS – Animals, Plants, Oceans Caught in Giant Oil Spill
A most severe disaster has occurred in the Gulf of Mexico, polluting the waters more than has ever been seen. Thousands of animals are at risk. Crude oil is pouring out of the ocean floor after an under-water well exploded during its drilling. The oil slick could become the nation’s worst environmental disaster. For more info, see group, Animals of the Earth
and the angelic realm to support us
in cleansing the oil from the Gulf of Mexico.
We welcome and pray for intervention of a Higher Order
to step in and provide a solution,
that is in accordance with the
Divine Plan for our ascending Earth.
Move those involved rightly
in thought, word and deed
to to serve the highest good of all life concerned.
"They teach people about how to cope with stress and provide crisis intervention."
The NY Red Cross Chapter’s Disaster Mental Health Leadership Team is the recipient of 2010 Leadership Award. The work of the team’s nine volunteer members—Jill Bellison, Patricia Berliner, Dottie Brier, Linda Certo, Michael Cronin, Athena Drews, Eileen Dwyer, Fred Mazor and Mary Tramontin—is being recognized for its profound impact on the Chapter’s mission.
Red Cross mental-health volunteers are one of the cornerstones of the organization’s relief efforts. Recognizing how vital immediate counseling is to people experiencing disaster trauma, these workers provide on-the-spot emergency mental-health support, not just to people affected by disaster, but also to first responders and to Red Cross staff assigned to disaster relief operations. They’ve been there to support morale, lend an empathetic ear and offer counseling after fatal fires, airplane crashes, crane collapses, ice storms, hurricanes, floods and the 9/11 terrorist attacks. They teach people about how to cope with stress and provide crisis intervention and appropriate referral services when necessary.
The Greater New York Chapter’s Mental Health Leadership Team had its genesis 15 years ago, when a small group of mental-health professionals in New York City developed a disaster mental-health program at the NY Red Cross modeled on one initiated by the National Red Cross two years earlier. Made up of clinical social workers and psychologists, this NY leadership team grew in volunteer membership over the next few years and was responsible for all aspects of the mental-health counseling until 2001, when a position for a staff mental-health professional was established.
Over time, “the compassionate leadership of these volunteers was reflected by the manner in which the mental-health program became integrated into Chapter activities and by the acceptance of the idea that a mental-health support model was helpful,” says Diane Ryan, NY Red Cross Director of Disaster Mental Health.
Amazingly, many of the team’s members have served for over a decade, including three of the team’s founding members—Patricia Berliner, Dottie Brier and Mary Tramontin—ensuring a 15-year span of consistency and quality service. The team continues to assist by collaborating on protocols; ensuring quality of client care; mentoring new volunteers at exercises and disaster sites; instructing disaster courses which have trained hundreds of additional mental-health volunteers; teaching Psychological First Aid to our regular volunteers; representing the Chapter at local, national and international mental health venues; sharing on-call responsibilities and covering for the director in her absence.
The Greater New York Chapter’s Mental Health Leadership Team had its genesis 15 years ago, when a small group of mental-health professionals in New York City developed a disaster mental-health program at the NY Red Cross modeled on one initiated by the National Red Cross two years earlier. Made up of clinical social workers and psychologists, this NY leadership team grew in volunteer membership over the next few years and was responsible for all aspects of the mental-health counseling until 2001, when a position for a staff mental-health professional was established.
Over time, “the compassionate leadership of these volunteers was reflected by the manner in which the mental-health program became integrated into Chapter activities and by the acceptance of the idea that a mental-health support model was helpful,” says Diane Ryan, NY Red Cross Director of Disaster Mental Health.
Amazingly, many of the team’s members have served for over a decade, including three of the team’s founding members—Patricia Berliner, Dottie Brier and Mary Tramontin—ensuring a 15-year span of consistency and quality service. The team continues to assist by collaborating on protocols; ensuring quality of client care; mentoring new volunteers at exercises and disaster sites; instructing disaster courses which have trained hundreds of additional mental-health volunteers; teaching Psychological First Aid to our regular volunteers; representing the Chapter at local, national and international mental health venues; sharing on-call responsibilities and covering for the director in her absence.
Would federal intervention in oil disaster make U.S. liable?
Washington (CNN) -- Nearly seven weeks into the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster, the Obama administration is facing increasing calls to take over the cleanup operation from beleaguered oil giant BP.
While the government has the legal means of doing that, the consequences might ultimately hurt the government.
On Tuesday, Attorney General Eric Holder announced the Justice Department has launched a criminal and civil investigation into devastating spill and BP's actions. He said the investigation, which began weeks ago, would be comprehensive and aggressive. He also said federal officials will prosecute anyone who broke the law.
CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin said an intervention into the cleanup would only hurt the government's litigation against BP.
"Undoubtedly, one of the defenses of the BP people here, both the corporation and the individuals involved, is going to be, 'Hey, the federal government was involved with this every step of the way. You knew what we were doing. You approved it. You approved all our actions. How can you turn around and prosecute us?' "
Toobin added that while BP's potential argument might be politically infuriating, it is actually a good legal argument in court, "which would make a case like this pretty difficult to prove."
President George H.W. Bush, during the Exxon Valdez tanker spill off the coast of Alaska in 1989, turned down a request by Alaska's governor to declare the incident a major disaster. That declaration, under the Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, would commit federal resources and control over the cleanup efforts.
According to the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service, the rationale for the turndowns was that a declaration by Bush "would hinder the government's litigation against Exxon that promised substantial compensation for the incident."
Video: Jindal: Do this or get out of the way
Video: Reich: Govt. should take over BP operations
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The CRS report, which is prepared for members of Congress, said that such a declaration carries expectations that are difficult to manage, which "may be a consideration for the oil spill in the Gulf Coast."
Camilo Salas, an attorney specializing in environmental issues and based in New Orleans, Louisiana, said the law is on the government's side.
Federal statutes provide that a government takeover of the cleanup would not remove the well's operator of any responsibility, Salas said.
"So I don't think that if the government takes over then, BP can say 'Well, you took over, now our involvement is over and we have no liability or responsibility for anything that happens going forward,' " he said. "They still would be liable under the law."
The government has a number of legal paths it could pursue.
Holder said Justice Department lawyers are examining possible violations of the Clean Water Act and the Oil Pollution Act of 1990. He also said prosecutors are looking into potential violations of the Migratory Bird Treaty and Endangered Species Acts, which provide penalties for injury and death to wildlife.
Read more on the DOJ's investigation
Under the OPA, "offshore facilities are required to maintain evidence of financial responsibility of $150 million and vessels and deepwater ports must provide evidence of financial responsibility up to the maximum applicable liability amount. Claims for removal costs and damages may be asserted directly against the guarantor providing evidence of financial responsibility."
William Buzbee, a law professor at Emory University and director of the Emory Environmental and Natural Resources Law Program, said the case could set a precedent.
"If the government acts and then the blame game starts -- and people try to figure out who should pay -- what the government does or doesn't do will probably influence how future regulatory proceedings and litigation proceed."
Buzbee, a member of the regulatory think tank Center for Progressive Reform, added the idea that the government would be liable for something wrong is especially difficult if the government is acting in an emergency setting.
Meanwhile, calls for governmental action and new regulations are growing louder.
"The president should temporarily take over BP's Gulf operations," said Robert Reich, a former Labor Department secretary under President Clinton. "We have a national emergency on our hands. No president would allow a nuclear reactor owned by a private for-profit company to melt down in the United States while remaining under the direct control of that company. The meltdown in the Gulf is the environmental equivalent."
Reich, writing on his website, has called for BP to be put under temporary receivership, which he said gives the government authority to take over the operations in the Gulf until the spill is stopped.
"This is the only way the public will known what's going on, be confident enough resources are being put to stopping the gusher, ensure BP's strategy is correct, know the government has enough clout to force BP to use a different one if necessary and be sure the president is ultimately in charge," he wrote.
While Obama has the legal means to conduct a takeover, a big question is centered on whether it would help the situation. Administration officials, and outside experts, said the government lacks the technology to effectively clean up the spill. BP, they said, has the financial and technological means.
Even the president's critics recognize the limits to what the government can accomplish.
"They can fire BP and take it over," Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tennessee, said Sunday on the CBS program "Face the Nation." "But the truth is, the federal government probably doesn't have the capacity to do that."
Obama indicated Tuesday the laws may change or be created as a result of the disaster, especially when it comes to regulation.
Obama, who recently created an oil spill commission through an executive order, noted that the panel is authorized to hold public hearings and "request information from government, from not-for-profit organizations, and from experts in the oil and gas industry ... as well as from relevant companies, including BP, Transocean, Halliburton and others."
Christopher Mann, an environmental expert at the nonpartisan Pew Environment Group, said the commission will likely call for stricter regulation and new operating procedures.
Because of deregulation in past presidencies, "we're paying the piper. ... Sooner or later, stuff happens. It's just a shame it had to happen in such a huge way," he said.
"If any good can come from this, it could be the push for more balanced regulation that doesn't tip so blindingly for production -- but one that considers the real environmental risks and plans for worst-case scenarios," he added. "In light of an accident this horrendous, you have to really wonder if it's worth the risk."
Lessons Learned About Crisis Intervention After Hurricane Andrew
Crisis Intervention Overview
Natural disasters create disequilibrium in people that is characterized by disorganized thoughts and behaviors. Crisis intervention following a natural disaster seeks to restore clients to a state of equilibrium. The primary task of the crisis intervention counselor is to restore a sense of control and thus bring life back to some semblance of order.
Often mental health volunteers go through brief American Red Cross training before being thrown into the arena of helping survivors of a disaster. While most mental health professionals already have some training and experience with crisis intervention; relatively few have prior experience of crisis intervention following a natural disaster.
Most theories accept that there is an initial stage of shock, denial or numbness immediately following a natural disaster. It is also generally accepted by most mental health professionals that social support is the most important ingredient to helping survivors cope with the aftermath of the disaster. While most theories recognize the potential for people to return to equilibrium; there is less acknowledgement of the potential for people to actually have growth or a reduction of the pre-disaster state.
Crisis Intervention Approach to Helping Survivors of a Natural Disaster
Many professionals view growth as an ambitious secondary goal of working with survivors of disasters. The approach taken in helping survivors of natural disasters is to support the client and mobilize existing support networks; and reduce cognitive distortions of the situation and provide material information. Other professionals such as Shelby and Tredinnick go beyond this approach and delve into activating the client’s potential to extend their previous areas of strength.
Shelby and Tredinnick found that working outside the usual approach showed results that were perhaps more effective. They went to the people who were standing in lines for hours trying to access other services from government agencies. They offered water and engaged people in small group discussions. These informal discussions led to people learning alternate responses to others and increased self-referral for more formal sessions.
During formal sessions these two mental health professionals used various therapy techniques to help the survivors. Children were helped more easily through play therapy, art therapy, and appropriate physical contact such as hugs or cuddling by the counselor when given the okay by the client.
Relationships between parents and children are often disrupted or inadequacies revealed during a natural disaster. Crisis intervention methods have not always addressed these concerns in the past. Recent experience has shown that the belief systems and values of the parents can hinder the nurturance that children often need in the aftermath of a natural disaster. Parents may not recognize the fears or reactions of the child as being related to the crisis and may in fact punish the child for behaviors that are the manifestations of anxiety or fears caused by the disaster.
Outcomes for Crisis Intervention for Survivors of a Natural Disaster
Working with children survivors has challenges; but also many rewards. Shelby and Tredinnick illustrate this idea in their article by citing several examples of their work with the children survivors of Hurricane Andrew. One example is a child who drew a picture of the hurricane was able to express his fear, anger and sadness at the picture; then wadded the picture up and threw it away. This symbolic gesture helped the child release many fears and to regain a sense of control over his future.
Evidence of families becoming stronger and individuals displaying growth in their abilities to resolve issues and cope with the tragedies that occurred are further examples of the rewards that mental health professionals and other volunteers gain by helping survivors of a natural disaster. While these rewards are shown in the course of non-crisis counseling; crisis intervention counseling has a more immediate effect and often the results are easier to recognize.
Source:
Shelby, Janine S. and Tredinnick, Michael G. “Crisis intervention with survivors of natural disaster: Lessons from Hurricane Andrew.” (Article accessed from CAMFT.org July 5, 2010)
The copyright of the article “Lessons Learned About Crisis Intervention After Hurricane Andrew”is owned by Cheryl Weldon. Permission to republish “Lessons Learned About Crisis Intervention After Hurricane Andrew” in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
Fast Break - Mobile Mental Health Treatment Clinic for Children
Children are the first and most deeply traumatized by homelessness, loss, violence and disaster. They are the family members least able to withstand the emotional battering of poverty. Children born into poverty experience psychiatric problems at a significantly higher rate than children who are not poor. However, children who receive appropriate therapeutic intervention early in their development are much more able to experience success later in life.
ABC established New York City's first mobile mental health crisis and disaster team for children in 1996. Fast Break is a mobile mental health clinic that serves children who have not had access to traditional psychotherapeutic services.
Headquartered at Echo Park, Fast Break helps children and families cope with severe emotional pain. Fast Break’s mental health staff also responds to crises and disasters which have included school shootings, suicides, church fires, plane crashes, the terror attacks, the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, accidental deaths and murders by providing mental health assessment, counseling, support and therapeutic childcare.
Fast Break’s services include psychiatric, psychological, educational evaluation and treatment interventions in a wide array of modalities including play therapy and individual, group and family counseling as well as cognitive-behavioral and psycho-pharmacological treatment. ABC's team of psychiatrists, psychologists and psychiatric social workers can be summoned by parents, mental health workers, police officers, school personnel, any caring adults or the children themselves. The mental health staff goes to where the child is, whether that is at home, at school, in a police station, in a playground or in the street, and works with insight, devotion and compassion to provide immediate, substantial and long-term relief.
In the last year, Fast Break served 184 individual children along with their family members.
SWOOOSH
Fast Break SWOOSH - NYC Mental Health InterventionTwo new initiatives are appreciably expanding Fast Break and both are born out of ABC’s conviction that the benefits of early intervention are powerful and lasting.
Chosen by the New York State Office of Mental Health as the one and only Manhattan program for young children, Fast Break SWOOOSH will screen 2,000 children a year in Head Start and day care centers. The team works closely with teachers and families to help in the early identification of young children in need of therapeutic intervention. In conjunction with these screenings, Fast Break SWOOOSH has also instituted a Mental Health Consultation and Training Program which engages classroom teachers in an interpretation of challenging behavior that focuses on children’s strengths. Together, strategies are developed to increase the frequency of the kinds of positive classroom experiences that improve the likelihood for present and future school success.
Headquartered at Echo Park, Fast Break helps children and families cope with severe emotional pain. Fast Break’s mental health staff also responds to crises and disasters which have included school shootings, suicides, church fires, plane crashes, the terror attacks, the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, accidental deaths and murders by providing mental health assessment, counseling, support and therapeutic childcare.
Fast Break’s services include psychiatric, psychological, educational evaluation and treatment interventions in a wide array of modalities including play therapy and individual, group and family counseling as well as cognitive-behavioral and psycho-pharmacological treatment. ABC's team of psychiatrists, psychologists and psychiatric social workers can be summoned by parents, mental health workers, police officers, school personnel, any caring adults or the children themselves. The mental health staff goes to where the child is, whether that is at home, at school, in a police station, in a playground or in the street, and works with insight, devotion and compassion to provide immediate, substantial and long-term relief.
In the last year, Fast Break served 184 individual children along with their family members.
SWOOOSH
Fast Break SWOOSH - NYC Mental Health InterventionTwo new initiatives are appreciably expanding Fast Break and both are born out of ABC’s conviction that the benefits of early intervention are powerful and lasting.
Chosen by the New York State Office of Mental Health as the one and only Manhattan program for young children, Fast Break SWOOOSH will screen 2,000 children a year in Head Start and day care centers. The team works closely with teachers and families to help in the early identification of young children in need of therapeutic intervention. In conjunction with these screenings, Fast Break SWOOOSH has also instituted a Mental Health Consultation and Training Program which engages classroom teachers in an interpretation of challenging behavior that focuses on children’s strengths. Together, strategies are developed to increase the frequency of the kinds of positive classroom experiences that improve the likelihood for present and future school success.
Gates Foundation Projects You’ve Probably Never Heard Of
Focused on education and health care–the two basic building blocks of any viable society–the Gates Foundation has become a leader in initiatives intended to prevent HIV/AIDS and to eradicate malaria.
In addition to these well-publicized campaigns, though, the Gates Foundation is hard at work on various other projects around the world. Here are five fascinating–and necessary–projects spearheaded by the Gates Foundation that you’ve probably never heard of:
1. Housing in the United States
Photo: Diego Cupolo
Homelessness has long been a problem in the U.S., but with the mortgage and foreclosure crisis affecting so many families, homelessness is threatening people previously insulated from this particular social problem.
Though the Gates Foundation has been committed to fair and affordable housing initiatives in the Washington State region since 2000, it has stepped up efforts to prevent homelessness, assist in rapid placement of homeless families, and work with partner agencies to provide newly homeless with employment opportunities that will help them recover economic stability.
2. Tobacco Prevention Around the World
Tobacco… it’s not a sexy issue. Though anti-smoking campaigns were popular in the U.S. a couple decades ago, tobacco-related initiatives have moved away from the purview of special interest groups and have become the concern of local governments, which have banned indoor smoking from Mexico City to Manhattan.
Photo: NeilsPhotography
Gates, however, isn’t interested in sexy issues; he’s interested in interventions that save lives.
10 million deaths a year are attributed to tobacco exposure–and with 80% of these deaths occurring in the developing world, it’s clear that tobacco education remains important in many areas.
3. Emergency & Disaster Intervention
Hurricane Katrina is a case study in developed countries’ emergency efforts gone awry, and the Gates Foundation is fully aware that no country is ever fully prepared to respond to emergencies and disasters, regardless of its infrastructure.
Special Coverage of the Sport in Post-Disaster Intervention Seminar 2008
OUR OBJECTIVES
Our Main Objectives is to equip local communities with innovative skills and appropriate knowledge for disaster risk reduction especially amongst the rural people of Kenya.
Flood Victims in Flood Prone Budalangi are at times forced to move to higher ground to seek shelter from the wrath of the wild waters. CODMI therefore provides rapid interventions through rescue and evacuation, Provision of temporary shelter, food, sanitation and medical supply services.
Specific Objectives
CODMI also has specific objectives which are;
a) Community Capacity Building through the creation of awareness and education for disaster risk reduction.
b) To establish community based plicies and institutional frameworkfor disaster risk management
c) To liase with and foster understandable partnership and co-operation between the local communities and other stakeholders in disaster risk management through advocacy, networking and collaboration.
Specific Objectives
CODMI also has specific objectives which are;
a) Community Capacity Building through the creation of awareness and education for disaster risk reduction.
b) To establish community based plicies and institutional frameworkfor disaster risk management
c) To liase with and foster understandable partnership and co-operation between the local communities and other stakeholders in disaster risk management through advocacy, networking and collaboration.
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