Bicycle Safety

          Make sure your bike matches your size and height. Make sure you can straddle the frame with both feet flat on the ground. Some safety equipment's are a chain guard, reflectors, a bell, and a orange safety flag. "A bicycle is a vehicle, just like an automobile. To ride one safely, you must know not only how to balance, but how to avoid the situations in which injuries often occur" (Handal 270).

More and more often adults are riding bikes while following outdate or incorrect rules of the road. "Bicycles are, in fact, generally subject to the same laws as other vehicles" (Handal 270).

The following tips will help you become a safer bike rider:

• Wear a helmet. Make sure the helmet fits snug and comfortable for your head shape and size
• Be predictable, obey traffic signals, road signs and pavement signs
• Be visible, make sure you are riding where drivers would expect to see you
• Turn, look, signal. Before you start a turn, turn your head and look behind you, then give the proper turn signal
• Watch our for intersections. Most bike and car accidents occur at intersections
• Be prepared to yield the right of way, especially when approaching other bikes or pedestrians
• Don't ride at night, if you must then make sure to wear reflective clothing
• Don't pass cars on the right, drivers won't be able to see you clearly
• Avoid falls. Use a smooth, consistent routine when stopping and starting

          From now on, when I ride my bike I always have a reflective sticker on the back of my bike to warn cars or pedestrians that I am near or approaching. I also wear some type of reflective clothing at night when riding to make it more easily for others to see me.

Have you thought about anything you should change when riding your bike after reading this post? If so, what?

How to Apply Cushion to a Injured Ankle

          If a joint is overstressed, the bones that meet at that joint may get disconnected, or dislocated. When this happens, there's usually a torn joint capsule and torn ligaments, and often, nerve injury. "If more pressure is put on a bone than it can stand, it will fracture (split or break). Open fractures(in which bone pierces the skin) can easily become infected" (Handal 72). 

          Its hard to tell a dislocated bone from a broken bone. Both are an emergency. I have sprained my ankle before in PE class while sprinting across the gym and around corners. I used these steps to help keep my ankle stay mobilized and have less pressure from walking afterward. These steps are also very helpful if you do not have the right type of material at the moment. The general first aid steps are the same for emergency's.

• If you suspect that the victim has  dislocation or broken bone, and there is severe bleeding, call EMS.
• If you cannot completely immobilize the injury at the scene by yourself, call EMS 

"To immobilize an injured ankle, put a pillow or folded blanket underneath the foot and ankle" (Handal 73).

Steps:

1. First wrap one end of the pillow around the ankle and tie it in 2 places
2. Then wrap the other end of the pillow around the toes and tie it in 1 place
3. Leave the toes exposed
4. Elevate the ankle

Have you ever been in an emergency where you've seen or had to cushion a sprained body part?

How to Apply a Pressure Bandage

          A minor would will stop bleeding by itself by forming a clot. With a serious injury, blood my flow from the wound so quickly that it does not have a chance to clot. Although, "If the bleeding stops, or if you need to free your hands to attend to other injuries or move the victim, a pressure bandage will hold dressings in place and maintain pressure on the wound" (Handal 67).  Make sure you have the right materials, and if able to, wash or clean the wound before bandaging to lower the change of infection. "Call EMS whenever bleeding isn't quickly controlled" (Handal 66).

To apply a pressure bandage, do the following:

1. Hold dressings/fabric firmly in place over the wound

2. Wrap a roller bandage or long strip of cloth firmly around the would, securing the dressings in place.

3. If the wound is on a limb, use overlapping turns. Do not wrap the bandage over and over the same spot

4. Split the end of the bandage into 2 strips, then tie the ends tight. Tie the knot directly over the wound

5. Check to be sure the pressure bandage is not too tight. It should be tight enough to maintain pressure on the wound, but not so tight that it cuts off circulation further down the arm or leg.

6. If you can't detect a pulse beyond the wound, or if the skin beyond the wound is turning bluish, the pressure bandage is too tight.

Once when my 3 year old cousin, fell against a table, we used these same steps to help secure and slow down the bleeding on his wound. It was one of the most effective ways to slow down the bleeding and cause blood loss. Have you ever been in a situation where you've seen or had to bandage yourself or someone? If so, what happened?

Driving with Children

          My book, "The American Red Cross" book explains how everyone regardless of age and no matter how short the trip, needs a safety restraint. The author, Kathleen A. Handal speaks about the rules in the car, "Don't set out until every passenger is buckled up. Since children are small, they are at greater risk for being thrown around the inside of the car or thrown from it during n accident" (Handal 281). She further explains that older children should sit in the backseat with seat belts fastened. Infants and young children needs special car seats because their bodies are not developed enough to withstand the pressure of an ordinary seat belt if a car crash occurs.

          Handal explains that, "Holding a child on your lap is not safe. Even if you are wearing your seatbelt, the child could be thrown out of your arms. Even if you've fastened the child in your lap with the safety belt, your child could be crushed by your weight in an accident" (Handal 281). This all explains why no one should break the rules with children, that following the rules would only prevent harm and be safe. This can also have a very bad impression on children that they can do in the future. When I was toddler, I was taught to always understand and trust the rules of the car inside. This caused me from flinging inside the car when my parents car got in a accident. 

Types of seats for children:

• An infant seat is needed for babies of up to about 20 lbs. These seats face the rear of the car. If an accident were to occur, the force of the impact will throw the baby's back against the delicate seat.
• A car seat is appropriate for children of about 20 -40 lbs. Car seats face the front and have a harness or shield or combination of both,
• A booster seat (designed for car use) is for children of about 30-60 lbs.

Other safety guidelines for driving with children:

• The back seat is safer than the front seat
• Never leave children unattended in the car
• Until children reach about age 6, use safety locks on the rear doors so they cannot let themselves out unexpectedly
• Look out for fingers when closing doors
• Lock automatic windows
• Never allow children to ride in the bed of a truck
• When letting children out of the car, make sure its towards to side walk and not the road
• Be sure there are no sharp objects showing anywhere, they can become a serious hazard

Have you or someone you know ever been in a situation that resulted from not following the rules? Even if you don't drive, has your thoughts about this topic change your opinion about having children in the car?

The American Red Cross First Aid & Safety: The Heimlich Maneuver

In my book "The American Red Cross: First Aid & Safety Handbook" I was taught and showed how to save a person's life by performing with rapid first aid for choking by doing abdominal thrusts, also called the Heimlich maneuver. My author Kathleen A. Handal explains that "choking is your body's way of trying to remove a foreign object (such as food) from the airway. A choking person's airway may be completely or partially blocked" (Handal 108). Without oxygen the brain can begin to die within 4-6 minutes. Some signs and symptoms of choking are grabbing of the throat with the hand, gagging, pale and bluish skin on face, weak, ineffective coughing; noisy breathing; high-pitched crowing sounds, convulsions and/or loss of consciousness.

"Choking is often associated with eating; alcohol consumption, trauma to the head or face, and young children" (Handal 108). Some warnings are:

• DO NOT interfere if the victim is coughing forcefully and has good air exchange. However, be ready to act instantly if the victim's air exchange worsens
• DO NOT pinch or choke an object that is lodged in the victim's throat. This might force it farther down the airway.

Steps to proceed with Heimlich:

First ask the victim if he or she is choking. If the victim can't answer, the obstruction is life threatening. Call EMS. Then tell the victim you are going to try to help and ask for permission to proceed.
1. Perform abdominal thrusts
2. Stand behind the victim
3. Wrap your arms around the victim's waist
4. Make a fist, place the thumb side of your fist in the middle of the victims abdomen, just above the navel and well below the lower tip with your outer hand
5. Grasps your fist with your other hand
6. Keeping your elbows out, press your fist with a quick, upward thrust into the victim's abdomen. Each thrust is a separate attempt to clear the victim's airway by forcing air out
7. Continue performing this maneuver until the obstruction is cleared or the victim loses consciousness

Have you ever been in a situation where you have almost or had performed the Heimlich maneuver, and what was the situation?