Posts Tagged ‘State Health Department’

Important Tips On How To Survive Any Disaster

Be prepared and stay calm. Be careful.

Hurricanes are considered natural disasters. To protect your family, it is essential to prepare reports on the advance preparation and recovery efforts after a hurricane. The following information will help you and your family to overcome the realities of an emergency like this.

Water Quality

Hurricanes, especially if accompanied by an increase in the tide or flooding, can contaminate the public water supply. Drinking contaminated water can cause illness. You can not assume that the water in an area affected by a hurricane is safe to drink.

It is possible that water purification plants are not operating in the area struck by a hurricane, even if they are, storm damage and flooding can contaminate waterways. Listen for public announcements about the safety of municipal water supply.

Water for drinking and cooking

Bottled water, boiled or treated water is safe to drink. The state health department or local can issue specific recommendations for boiling or treating drinking water in your area.

Below are some general rules on water for drinking and cooking. REMEMBER:

Do not use contaminated water for washing dishes, brushing teeth, washing and preparing food or making ice.

If you drink bottled water, know where it came from. Otherwise, water should be boiled or treated before drinking. Drink only bottled, boiled or treated water until analyzing the water and is determined to be safe.

Boiling water kills harmful bacteria and parasites. Boil water over high heat for one minute kills most organisms.

Water can be treated with chlorine or iodine tablets, or by mixing six drops (1 / 8 teaspoon) of chlorine bleach, unscented bleach (5.25 percent sodium hypochlorite) per gallon (4 liters approximately) water. Mix well and let stand for about thirty minutes. This treatment does not eliminate parasitic organisms.

Before reuse water containers, they should be rinsed with a bleach solution. Use water storage tanks and other containers with care. For example, water storage tanks for fire engines, as well as cans or bottles previously used may be contaminated with microbes or chemicals. Do not rely on devices for decontaminating water whose efficacy is not proven.

Handwashing in emergency situations

After an emergency, it may be difficult to find drinking water. However, it is important to wash hands to prevent disease. It is preferable to wash your hands with soap and water, but when water is not available, you can use alcohol-based products manufactured for sanitizing.

Health and hygiene

It is critical that you remember to perform basic hygiene practices during the emergency period.

Always wash your hands with water that has been boiled or disinfected and soap:

before preparing or eating food
after using the bathroom
after participating in cleanup activities, and
after handling articles contaminated with floodwater or sewage.

If the hurricane also produce flood waters may contain fecal material from overflowing sewage systems and agricultural and industrial waste. However, skin contact with floodwater does not, in itself a serious health risk.

REMEMBER

Eating any food or drink contaminated with flood water does carry a risk of disease.

If you have wounds or open sores that will be exposed to floodwater, keep them as clean as possible by washing with soap and water and applying an antibiotic ointment to prevent infection.

If a wound develops redness, swelling or drainage, seek immediate medical attention.

Do not let children play in flooded areas.

Wash children’s hands frequently (always before meals), and do not let children play with toys contaminated with flood water that has not been disinfected. You can disinfect toys using a solution of one cup of bleach in five gallons (19 liters) of water.

Storing food safely

Your refrigerator will keep foods cool for about four hours without power if unopened. If the electricity is off longer than four hours, place a block of dry ice in the refrigerator.

In general, thawed foods can be ingested if they are still fresh, or can be refrozen if it still contains ice crystals. Discard any food that has been at a higher temperature at 4 ° C (40 º F) for two hours or more and have foods that smell, strange color or texture.

While the power is off, keep the doors of the refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible, to keep food fresh for as long as possible.

If electric power is cut for more than four hours, follow the guidelines below:

If possible, use dry ice. Twenty-five pounds (11 kg) of dry ice will keep a freezer for ten cubic meters (28 l) below the frost line for 3 to 4 days. Be careful when handling dry ice and use heavy duty gloves dry to avoid injury.

For the Freezer section: A freezer full to half full will keep food safely fresh for up to 24 hours. A full freezer will maintain their full capacity fresh food safely for 48 hours. If you can avoid it, do not open the freezer door.

For the refrigerated section: Place the milk and other dairy products, meat, fish, eggs, gravy and leftover food that may spoil in ice in a conservative. Discard these foods if they are at temperatures above 4 ° C (40º F) for more than 2 hours.

Use a digital thermometer for rapid response to check the temperature of food just before cooking or eating.

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