H1N1 fact sheet now available in 10 Asian, Pacific Islander languages

Today's guest blog entry is by Kathy Lim Ko, President and CEO for the
Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum.

One of the biggest challenges we face in working to improve the health of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders is making sure that our communities receive health care services in a language they can understand. We also work to make sure that health care organizations and governments at the local, state and federal levels are aware of how culture influences how people take care of their health needs. Due to differences in nationality, ethnicity and culture, as well as immigration histories, we all have varying perspectives on health and healthy behavior.

When our nation faces a public health crisis, as it has with the H1N1 “swine flu” epidemic over the past months, it is even more important to make sure that the people in our communities receive information that they can understand to protect themselves and their families.

To prepare our communities for the H1N1 flu epidemic and other public health and national emergencies, the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum has collaborated with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health, the National Council of Asian Pacific Islander Physicians and the Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations to make sure information is available to our communities that is language-appropriate and takes cultural differences into account.

As part of this collaboration, we have worked to translate the APHA Get Ready campaign’s H1N1 fact sheet into 10 languages. The translated fact sheets are now available in the public health alert section of our Web site, on the Get Ready Web site, and on our partners’ Web sites. The translations are in Chinese, Chamorro, Chuukese, Japanese, Korean, Marshallese, Samoan, Thai, Tongan and Vietnamese.

We are happy to make these resources available for you to easily share with your community. We hope that they will be widely used to help people protect themselves and their loved ones from being infected with — and spreading! — H1N1 flu.

Blog editor’s note: The Get Ready H1N1 flu fact sheet is also available in English and Spanish. All 12 language versions can be downloaded from the Get Ready Web site.

A prepared community is a healthier community: Small ways to have a big impact

During the past few days, thousands of people throughout the country have been celebrating National Public Health Week and its theme of “A Healthier America: One Community at a Time.”

Part of having a healthy community is being prepared, whether it’s for a natural disaster, disease outbreak or human-made emergency. This year, National Public Health Week organizers are urging participants to “smart small, think big,” which is also a great lesson for community preparedness. While preparing your community for anything and everything that can go wrong can be a daunting task, every one of us can take small steps that help bring us closer to that goal.

In that spirit, the Get Ready campaign is offering these reminders of small ways that you can help make your community more prepared:

• Find out where your nearest emergency shelters are located, and let your neighbors know where to go during a disaster.

• Ask your supervisor for a copy of your workplace emergency plan and become familiar with it.

• Find out where flu immunization clinics will be held in your community, and spread the word to your friends and family via e-mails, Facebook or other means.

• Sign up for a CPR or first aid class and invite others to join you.

• Set up a table with free preparedness materials at your library or community center.

• Pick up a few extra canned goods every time you go to the grocery store to donate to your community food bank.

For more small ways you can help make your community a healthier — and more prepared — place, download the National Public Health Week toolkit (PDF). And if you’ve already done something to improve the health of your community, share your story online.

Duck, cover and hold: Advice for earthquake preparedness

Earthquakes are unpredictable and often common in many regions — even in the United States. Just this week, a quake occurred in Mexicali, Mexico. While earthquakes with the power of the one that hit the Haiti in January 2010 are fairly rare, less severe earthquakes happen regularly and can interrupt your daily life and cause injury.

The key to minimizing damage from an earthquake is to be prepared. It’s important to create disaster plans and have an emergency supply kit (PDF) on hand. According to preparedness experts, the best thing to do during an earthquake is to drop to the ground, take cover under a sturdy desk or table and hold on until the shaking stops. This may protect you from falling ceiling lights or furniture such as bookshelves.

Making a plan is the best way to get ready for an earthquake:
• Identify a “meet up” spot for family members in case you are separated and can’t reach home after an earthquake.

• Learn about evacuation procedures for your town and child’s school or daycare.

• Immediately put shoes on to protect your feet from broken glass or sharp objects.

• Check for gas leaks. If you discover one, immediately shut off
the main gas valve.

For more tips on preparing for earthquakes, download this fact sheet (PDF) from the Get Ready campaign.

Have you ever been in an earthquake? Share your experience by commenting on this blog entry.

Photo: Transportation crews work to repair a road cracked by earthquakes in Hawaii in 2006. Photo by Adam Dubrowa, courtesy FEMA.

Hints for helping wildlife during a disaster

When disaster strikes, we humans can usually seek shelter in the comfort of our own homes or drive to a safer place. But for the countless wild animals that share the impact of these deadly disasters, weathering the storm sometimes means they end up crossing paths with humans.

If you see an animal in distress after a flood, hurricane or other emergency, keep a few things in mind when dealing with our furry, scaled and feathered friends:

1) Don’t touch them. As much as you may want to come to the aid of wild animals, animal aid groups advise that you do not corner or try to rescue them. Wild animals have a natural “flight” response that will encourage them to flee from anyone who comes too close. If animals feel they are being threatened, they may flee from a relatively safe position — such as atop a makeshift island during a flood — to a harmful and even life-threatening situation — such as into rapidly flowing flood water. If you find an animal in a life-threatening situation, call your local animal control, which has specially trained staff who can help.

2) Get professional help. Naturally, wildlife will search for refuge during natural disasters and your home may be an ideal place for small animals like snakes, raccoons, squirrels and rats to take shelter. If you discover that wildlife is in your home, again, the best advice is not to touch them. Instead, open a window or other escape route for the animal to leave on its own. If this doesn’t work, call your local animal control or wildlife office for assistance.

3) Be watchful. Following natural disasters, wild animals may still be recovering from the traumatic experiences they have just faced. This means that many animals will be hypersensitive and display more erratic behavior than normal. Such unpredictable behavior can be dangerous to both you and the animals themselves. To keep both us and them safe, be watchful of wild animals. If you are confronted by a traumatized animal and are bitten or harmed in any way, seek immediate medical attention.

Photo: An animal protection group rescued these baby squirrels in Texas in October 2008 following Hurricane Ike. Courtesy Leif Skoogers/FEMA

Your water supply: Do you have enough stored in case of an emergency?

After an emergency such as tornado, flood or earthquake, the water that comes out of your tap might not be safe to drink — if it’s running at all. That’s why you should be prepared at all times, which means having at least a three-day supply of bottled water in your emergency stockpile.

According to a new water stockpiling fact sheet (PDF) from APHA’s Get Ready campaign, everyone should have at least one gallon of water per person per day stored in their emergency stockpile. That means if you have three people in your family, for example, you’d need to have nine gallons stored — and that’s just for drinking. If you live in a warm area or have pets or kids, you should store even more water.

Other tips in the new fact sheet, which can be downloaded now from the Get Ready Web site, include:
• Purchase commercially bottled water and don’t open it until you need to use it. Check your stockpile twice a year to see if any bottles need replacing.
• Don’t stack your water bottles, as that may cause them to leak. Store them somewhere they will be easy to access in an emergency.
• Stockpile water both at home and work, as you never know where or when an emergency will occur.

The new water stockpiling fact sheet is part of APHA’s Get Ready: Set Your Clocks, Check Your Stocks campaign, which reminds Americans to check their emergency stockpiles when they change their clocks for daylight saving time. The campaign information can be used year-round, however, and is a great addition to health fairs or emergency preparedness events. Organizations can customize the fact sheet with their own logos, so take some time to share it in your community today!