Creating a culture of health as a path to emergency preparedness reaps the extra benefits of encouraging everyday healthy habits. For desk-bound workers and others with limited activity, encourage some safe, structured, preparedness-related physical activities.

Suggestions:

Encourage everyone to practice deep breathing as they go, and have your preparedness and safety efforts leave your team feeling healthier and more energized!

Tip: Download some desk or office fitness resources and make them available to your team!

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September 27th, 2010 | Tags: exercise, fitness, health, office | Category: 2010, STAT, STAT 5MM | Comments (1)

A key emergency preparedness and disaster response skill — one rarely mentioned — is knowing how to breathe to decrease stress, increase alertness, and foster health during a crisis situation. While learning how to breathe is easy, the hardest piece may be choosing the best model for beginning the breathing conversation.

Different techniques might resonate better for different people: learning how to breathe from a yoga teacher, a Lamaze coach, or “tactical/combat” breathing as taught by an instructor from a more military-style paradigm.

Tactical breathing is quite simple: Breathe in to a slow count of 4, hold for 4, breathe out for a count of 4, hold for a count of 4, repeat!

Youtube offers many videos to help get you started with building your team to be great breathers!

Tip: Encourage anyone with a Smart phone to download a “breathing” App! Examples: Tactical Breathing Trainer, or Breathing Zone.

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September 20th, 2010 | Tags: health, Public Health, techniques, Technology | Category: 2010, STAT, STAT 5MM | Leave a comment

Virtually every emergency supply list includes advice about storing food for emergencies and disasters. Help your team to think of stored food as a resource “to thrive” not just “to survive” when emergencies happen.

Empower and support your team in making healthy food choices – help them prepare for health!

Tip: Encourage people to keep healthy snacks at work: nuts, dried fruit, granola, chewable vitamins, etc. In an emergency, it will help people to be more resilient and self-sufficient.

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September 13th, 2010 | Tags: emergency preparedness, food, health, Preparedness, Public Health, thrive | Category: 2010, STAT, STAT 5MM | Leave a comment

This coming year, communities across America will be bombarded with many different preparedness messages. The majority of these messages are intentionally generic, so that they can be shared nationwide. Most people, however, are much more likely to resonate with, and take action on, a more personalized and specific message delivered by a trusted messenger. Choose a preparedness action that you can passionately champion in your community throughout 2010. Make sure it’s something you have actually done and currently maintain, so that your conviction is real, your words honest, and you have actual success stories to share.

Remember: Everyone can do something that will leave them feeling safer, more confident and more prepared. Everyone. For an example, see how CARD staffer Maryanne Tracy-Baker walks the world with safety stashed in her crutches and champions this message everywhere. See “What’s Up Your Crutch?” on YouTube!

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December 21st, 2009 | Tags: confident, crutches, health, Planning, Preparedness, Safety | Category: 2009, STAT, STAT 5MM | Leave a comment

Got our 1st email RAVE review about our Zazzle products & sold 6 public health products today! Bless safety wonks & Zazzle!

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December 18th, 2009 | Tags: dracula cough, dracula sneeze, health, Twitter | Category: STAT | Leave a comment

Healthier, more resilient people are better able to weather the rigors of evacuating, sheltering or simply participating in preparedness activities. Even at your desk, you can adopt healthy behaviors and encourage them in others. Build a culture that supports wellness at work with some fast, easy and low-cost steps. Encourage people to keep stress-busters at their desks (e.g., favorite photos, healthy snack food, inspirational sayings). Invite guest speakers to present topics such as Laughter Yoga, deep diaphragmatic breathing, chair exercise and self-massage, and put links to their messages on desktops. Make resources available, such as books or video, that demonstrate how to exercise, stretch, meditate and be healthy. Some people who actively avoid traditional “disaster” preparedness would be eager to champion a program promoting health and wellness. Prepare for health!

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February 13th, 2009 | Tags: desk, health, staff, work | Category: STAT 5MM | Comments (1)

Established on April 7th 1948, the Switzerland-based World Health Organization (WHO) is the United Nations’ coordinating authority on international public health. WHO has a far-reaching objective: “the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health.” As each disaster shows, healthier people are better able to prioritize preparedness, can better weather the rigors of response, and can more easily accommodate the changes that come with recovering from a disaster. Encourage and support healthy behavior among your staff and community, and consider adopting some specific activities. You could: include a short stretch break in your presentations; choose nutritious snacks; keep water available; and conduct a walking tour of your safety assets (if appropriate). Partner with local public health professionals and make increasing the health and wellness of your audience a preparedness goal.

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April 7th, 2008 | Tags: community, health, Preparedness | Category: 2008, STAT | Leave a comment