Cough, Cough, Wheeze, Wheeze

It must be spring! I started getting a sinus attack on Friday (this happens nearly every time a major change of season occurs, it was exaserbated by dust & sugar). Being the overachiever that I am, I went to work & all the other things I had planned that day & made myself worse. Friday night I couldn't sleep, breathe or swallow & by Saturday morning I felt worse than death warmed over. As hard as it was I cancelled both my planned activities (no Bagby Hot Springs & no dinner with family) that day & rested.

I would probably still be incredibly sick right if not for my boyfriend, Mr. Naturopath! I had taken some apsirin on Saturday & when I woke up from my nap felt better. As the hours wore on & the aspirin wore off, I felt awful again. So Ben looked up my symptoms in his juicing book & went off to the store to get all the makings of medicine.

Goodbye Aspirin! Goodbye Thera-flu! Ben juiced me up some ginger & carrots & radishes before bedtime & I must say it worked. I could breath all night long & when I woke up my achy-ness was gone. I still have a lot of pleghm & my voice sounds awful.

I'm going to add daily doses of grapefruit & regular doses of ginger & radishes & other sinus fighters to try to stave off these attacks. I'm also going to decrease the sweets I eat.

Then there's my dairy addiction which doesn't help my sinus problems. Ben's sent me an article that his doctor had written about the health hazards of drinking homogenized & pasteurized milk.

I already shop at an organic grocery store so the milk doesn't have rBST (bovine growth hormone, yuck...evil stuff that!) but because of state laws the milk is still processed. So I need to find a good raw milk dairy farmer or CSA that I can get my milk from.

Here's why Homogenized & pasteurized milk is bad according to Doctor Kim.

"Most milk that is found in grocery stores is terrible for your health for the following reasons:

1. It comes from cows that are fed high-protein soybean meal and growth hormones to increase production. Both increase a cow's risk of developing mastitis, liver problems, and pituitary gland problems, leading to frequent doses of antibiotics. Clearly, regular exposure to synthetic growth hormone and antibiotic residues is not congruent with experiencing your best health.

2. Conventional milk is pasteurized, a process that exposes milk to high temperatures and results in the following:
* Denaturing of milk proteins, making them less usable and even harmful to your body
* Destruction of enzymes, one of which is phosphatase, an enzyme that helps your body properly absorb the calcium found in milk
* Destruction of vitamins B12, B6, and C
* Destruction of friendly bacteria

3. Some conventional milk is homogenized, a process that forces healthy fat in milk through a fine straining device, which allows homogenized milk to be consistent in texture and taste rather than have globules of fat float to the surface. The problem with homogenization is that it can alter healthy fat and cholesterol in milk in such a way that they are more susceptible to forming free radicals.

Milk can be a healthy food choice if it meets the following criteria:

1. It comes from old-fashioned cows like Jerseys and Guernseys, not modern Holsteins that have been bred to produce such large quantities of milk that they typically have pituitary gland problems that result in large amounts of hormones being present in their milk.

2. It comes from cows that have been allowed to eat foods that are natural to them: grass when it is available, and green feed, silage, hay and root vegetables during colder months.

3. It is not pasteurized. Pasteurization was first used in the 1920s to kill micro organisms that caused tuberculosis and other diseases that were related to unsanitary production methods. With modern day controls in place to ensure clean and safe production, transportation, and storage of milk, the disadvantages of pasteurization far outweigh the advantages.

4. It is not homogenized.

The Weston A. Price Foundation has an excellent website called realmilk.com that provides more information on what constitutes healthy milk and where to find it."

It's Official

As of Saturday, 5 p.m., I'm a certified member of my Neighborhood Emergency Team.

At the Final Exercise, we had 4 stations (40 minutes at each) to use the basic skills we'd learned in the 7 weeks of basic training.

Station 4: Triage & patient transport - Yikes, this was my team's first station (we were team 4) & it was the hardest. It was nerve-racking. I had the clipboard so I was the team leader on this one. We had to go into a scene & find out if there were any patients & help them. One of our team members "died" because of a live wire & we had to restart. Another thing we had to deal with was a victim who wasn't injured but wanted to help & was being disruptive. It was definitely a learning experience: planning how do deal with this, team communication, team safety walk first, how do deal with victims.

Station 1: Search & rescue: We had to go into the tower & do a search under smokey conditions with no electricity. Our team really started melding on this one & we had good communication; although we left behind "Tommy" a boy found in the event. Our team couldn't see him on the way back out after the "earthquake aftershock".

Station 2: Fire Fighting - My favorite & again our team was really cohesive. We're not talking about major fire fighting here, only ones that can be fought with fire extinguishers. I really enjoyed this one.

Station 3: Patient Rescue - Our last exercise was to rescue a victim trapped under debris. We got a slow start (you have to get a plan, plus you have to understand the dynamics of using levers/fulcrums & cribbing) but we did eventually get the victim out. However, we missed the child that was also in there. A lesson in keeping your eyes open.

It's amazing...by the end of the exercise our team was really cohesive & I feel like I will really miss them. I can see it would be useful for each NET to have their own exercises so they can meld. I did meet another women who's from the neighborhood next to mine, so hopefully our two teams can network.

After the exercises, we got our certificate from the big honchos of the fire dept., even the Chief was there!

Something I've noticed about firefighters. Police officers in general seem to attract people who want power & control; I'd imagine a lot of psychopaths join the police. But every single firefighter I've met, through this process & in general, is there to help people & save lives. They also have great senses of humor...that must come from seeing death & destruction so often. Just the sight of a fire station or fire truck makes me feel safer. Firefighters rock!

Musings

Random thoughts from my head today.

1) Tonight is the David Gray concert! Hurrah!

2) Some promising information on the movie "V for Vendetta". When I heard the Wachowski Bros. were doing another movie I thought who cares - don't even get me started on the putrid drivel that is Matrix 2 (I didn't bother to go see the third). Then I saw the trailers & it actually looked good. Then yesterday, I read a review in the Mercury & now I'm even more excited. The movie is based on a graphic novel (I just put it on hold) from the 1980s by none other than Alan Moore!!!!! Moore is the creator of the graphic novels "Leage of Extraordinary Gentleman" & "From Hell". Hollywood massacred LXG but I have hope for "V for Vendetta.

For one thing, they Brothers W are not directing this movie, they didn't write it from scratch; they only adapted it. This is what the Mercury had to say, I laughed my head off at the first part"....who have otherwise been hiding, licking their wounds from the derision thrown at their Matrix Sequels--the screenplay stays largely true to its source material..."

I'm surprised that the graphic novel is 15 years old, yet it looks strikingly relevant ...a fascist (fascist as defined by Mussolini is business with government) government who invents conflict, police spying on citizens & you get the idea.

3) Speaking of government out of hand, could widespread distrust of Bush finally be stirring. There are more anti-Bush books out & the other night I could swear I heard a newscaster say the word "terrorist" with an almost mocking, doubtful tone.

Could people be actually waking up? I suppose that's too much to ask. The same events have happened throughout history; people never change - leaders are greedy for power & colonies/resources, while the rest of us are too busy trying to survive (or consume, which is the true national religion of the United States).

And again those twits are trying to sneak ANWR into the budget.

It's just too, too much. I'm so tired of all this crap. It's like they keep trying to see if they can eventually pull the wool over our eyes when we aren't looking. I no longer believe that government can solve any problems (they'd be out of a job if they did).

What to do in the event of an earthquake

At last Sunday's neighborhood potluck, we had a conversation about natural disasters. Someone had a sister who was involved in the earthquake south of Seattle in 2001. She worked in an old stone 2-level school & wondered if she should leave the building or what. We had some disagreement on whether to stay inside or go out in this event.

The following information from my disaster manual for NET training is taken from Bay Area Regional Earthquake Preparedness Project & FEMA, as well as other sources. I've also had a friend who lived through numerous So Cal earthquakes tell me some of these as well.

"Remain calm. Remember that your brain is your most important tool.

There is no one safe place to be during an earthquake. The following are some recommended actions. The specific actions that you should take should be adapted to your situation & location at the time of the quake.

If you are inside a building when an earthquake hits, stay there. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER....DUCK, COVER & HOLD. Try to get under something that will protect you from falling debris like a table or a desk and hold on to it. (Someone in my class said if they are in the bedroom they'll shield themselves with their mattress...not a bad idea.) Stay there until the shaking stops. Try to get at least 15 feet away from any windows so that you are not cut by flying glass. Never run outside during a quake. Most people are injured by falling debris. Running outside just increases your chances of being injured. If you are in a hallway or open area of a building, sit down against a wall & cover your head & neck with your hands. Remain there until the shaking stops. If you are in an elevator, go to the closest floor and get out. Sit down & cover your head & neck with your hands and remain there until the shaking stops. NEVER TAKE ELEVATORS AFTER AN EARTHQUAKE.

If you are outside when an earthquake hits, stay there. Move away from buildings to an open area, if it is safe to do so. Watch out for downed power lines. If a large amount of debris is falling try to find some cover such as a building doorway. Stay there until the shaking stops.

If you are driving when an earthquake hits put your emergency flashers on and slow to a stop, off the roadway if possible. Watch for traffic approaching from the rear while doing this. Turn the ignition off & set the parking break. Remain inside the car until the shaking stops. Do not stop on overpasses, underpasses, ,or bridges, and be aware of overhead hazards such as power lines or falling building debris.

In the downtown area it is safer to remain inside the buildings after an earthquake. Unless the building has suffered structural damage or there is a fire, chemical spill, or a gas leak, it is much safter to remain inside. When windows in a highrise buidign break, the glass does not always fall straight down; it can catch a wind current and sail great distances. Outside is no place to be in the downtown area during or after an earthquake because of falling objects. Aftershocks can cause additional damage, and more glass and debris can fall."

I won't go into subduction quakes here. If you want more information you can find lots with a search engine.

Thoughts on NET Training

I know biohabit is considering taking the NET training & interested in the kinds of things we're learning. So this post is for you & anyone else who's interested. I highly recommend getting involved with the Neighborhood emergency team or Community emergency response or whatever your city calls them. The more people that know this stuff the better we'll be in the event of a natural disaster. Imagine if people had known this stuff for Hurricane Katrina...while they were waiting for the FEDS to get their act together. I personally feel better knowing this stuff. I'll be able to take care of myself, my family & help my neighbors. Although I have a 2 page list of things to do to make my house earthquake safe, and that's the emergency we're most likely to have here.

I only have one more class before the final exercise. Next week we'll be talking about disaster pyschology.

This last class was fun & informative. We learned about using levers & fulcrums & cribbing to get a person out from underneath debris. Then we had hands on experience (with heavier items to come at the final exercise). We also learned how to carry victims, either with 1-person, 2-person or multiple-persons.

In our 25 hours of basic training, we've had 6 hours of light search & rescue from sizing up damaged buildings to search techniques & rescue techniques; 6 hours of disaster medicine including treating non-life threatening injuries, triaging, stopping bleeding, splints, learning how to take off bloody gloves, etc; 3 hours of utility control, fire suppression & haz mats; three hours of earthquake awareness & hazard mitigation (preparing home, workplace, & neighborhoods).

After our final exercise we will join our Neighborhood teams and be called up as needed. The NETs have been called up 5 times in their 10 year history, for flooding of 1996 & some other stuff.

I heard too that they will be offering ham radio classes sometime this year for NET members (each neighborhood will have a ham radio operator).

Hope this helps answer some questions. Let me know if there's anything else.