Category: Check it out

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Safely active springtime!

Hey everyone, welcome to Health & Safety Month 2022! Today, we’re looking at how to be safe while staying active.

It’s springtime – and the days are getting longer, the temperatures are getting higher, and the plants are getting bigger! For many of us, springtime brings sports, hiking, picnics, gardening, and just generally getting outside more often.

Being outside can also mean sports injuries, insect bites, allergies, sun exposure, storms. HealthLinkBC has a great page full of resources to help you be prepared as you venture out to enjoy spring, including:

  • Common Sports Injuries and First Aid (bruises, elbow injuries, hand/finger/wrist injuries, leg injuries, head injuries)
  • Insect Bites and Stings (allergies and toxic reactions to bites, home remedies, insect vs spider bites, insect repellant and DEET, tick bites)
  • Plants and Wildlife (rodents, moths, wilderness and wildlife risks, poison ivy, oak, sumac)
  • Seasonal Allergies (allergy triggers, allergy shots, medications, hay fever)
  • Sun Safety (heat protection, ultraviolet radiation, sun safety)

Most importantly, the website can help you learn about the benefits of physical activity, how to add more physical activity to your life, how to set physical activity goals, and how to stay safe while being physically active.

So let’s get out there and enjoy springtime – safely!

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ZEN ZONE: Part 4!

Hey there everyone and welcome to the ZEN ZONE, where we take time out each Friday in April to zoom in on stress management information, resources, and strategies.

Last week we looked at how to respond to stress in the moment by using tactical breathing. This week, we’re asking another question: how does stress cause damage?

Knowing about the long-term effects of stress over time helps us understand the damage it can cause — check out the Stress Management Society video below that explains more about stress and pressure by imagining a bridge. You can use a color grid, like this one from the CMA website, to check in on where you are currently and see how often you leave the “Green” zone:

One of the stress management strategies from the Canadian Medical Association website is to pace yourself by understanding that we all have physical and emotional limits. It’s important to be intentional with what you’re setting out to achieve in order to support healthy limits. Consider trying out a planner, like this one offered through the Stress Management Society website.

There are many resources online that offer strategies you can use to manage stress – get curious, explore, and find a strategy that works for you. Check out the Mayo Clinic’s “The 4 A’s of Stress Relief” here and read about 5 tips to manage stress here.

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Seasonal Safety

Hey everyone, welcome to Health & Safety Month 2022! Today, we’re looking at how to be safe in the coming season.

Seasonal hazards happen more often at specific times of year, like with flooding in the Spring and with wildfires in the Summer. Planning what to do when there’s a hazard (like an air or water quality advisory) or an emergency (like a wildfire) can be scary. To lighten up the planning, take a page out of the Province’s book and pretend to plan for a Zombie Apocalypse! If you’re prepared for Zombies, you’re prepared for an emergency. (Who says Health & Safety can’t be fun?!)

While it’s always good to be prepared for “big” emergencies, like the Zombie Apocalypse, it’s also important to be prepared for “everyday” hazards, like water and air quality problems and heat waves, that can affect your health.

OUR WATER:

Changes to our drinking water quality can happen for many reasons. Extra material in our water (like from flooding) or breakdowns to facilities and equipment that make water safe can result in warnings about water quality. It’s important to pay attention to news about water quality, like a Boil Water Advisory, in your area. You can find out more about the three kinds of water quality notifications, what triggers them, and what actions to take here. You can also find a drinking water advisory map for Interior Health region here.

OUR AIR:

Changes to our air quality can also affect our health. Like with water quality, there are many things that can change the quality of the air, like extra material (from smoke and fires) and different types of particles (like ozone). Pay attention to news about air quality in your area the same way you would for water quality. You can find out more about the Air Quality Health Index, which is how good the air quality is at any time, here. You can also find out what air quality alerts are issued here.

SUMMER HEAT:

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ZEN ZONE: Part 3!

Hey there everyone and welcome to the ZEN ZONE, where we take time out each Friday in April to zoom in on stress management information, resources, and strategies.

Last week we looked at sources of stress, and how wellness supports like focusing on slowing down the flow of information helps keep stress from being unhelpful. This week, we’re following up with another question: how can we best respond to stress in the moment?

A key component to responding to stress is to recognize how it affects the body physically — check out the BBC video below that explains more.

One of the stress management strategies from the Canadian Medical Association website is a breathing exercise developed by the Canadian Armed Forces (tactical breathing):

  • Breathe in slowly for a count of four, visualizing each number as you count.
  • Pause and hold your breath for a count of four.
  • Exhale slowly for a count of four.
  • Repeat four times.

Consider adding this breathing exercise in to your daily wellbeing practices. You can also have a peek at the wellbeing suggestions for the 30 Day Challenge and add new ideas to your calendar for this week!

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Driver safety!

Hey everyone, ICBC has a new hazard perception training application available called Street Sense — check it out here to improve your safe driving skills! We’ve also posted a link permanently here.

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Road Safety at Work newsletter

Hey everyone, the recent Road Safety at Work newsletter had some great information and resources (including about how to avoid hydroplaning), you can check it out here. Be safe out there!

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Fire Safety – new program

Hey everyone, there’s a pilot program taking place in Kelowna to help residents make their properties more fire-safe and reduce the impact of wildfire on the community by offering free removal and chipping of specific woody debris. Check it out!

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Safety at Home: Part 2!

Hey everyone, welcome to Health & Safety Month 2022! Today, we’re looking at how to be safe at home.

Each summer we look forward to sunshine and hot weather – but with hot weather comes dry conditions, and the risk of wildfires increases with the temperatures.

As the weather heats up, it’s important to make sure your home fire extinguishers are in good condition, and to know how to use your home fire extinguisher using P-A-S-S to put out small fires to stop them from spreading. Check it out:

There are also ways to plan proactively to minimize risks from wildfires at your home. Check out the information below from the Kelowna Fire Department:

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ZEN ZONE: Part 2!

Hey there everyone and welcome to the ZEN ZONE, where we take time out each Friday in April to zoom in on stress management information, resources, and strategies.

Last week we looked at basic information about what stress is, and resources to integrate wellness supports into our daily lives. This week, we’re following up with another question: where does stress come from?

The short answer is, stress can come from different sources, and we all experience it differently. According to the Canadian Medical Association, this includes:

Physical conditions: fatigue, exhaustion, insomnia, pain, illness, substance use

Psychology and emotions: anxiety, depression, feelings of helplessness/lack of control

Personal circumstances: financial, relationship, family needs and/or disruptions

School and work: schedules, workload, complaints

We can see from the list above that sources of stress are common. The key is to stop stress from crossing from “helpful” into “unhelpful” — check out the CMHA video below about keeping stress in check.

You can also have a peek at the wellbeing suggestions for the 30 Day Challenge and add new ideas to your calendar for this week! One of the wellbeing suggestions is also a strategy from the Canadian Medical Association website: manage stress by increasing FOCUS, which means slowing down the flow of information. It can be helpful to identify times where you’re not consuming social media or news. If you’re interested in doing a digital detox, you can use this assessment at the start and at the end to see if things change for you!

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