Don’t be lazy; don’t park in the fire lane.

When you go to the grocery store it is tempting to pull right up in front of the store and park. Especially, when you only need to run in and grab one item. This is a major public health issue. It is important to be aware that fire lane signs are posted for a reason. This particular fire lane that we are standing in front of is located at the Publix on Fowler right across the street from the University of South Florida.

Fire lanes are important in Public Health because they offer quick access in an emergency situation. Every second counts in an emergency, such as a heart attack, stroke, or a fire. Fire Lanes insure that the fastest route possible is available. Since an emergency isn't planned it is important that these lanes are open at ALL times. Parking in a fire lane for convenience is an issue. Many people do this to save time, and energy. This saving of time and energy is incomparable to the significance of saving ones life. Incase of a fire, these lanes need to remain vacant for ample exit space. Not only is parking in a fire lane a hazard to yourself and others, but also you can be fined costly tickets for parking in this area. We depend upon public health for the safety of our community. Not parking in the fire lane promotes walking further distance, and promoting healthy behavior. Overall, fire lanes are an important factor of public health. Don’t be lazy; don’t park in the fire lane.

-Bridget, Alex, Lilly, & Amanda.

Traffic Safety Saves Lives!

The University Area Transit Center on the corner of 131st, behind the Wal-mart along Fletcher Avenue, enforces traffic safety. The University Area Transit Center is usually busy with bicycles, pedestrians, and buses so, traffic awareness is a crucial issue. The University Area Transit Center has all sorts of different people using its service, from the handicap to tiny children. There are many people that walk or bike to the center and that is dangerous when there are cars and buses that pass by on a regular basis. One way that the University Area Transit Center addressed safety for pedestrians and bikers is by placing reflectors by the side walk for parallel parking of the buses. We chose to tag the "This is Public Health" sticker under a reflector at the University Area Transit Center because it indicates a bus will park at that location. Reflectors and other traffic signals are important to public health it prevents accidents and promotes awareness of obstacles that could be otherwise harmful.

For anybody who lives in the areas surrounding USF, they would understand that traffic safety is a pressing issue. One of the ways that this problem meets to part is the placement of various reflectors along roads, signs and even bicycles. Reflectors are part of public health because they help prevent accidents by promoting reflective visibility. For example, people who bike and walk can see the reflectors indicating it is a bus stop. Drives become aware of where the sidewalk starts and can prevent them from veering off into the side walk and harming someone. Reflectors are not only placed on roads but are also useful, on sneakers of a runner, on a bike pedal, and as street dividers. In this sense, reflectors is a small part of the larger overarching system of traffic safety which has multiple components to keep drivers, pedestrian, and bikers safe.

Traffic safety is necessary because, over the years, it has decreased the number of death rate in transportation accidents. Psychologically it promotes a sense of safety and well being for people who do not use cars as their primary way of transportation. For everyday people, who do not have a car, take public transportation because of assurance of traffic safety. More and more people use public transportation as a means to their destination because of safety precautions.

Test Your Blood Pressure: A Public Health Measure: Effectiveness, Efficiency, and Equity

Public health is a societal effort to ensure wellbeing within a population. Through promotion of health and prevention of disease efforts, Public Health offers good quality of life with education, regulation, and research.

For our public health blog, we visited a CVS Pharmacy where we were able to locate a public blood pressure machine near the pharmacy waiting area. This location makes it convenient for individuals to check their blood pressure while they wait to be served. Our group decided to place the “This is Public Health” sticker near the informational guide to weight and blood pressure maintenance, called the Health Station. We chose this location due in part to the value we all place on early prevention measures to defend against hypertension which can lead to larger problems such as heart disease. Since we knew that CVS had the public blood pressure machine, we decided that it was conducive to the purpose of our project. Upon arriving at our location, we each took advantage of the machine’s availability to the public and used it to determine our own individual blood pressures. Thankfully were all in the normal range. It is extremely convenient to have access to such a machine which can serve as early detection for any abnormalities; the health guide near the machine is also a significant component to understanding the maintenance of a healthy blood pressure.

This readily available blood pressure machine is crucial to the secondary prevention stage in Public Health. It also serves the purpose of educating the community through its accessibility to all individuals regardless of their socioeconomic status. The purpose of this machine fulfills the early detection and prevention mission of Public Health. If a prehypertensive blood pressure is detected, one could potentially reduce the risk of heart disease through careful monitoring (i.e. medication). This issue is important to avoid the all too common and unfortunate complications and medical bills of heart disease. Prevention is more economical than treatment.

~Ana, Chea-Ee, Narayesi, Rosangelis

Kids "R" Us =)

When one thinks about Public Health you thinks about well being of the population, but a more stable definition of public health is the science that focuses and emphasizes prevention of diseases and illnesses through health promotion. We also tend to implement interventions in which involves treatment of the community. Public health is a very common and integral part of life itself, for if you think of anything, there is some affiliation to public health whether it is from a safety issue, health issue, policies etc.

The area we chose to put our sticker was at The University Mall. Here at the mall there is a playground for kids to enjoy themselves and this was a perfect area that exemplified Public Health. You may wonder to yourself, then how does this relate to public health? The playground is an area occupied by a population and the common population there, is children. Children tend to get sick easily due to the fact that they are actively strengthening their immunity. At the playground there are various rides and toy like objects which act as “fomites” (inanimate objects capable of spreading a disease). Children are more prone to touch themselves and put their hands in their mouths and touch other kids and so on. The chance of catching something at the playground therefore is high, and so it is important that public health measures be taken in respect to cleanliness and sanitary methods to lower the risk of spreading something.

While scoping the playground there were a few rules in regards to public health promotion. There was a sign that prohibited food, so as to keep it sanitary. There was an installed hand sanitizer stand, which provided kids with proper method of cleaning their hands, this is really important because being at the playground children emphasize their tactile sense more than anything so this was a great prevention invention. They also listed the hours that the playground was closed for, for full cleaning. This is Public Health in its entirety. Incorporating the policies and actively implementing methods that reduce the cause of diseases.

Keep the Environment Safe with a Simple Hand Wash

Ladies Bathroom at Publix on Fowler

Ladies Bathroom at Publix on Fowler

Public Health surrounds us and affects our everyday life. Although we as a society do not pay particular attention to it, Public Health’s benefits and efforts have influenced us and the environment in which we live in tremendously. If Public Health were not to exist, the life we live would have similar to the life of those that lived in the 17th century, with a higher mortality rate and wide spread of disease. When asked what public health is, most people stammer in confusion grasping for ways to explain it. By participating in this blog, we are learning that public health is everywhere and is symbolized by the most basic things we do, such as washing our hands.

For our health blog, we decided to choose the public bathrooms at Publix on Fowler Avenue in Tampa, Florida. This was a demonstration of conserving community health and preventing the spread of diseases in a widely visited place. In public bathrooms, especially where food is directly handled, it is required that employee’s must wash their hands before returning to work. A way in which this information is implemented is by posting signs in the bathrooms reminding employees not to forget this vital part of maintaining health all around. By doing this, employees are not only abiding by the rules and keeping the public safe from preventable contamination, they are also keeping themselves safe. In general, people know to wash their hands after using the bathroom to keep themselves from getting germs and getting sick; it has been a health campaign promotion during the influenza season. When the message is there in front of them, it serves as a reminder for those who otherwise neglect to wash their hands or forget to.

Washing one’s hands frequently is important in that it could help prevent the spread of illness such as virus or bacteria to a community. Imagine if a worker from the deli, meats or bakery section went to the bathroom and did not wash his hands; then, made your sandwich, or sliced your meats or began baking a cake for you with their germ infected hands! Besides the obvious disgust at such a neglect of respect to another, there are obvious health concerns and the spread of communicable diseases to the public. Diseases that could have been prevented by simply washing hands now has harmed a person’s health. By having this sign up in these public bathrooms, public health is making an effort to prevent infectious diseases from spreading drastically especially in these places where food is handled. These efforts, though not always acknowledged, are greatly appreciated.

According to the Minnesota Department of Health, 97% of females and 92% of males attested to washing their hands after using the bathroom, however, it was shown that of these statistics, only 75% of females and 58% of males actually wash their hands.

The Center for Disease Control advices one, when washing their hands, to use clean, warm water while generously lathering soap. Then rubbing hands together meticulously for 20 seconds before washing away the soap and cleaning hands with a clean cloth. So, when you happen to look up and spot a sign saying, “Employees Must Wash Hands” at a public bathroom one day, know that this is how we, as a society, effectively prevent infectious diseases from spreading. Also, know that ‘This is Public Health’... at it’s finest!

Thank You, 

Leonne Danso, Chelsea Gomes & Johanna Comargo

Clean Up That Poop!

Nobody likes to step in dog poop! Not only is it gross, but dog poop can also spread disease and it’s bad for the environment. Dog feces may contain various organisms and parasites such as E. coli, tapeworm, and roundworm. They can all make people really sick. Small children are especially vulnerable so it's really important to clean it up! Common symptoms are diarrhea, abdominal cramping, bloody stool, vomiting, and dehydration. A lot of times the only treatments for these conditions are re-hydration and letting the infection run its full course. People can also contract these illnesses through drinking water that has been contaminated by feces. If the dog poop is not regularly cleaned up it can seep into the water system. Contact with the feces of a sick pet can also make your pets sick. Additionally, because of the high levels of nitrogen in dog feces it is not a good fertilizer and is NOT good for your lawn or garden. The number one preventative measure that can be taken against dog feces oriented disease is using a dog poop bag to clean up after your pet. These dog poop bag dispensers are graciously placed in all parks, apartment complexes, and other locations with frequent dog pooping for your convenience and everyone's safety. Hence, we chose to highlight this public health concern because it is so often overlooked but it can have a significant impact on the health of our community and children. Even the president cleans up his dog poop so why shouldn’t you?

Public Health is Everywhere!

Public Health: Sidewalks

Public health plays a larger role in our lives than we may realize. We chose a sidewalk to represent public health because of its numerous benefits. It is one of the easiest ways to become healthier. Sidewalks play a role in public health because they promote health and safety. Sidewalks make physical activity far more accessible for those who who live in urban areas. They also prevent accidents involving pedestrians in residential areas. Sidewalks are useful for people of any age whether it is a child riding a bike, friends trying to exercise by walking around the neighborhood, or mothers walking with strollers. Sidewalks allow people to be more active without being fearful of their safety.

A new study in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine that looked at data from about eleven thousand survey participants in eleven countries came to the conclusion that those who live in a urban neighborhood are twice as likely to be physically active as those who live in the suburbs.

Not being physically active can cause many health problems problems including obesity, diabetes, heart diseases, hypertension, and even some types of cancers. It can carry a risk burden close to that of smoking. Walking, bicycling, running, roller blading and many more exercises that can be done on the sidewalk can help prevent inactivity that can cause these diseases.

Many think of public health in terms of medicine and health departments however, plays a very large role in our lives.

-Jessica, Nayab, Tiffany, Stephanie, Zainab,

source: http://newscenter.sdsu.edu/sdsu_newscenter/news.aspx?s=7138