New Age Firefighters Fight More Than Fires

With the September 11th ten year anniversary, we decided to acknowledge the fire departments as our public health issue. We placed our sticker at the Temple Terrace Fire Department, one of the many departments across the country helping citizens in their community. Every year fire departments across the country are responding to fires and various kinds of emergencies to help protect the health of civilians. They are the first to appear after a car accident and have firefighter EMT’s and Paramedics on standby for medical emergencies. They also do routine fire inspections for businesses, schools and even our homes while also advocating fire and safety rules to the community. Not many people realize the risks that firefighters are exposing themselves to everyday, to better the health and safety of others. What people do not realize either is that there are many volunteer firefighters who do the job as any paid firefighter, without compensation. Firefighters, EMT’s and Paramedics go through extensive training and are very educated to ensure our public safety. The main issue is that many firefighters are losing their jobs, or many people are not being hired due to budget cuts. Although there are thousands of volunteer firefighters to help out the situation, it is becoming more difficult to recruit new firefighters or volunteers. One of the main reasons is the time and commitment required for the job especially being only a volunteer and doubts on whether an upcoming firefighter is going to be able to obtain a job. Many fire departments are becoming county wide instead of being local, as part of the budget cuts as well. Cutting back on the number of firefighters means less help and slower response time for civilians in the community who are in need. Overall, having Fire Departments in our community is beneficial for our health and safety. Without them, our lives would seriously be at risk.

By: Elissa Kozey, Brittany King, Matt Newberry, Erica Laza (Photographer)

Strap In—Like Frankie the Bear!

Remember the days as a toddler when we would go grocery shopping with our family and think we were in food heaven? We wanted to run wild and free and touch everything in our sight. Our parents would place us in the cart and expect us to stay put and not move. However, we would still reach as far as we could, our bodies halfway out the cart, to touch everything down the aisle. We were willing to risk our lives at the thought of adventure. For this exact reason our group chose the seatbelt of a shopping cart in the SweetBay market off of Fowler Street as our public health example.

Seatbelts in shopping carts are a necessary preventative measure for the safety of children. These straps greatly help the parents during shopping as a child can be kept in one spot without possible injury. The parents have increased mobility since they can step away from the cart for a moment to grab an item, without having to worry about a possible horror accident. Keeping the child in one area ensures that he or she can’t wander off alone as a parents’ full attention cannot be on the child while shopping. The seatbelt allows the customer to enjoy their experience more and everyone will benefit.

A key essential for safety is providing a spot just for the little one on the cart. The larger area of the cart isn’t secure, children could easily fall out if they stood up, and they would not be within reaching distance of Mom or Dad while the parent pushed the cart.

We noticed that some of the shopping carts’ seat belts were frayed and broken, a public health concern. These seat belts are there for the safety of the child, but if unusable a child’s health and even life could be endangered. Stores ought to properly maintain the seatbelts on these carts. This is a major liability for the store and if an accident were to occur the store could possibly face lawsuits. As a customer we expect the best service possible because we deserve that and we want to ensure our safety for our family is taken into consideration.

An example of how important the seatbelt of a shopping cart is was shared from one of our group members. When the group member’s brother was a couple years old, he was sitting in a shopping cart without the seatbelt on. His mother had turned away for a moment to grab an item off the shelf. In this short space of time, the energetic little boy disobeyed his mother’s command to sit still in the cart (of course). He stood up quickly, placing his little hands on the edge of the cart rail to peer around. But with his young clumsiness, he misjudged his balance and tumbled out of the cart onto the linoleum floor of the supermarket. The first-time mother’s heart stopped when she heard his fall, but miraculously, the young one was uninjured. From then on, she always strapped her child into the cart. When you go shopping make sure to grab a cart with a working seatbelt and look out for your child or loved ones safety!

Group Members : Amanda McElroy, Mitzy Gonzalez, Photographer: Megan Webb

Slow Down for Public Health

We decided to choose a local neighborhood close to University of South Florida’s campus to place our sticker. We stuck our sticker on a designated speed hump within the neighborhood. While taking our picture we chose two locations, a sign stating “Speed Hump 15mph” and the physical speed hump, which are large and clearly warn drivers to exercise caution. This location appealed to our group because we believe that the element of traffic safety was indicative to public health, and it creates a safer environment for pedestrians and the residents. Furthermore, it promotes drivers to be aware of their surroundings and practice more cautious driving habits. It allows for the driver’s to experience increased safety since they are driving at lower speeds.
This is important to public health in various ways. For instance, it promotes a safe environment for local children to be active and play which, from a public health standpoint, makes them less susceptible to the U.S’s growing childhood obesity problem. The speed hump is also largely enforcing and acts as a policing mechanism to slow traffic at places where it is necessary for traffic to be slow. The obvious benefits of a speed hump are that it slows traffic which in turn reduces noise, citizen complaints, and provides accident prevention. Finally the mere presence of a speed hump in a neighborhood provides benefits to the communities mental health, as it provides a general calming feeling to the residents that they can be sure that no speeder’s will be speeding through their community.

Jessica White, Kristen Jadick, Ashley Brogna, Bryan Stevens

Clean Water For Everyone!

Much of the water used in households, businesses, and industries must be treated before it is released back into the community. Wastewater is used water, which includes storm runoff, human waste, food scraps, etc. Treatment plants reduce the amount of pollutants in wastewater so that it is sanitary and safe for humans to use.

Clean water plays a major role in the quality of one’s life. From keeping our bodies hydrated to keeping trees alive, water has a wide range of uses. Since the human body is composed of more than 60% of water, having clean water is a necessity for normal body functions. Without it, we would most likely see an increase of illness and disease such as cholera and e. coli. Thus, cleaning water properly and removing harmful bacteria is a priority for wastewater treatment plants.

Treating wastewater also has many benefits that one might overlook. For example, clean water is critical to plants and animals that live in water, which ultimately benefits the fishing industry. Many consider water to be a playground. Oceans and lakes attract many visitors because of the scenic and recreational opportunities they offer. If oceans and lakes were unsafe to swim in, tourism would decrease severely, thus affecting the economy.

Many pass by wastewater treatment plants every day and do not realize how beneficial places like these are to humans. Wastewater management plays a tremendous role in keeping water clean in the community and environment. This type of water sanitation and sterilization is a step towards prevention of infectious disease and an overall increase of quality of life.

By: Taylor Boggs, Sheryl Campbell, Valerie Dickinson, and Kenneth Little

Easy as 1, 2, 3 Get Your Flu Shots At CVS Pharmacy

Protecting the health of smaller communities is vital to protecting the health of the nation as a whole. Limiting exposure to unhealthy viruses and detrimental diseases that once cleared populations of individuals is a key aspect to our success as a healthy nation. A collective combination of strategic techniques of primary prevention, such as the flu shot vaccination, allows individuals to take health care into their own hands making preventative measures of disease just as pertinent as treatment which is the overall goal of public health. Through awareness, education, and continued funding of health care programs such as the flu shot vaccines, we can collectively push towards more preventative measures of healthcare lowering the high necessity of treatment.

Flu season is already upon us and has been steadily becoming a problem in the community and on campus. Each year in the US 5 to 10 percent of the population is infected with Influenza and $1.7 Billion is spent on children with the infection. Influenza can lead to pneumonia, bronchitis, and ear infections and over 200,000 people are hospitalized from complications with the flu. This is why vaccination against the newest threat this season is so important to the topic of public health. Vaccination is a vital part of primary prevention of disease, so naturally the choice of a sign promoting this vaccination in the form of the Flu Shot provided at CVS Pharmacy is relevant. Our group chose to place our “This is Public Health Sticker” at CVS located on Fowler Ave. and 30^th st. We selected this location as it is in close proximity to USF campus and easily accessible for students and staff, but also for patrons alike. The no appointment walk in type of service at CVS promotes people to get the Flu Shot to slow the rapid spread of the Flu in our community, as they are more likely to get vaccinated if the service is readily available to them.

Hurry in for your vaccination before December as suggested by the CDC. It's only one click away at the link provided http://flushot.cvs.com

Alexander Greene

Amberlyse Guzman

Sheralee Leonardo

Pamela Massenburg

Christina Quinn

Evos: The Healthy Fast Food Place

Healthy and environmentally sound fast food chain, can there even be a place? Yes! We placed our "this is public health" sticker at the Evos fast food chain on Fowler Avenue. We chose this place because of the location's efforts in better and healthier food along with its involvement in the community. Evos is committed to providing on All-American meal that is guilt free, but still delicious! However, it is not just guilt free food that Evos has to offer, it also has a vested interest in its impact on the community.
Well what is so great about the food? One of the many reasons that Evos is a great benefit to its consumer and to public health is its exclusion of deep frying by using an air-baking technique to prepare the fries. Evos eliminates the consumptions of hydrogenated fats, production of waste oil, and reduces the risk of fryer-caused fires. Thus not only are we, who dine at Evos, kept away from unhealthy hydrogenated fats, the community around us is generally safer with a minimized risk of fire and the lack of need to properly dispose of waste oil. Moreover, Evos allows consumers to indulge in products made from organic ingredients, such as shakes and iced teas. That is, Evos provide us with tasty concoctions that are sans artificial additives and genetic modification.
Evos states they raise the animals "naturally". This would have a great contribution for environmental and community health. The lack of hormone and antibiotic meat would provide for a healthier option to fast food, with a greater impact on the community of consumers. The amount of cattle needed would decrease and since the cow/chicken would be free-range, more community benefits. However, Evos says they take a natural approach, not being specific to any free range approach. This would reduce the greenhouse gas and have a lower impact on the environment.
Evos has implemented a few strategies in an effort to make a small, but crucial impact on communities throughout the southeast. For one thing, all of the lights in their restaurant utilize energy efficient light bulbs as well as timing mechanisms to ensure a minimum amount of waste contribution to our city. In addition, the healthier versions of fast food items as well as ready-to-go vegan options make Evos a much better alternative for USF students who need a quick meal. Removing Taco Bell or McDonald’s from someone’s diet certainly promotes a healthier lifestyle. And unlike most fast food joints, Evos lets kids eat free every Sunday, encouraging families to come out and try the wholesome foods they have to offer. Our community will be better off with more children who prefer restaurants like Evos over Burger King. Teaching them healthy eating from a young age can start a trend of adults who eat healthy in the future.

By: Jordan Stumph, Yekaterina Kozyr, McCatty, Chelsea Aasnes

“Please....Don’t be a litter bug!"

No one wants to drive like there in a video game trying to avoid flying papers, fast food and gum wrappers or broken glass bottles on the road. Providing clean sidewalks for pedestrians and bikers, clean road ways for vehicles, as well as clean beaches is all up to the individuals in the community. Too many people are lazy and carefree and don’t always clean up after themselves. Unfortunately, the trash thrown out of car windows or by insensible pedestrians does not just disappear, but becomes a bigger problem. A Public health problem….

Our public health blog group chose the location right off of Fowler Ave. (exit 51),and placed our sticker on the No Littering sign. Our group chose this location because it’s right next to many tourist attractions, such as MOSI, Bush Gardens, and other theme parks… and of course USF. Ensuring a clean environment for tourists from all over the world raises the chance of them returning. Offering the best environment for potential students visiting USF by providing a clean, safe and trash free location, encourages more students to study at USF. We need our communities to look beautiful, with healthy growing palm trees, not cigarettes butts or wrappers wreaking the image. Don’t forget we, Floridians, too benefit from living in a community where littering is discouraged.

Littering poses multiple health dangers to the public, communities, and the environment. Harmful bacteria can accumulate in fast food wrappers or other trash items, cigarette butts have all sorts of chemicals in them, and can even cause fires. Broken glass can hurt a pedestrian, pop a car wheel, or endanger wildlife. Overall litter attracts parasites and bacteria, polluting our air, soil, city water, and oceans at risk.

It can also be hazardous on our roadways. For example, suppose you are driving down the high way you spot a glass bottle drifting towards you. You want to avoid hitting it, but with too many cars the road it’s impossible to redirect your car away from the glass bottle. There are two things which could occur here. The driver could either swerve to avoid it, that being their initial reaction or attempt to drive over it leaving the chance of causing an even bigger accident if it causes damage to their tire. If only the civilian, who decided to just leave their empty glass bottle on the street, would have properly disposed the can, this dangerous situation wouldn’t have occurred.

The no littering Florida Law pertains to public health because it falls into assurance as we learned in chapter one, one of the core functions of public health. Knowing that law enforcement, enforces the importance of keeping our roads trash free, and environmentally clean, shows there support in discouraging potential hazards to our ecosystem. It is important to keep our state and county as litter free as possible for healthy generations to come. The fine of about $100 dollars is quite small compared to the millions being spent on cleanup efforts due to littering. Our actions are reflected in our communities, if we like it or not. So please protect the environment and the general public, were all its’ got. Also a community who reduces litters and prevents littering likely to be a healthy and happy one! We hope this emphasizes the threat and importance of keeping Florida litter free!!!

Nadia Onatsko, Bailey Thompson, and Algery Marrero