Why I called 911

News you can use

You all know that I am interested in emergencies and safety. I recently had to call 911. Here's why.

It was a recent Saturday. I was at work putting some materials together, when my 10-year old daughter Jenkins called my cell phone. She said, "Mom, please come home quick. Dad is bleeding all over the place." I got my stuff and drove home (2.3 miles).

Sure enough, I went to our guest room. We had a construction project tearing out an awful built-in. My husband (Jason) was laying on the ground holding his head, and there was indeed blood all over the place! His skin was paper white, too. He was dizzy and couldn't get up, so ... I called 911. My neighbor came and got the girls and I followed the ambulance to the hospital. It turned out that he had a laceration and concussion (no damage to the bone, thankfully).

Jason at the hospital (yes, he gave me permission to take his photo).

Where does this information fit on the ISSUE TEAMS?
Safety, of course! I did not lecture Jason. He later said, "If I were at work, this never would have happened. I would have been wearing my hardhat and safety glasses." My thoughts exactly. Did this event change his behavior in a measurable way? YES! It has been a little over two weeks, and he is just now starting to feel like his himself. Never again will he work without the right PPE.

What is the disconnect between work and home? Why do we take chances at home and follow safety rules at work?

Have a great weekend.

Roomscapes, thrift shops, and heavy metals

News you can use

My 10-year old daughter and I volunteer once a month at a Stillwater thrift shop. It's lots of fun! If you've never been thrifting, consider visiting a shop near you. I have found that there is a fine line between the goods in some antique shops and those found in thrift shops.

I recently received a catalog from "The Land of Nod" with a wonderful holiday roomscape. I really like the look of the room, but it would be a bit expensive to purchase everything at once. Why not recreate the look using items found at the thrift shop in addition to items from the catalog? Decorating on a dime!

Photo: Land of Nod
http://www.landofnod.com/Catalog/View-Online.aspx?Catalog_name=1159214_329220d0_b52142f8&RFX_Res=high&n=0

Where does this information fit on the ISSUE TEAMS?
Indeed, thrift shopping can be a matter of safety. Many times, I find products that are old, from other countries, and sometimes a combination of the two. I am MOST concerned about lead and other heavy metals in consumer goods. Watch for more information about this in the near future!

Anything else I can think of that might help you in your work
I am creating a lead in consumer (household) products program complete with eye-catchinh props. Watch for it soon on D2L!

Thank you,
Gina Peek

In-Service Info for 2013

In-Service Info for 2013

Educators,

Here are the specific in-services that I have created for the Safety and Environment Issue Teams. I wanted to have at least three topics for each. I have created with with other members of the Issue Teams. If you need any help at all, please let me know!

These in-services are designed to be fun and educational. Please let me know if you want something else... I will create an in-service for you. I want to make certain that I am meeting your needs!

Safety

• 13171  Bed bugs! 4-1-2013 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM; Stillwater, OK 
• 13191  Disaster Recovery with Focus on Finance 6-14-2013 10:00- 11:30 AM; Centra 
• 13195  Basic Housekeeping for Low Income Clients 7-1-2013 10:00 AM- 11:00 AM; Centra      

 

Environment
Energy

• 13185   Monthly Home Energy Info 1-9-2013 10:00-10:30 AM; Centra           
• 13200   Monthly Home Energy Info 2-6-2013 10:00 - 10:30 AM; Centra
• 3202     Monthly Home Energy Info 3-6-2013 10:00- 10:30 AM; Centra
• 13204   Monthly Home Energy Info 4-3-2013 10:00-10:30 AM; Centra
• 13206   Monthly Home Energy Info 5-1-2013 10:00-10:30 AM; Centra
• 13208   Monthly Home Energy Info 6-5-2013 10:00-10:30 AM; Centra
• 3212     Monthly Home Energy Info 7-10-2013 10:00-10:30 AM; Centra
• 13214   Monthly Home Energy Info  8-7-2013 10:00-10:30 AM; Centra
• 13216   Monthly Home Energy Info 9-4-2013 10:00-10:30 AM; Centra
• 13218   Monthly Home Energy Info 10-2-2013 10:00-10:30 AM; Centra
• 13220   Monthly Home Energy Info 11-6-2013 10:00-10:30 AM; Centra
• 13222   Monthly Home Energy Info 12-4-2013 10:00-10:30 AM; Centra

Other

• 3168    Rainwater Harvesting with a Sand Cistern  5-2-2013 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM; Haskell County
• 13177  Exploring Energy Efficiency and Alternatives (E3A) Curriculum; 15-2013 9:00 AM- 4:00 PM Stillwater, OK
• 3589   LID Field Trip to Turtle Rock Farm; 6-1-2013 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM; Turtle Rock Farm (Red Rock, OK). Noble County

Thank you!

Gina Peek

              

 

Disaster Prep and Hurricane Sandy

1. News you can use

Hurricane Sandy has devastated the east coast. Although Oklahoma was unaffected, we are third in the nation for the number of declared disasters. We have to be ready.

2. How can we react?

Stories of suffering filled the news. Hurricane Sandy caused people to snap into survival mode. People couldn't get down flights of stairs in the pitch black (no flashlight); no clothes, nothing to eat. etc. A three-day emergency kit can help in times of survival.

3. Housing picture

Eight counties are piloting the EDEN curriculum. We have held focus groups as part of the process. One thing that came to light: You don't have to spend a bunch of $ to be better prepared. Shop for supplies in your own home! Trade with your friends!  Here is a picture of Jessica Riggin as she began to get her supplies together.

4. Anything else I can think of that might help you in your work.

Take the Extension educators preparedness challenge! Please, all of you, shop in your own home and put your own kit together. We can lead by example! Please put your kit together by next Friday, November 9, 2012. I want to give a prize, but I can only do so if at least 20 educators participate. Please… get a kit together! The best photo entry will receive an awesome Red Cross Emergency radio! 

To enter to win, all I need is a picture of you and your kit with a brief description.

Resources:

• EDEN preparing a kit video: http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/media/eden/getakit.html
• FEMA recommended supplies: http://www.ready.gov/basic-disaster-supplies-kit

 THANK YOU!

Gina Peek

High Efficiency: Gale Mills Guest Blogger

This week I am introducing Gale Mills as my guest blogger! Gale is located in Washington County, NE District. Gale has recently bought a new high efficiency (HE) washing machine, and is getting used to it.

Here are her comments on the machine thus far:

Was gone on vacation all of last week had loads of laundry when I got back.  It does cause the clothes to be extremely wrinkled, much more than the traditional washer. I also see some dirt residue at times left on the clothes.  Still wonder how clean they are. Really not crazy about it also takes about an hour for each load to finish and the towels are just as wet as with the older washer.  Have problems with towels getting musty smelling and can’t get it out.

Where does this fit in the Issue Teams?

Environment! The new high efficiency machines are designed to use fewer resources. Yes, they do take some time getting used to and the directions must be followed carefully. They use LESS water, energy, and detergent.

One of the keys to the HE machines is using the right detergent and the right amount of detergent. Using wrong detergent or amount of detergent can actually redeposit soils back onto the clothing, so they are not getting cleaned at all. Click here to see a great resource from the Cleaning Institute about HE machines: http://www.cleaninginstitute.org/assets/1/Page/HE.pdf .

Gale and I want to know...

• What do you think about washing machines? 
• We have a survey ... It will take 2 minutes or less to complete. 
• Link to survey:
  https://okstateches.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_2mhTgNbpUV5AVr7

Thanks!

Gina Peek and guest blogger Gale Mills

Wildfires

Welcome guest blogger Susan Routh! Susan (Grady Co) responded to my note from Sunday. I saw her yesterday at the ABCD in-service and asked her to share her story. Here it is:


Ninnekah Fire:
The Ninnekah Fire was discovered approximately 2:30 p.m. on Friday, August 3rd, south and east of Ninnekah.  In the end, 9,600 acres were burned and one house and one barn were destroyed.  

The homeowners that lost their home are active agriculture producers in Grady County and she is a 50 year member of OHCE. We have been told that the firefighters evacuated many homeowners on Friday evening in that area and the homeowners were not allowed to return until Saturday morning where they saw first-hand the damage.

We have been told of some of the challenges that producers had when trying to negotiate through county roads to get to their homes or pastures during the fire.  Note from GP: I am working on materials about how to protect your home. These are dangerous times.

The Ninnekah community has been very supportive. The first fundraiser is planned to help repair firefighting units on August 19th with a Bar-B-Que dinner. Additional fundraisers will be held to support this family who lost their homes. It is small community who cares for its residents.

Thank you, Susan for the story and the photos. We are all thinking of those who have suffered. The materials that Ag Comm is helping put together will address MANY of the topics touched on here.

As a reminder, weather radios aren't just for weather. The radios will alert you to emergencies within the specified radius. This means if parts of your county are being evacuated, you'll hear about it on your radio. I am going to refer to them as emergency radios from now on in order to emphasize this point.

Issue Teams
We want to prepare Oklahomans for all kinds of disaster and reduce risk. Where does this fit into Issue Teams? The first five people to tell me exactly what issue team and the measurable outcome fits this topic will be entered into a drawing to win a Red Cross emergency radio. Please explain your answer and give one action you think consumers would be willing to take to meet the measurable outcome.

More next week...

GPeek

Hello Educators!

It is the busy summer season! I know that everyone is having a great time with events like 4-H round up, fairs, OHCE meetings, etc. I wanted to tell you about a recent event and an Environment Issue Team OUTCOME! Please note that we don't have FCS educators on the team right now. Even so, this is an excellent project and can SPARK ideas in other counties.

EVENT: 4-H STEM Institute (June 27-28, 2012)

This is the event that Jeff Sallee coordinates. In 2011 and 2012, I helped to coordinate and teach the iGreen track. Basically, the iGreen track is all about water, energy, and waste.

This year, we had a GREAT group from Haskell County. It was two 4-Hers and an adult volunteer, none other than Rachel Lockwood's husband. Ron was a great adult volunteer!

Jeff Sallee kicked it off by inviting the kids to the free (no county travel dollars used) STEM institute and has secured the funding for the project.

Picture 1. Ron Lockwood learning about Low Impact Development in the hot sun!

Picture 2. Learning about water resources at the OSU Botanic Garden.

Haskell County is interested in iGreen's water tract. the 4-Hers are pursuing a Low-Impact Development (LID) project. A site on the courthouse grounds has been identified, and the group is continuing to gather support on the county level. They were able to receive funding from Dr. Sallee to implement their project, and are working on their budget. This team is has gotten help from Stillwater, including Ag faculty Jason Vogel and Scott Frazier, Kim Toscano from the Bot. Garden, and me. This project really does go across content areas, and is a great example of how Ag and FCS can effectively partner!

Picture 3. Project sketch

UPDATE:

The team is adding recycling bins like the one pictured here:

I am very excited about this project because we can get to some Environment Issue Team outcomes.  The medium term action: Increase the number of Oklahomans who maintain, conserve and protect natural resources (air, land, water). The ultimate outcome: Oklahomans will prevent/decrease the degradation of their environments.

We will be holding an Environment Issue Team in-service at the Haskell County site (after fair season is over). If you are interested in attending, please let me know! Questions? Comments? Please let me know!

GPeek

**Update: Carol Vandiver has been awesome working with Haskell Co. to get supplies ordered and even had everything delivered to the office. It is all coming together!