Public Health Matters Blog Posts

Lost and Found: Reuniting with Loved Ones in an Emergency

Mother and daughter embracing sitting on couch

More than a collection of names, phone numbers, and street addresses, an Emergency Action Plan is an instruction manual for how to stay healthy, stay informed, and stay connected in an emergency. It’s important that everyone in your household know how to inform family, friends, and caregivers of their well-being and whereabouts when a disaster Read More >

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Good as Gold Prep Your Health Tips for All Seasons

Golden Girls Day

Some things just age well: jeans, wine, flannel sheets, and The Golden Girls. That’s right, a 1980s sitcom about four single, women living, loving, and laughing together in Miami. It lasted just 180 episodes. Since going off the air in 1992, however, the show has regained some of its luster. So much so, that last Read More >

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Six Ways to Ruin Your Summer Fun!

A group of children at a pool learning to swim.

Ahhh, summer… when the weather’s nice, the birds are singing and the ways to endanger your health are many. Here are six things that can ruin your summer fun and simple steps that you can take to prevent them from happening. 1. Don’t Get Overheated It doesn’t matter whether you’re physically fit or young and Read More >

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Pet Project: 5 Ways to Prep Your Pet for Emergencies

Grey adult cat resting inside a pet carrier.

Your pet is family. Their safety and well-being is a priority for you every day, but have you thought about what you would do with your pet in an emergency? Many people don’t think about being prepared until an emergency is at their doorstep. When disaster strikes, they may choose to ignore evacuation orders because Read More >

Posted on by Casey Barton Behravesh, MS, DVM, DrPH, DACVPM, Director, One Health Office, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases6 CommentsTags , , , , , , , , , ,

Breathe Easy, Part 2: How to Properly Use a Respirator in an Emergency

Close-up photo of a man putting on a respirator.

In the course of preparing for an emergency you might decide to buy a pack of respirators from your local hardware store, thinking that they are ready to use out of the box. However, before you can rely on one of these devices to protect you, there are some important selection and use criteria to Read More >

Posted on by Jaclyn Krah Cichowicz, MA, Health Communications Specialist, NIOSH National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory (NPPTL); Christopher Coffey, Ph.D., Associate Director for Science, NPPTL; and Jonathan Szalajda, MS, Deputy Director, NPPTL5 CommentsTags , , , , , , , , ,

Breathe Easy, Part 1: How to Pick the Right Respirator for Your Emergency Kit

Three kinds of filtering facepiece respirators

There are many things to consider in the process of preparing your health and safety for a public health emergency. Memories of emergencies, like last summer’s wildfires and the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic, remind us of the threat they can pose to respiratory health, and of the equal importance of an item that gets left Read More >

Posted on by Jaclyn Krah Cichowicz, MA, Health Communications Specialist, NIOSH National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory (NPPTL); Christopher Coffey, Ph.D., Associate Director for Science, NPPTL; and Jonathan Szalajda, MS, Deputy Director, NPPTL4 CommentsTags , , , , , , , , , ,