GPSAR Digital News for August 1997



In this digital issue of GPSAR news...



DIRT BIKES TO BECOME ACTIVE UNDER THE ALL TERRAIN VEHICLE UNIT

Anv member that has a dirt hike and is willi~ to convert it for mission tise, contact Lt. Hopkins. The dirt bike members will be wearing a similar uniform with other specialized equipment such as helmets, etc. They will also be cross-training and working with the Mounted Unit.

REPORTS OF CARABINER FAILURES


The Seattle Fire Department reports experiencing a significant failure rate with the Omega Rescue "D" Caribiner, They have had approximately 12 caribiner failures within 30 days. One fell apart while someone was being lowered. The others presented cracks in the body at the hinge pin, screw gate cracks, deformities in the metal leading to non-closing gates and carabiners falling apart via the pins falling out.
The problem was significant enough to warrant replacing their entire set of 350 carabiners in inventory within three days.

The problem carabiners were new Omega's, all purchased within the past year to replace all of their SMC "D" square type carabiners. The Department is now returning to SMC and purchasing the 'pear" shaped 90001b. heat treated version.

CURRENT WILDLIFE DANGERS


Deer - Use caution when responding to a mission. In the areas that GPSAR responds to, numbers of deer are up. Based on figures compiled by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, deer are America's most dangerous game animal, contributing to 130 fatalities each year (most of them collisions with automobiles).

Bears - Along the eastern seaboard states, black bears are at their highest population levels in a century. The reason for this is a decline in farming and timber production which results in places reverting to forests, and bears are repopulating those areas. Maine for example, has some 21,000 bears, Virginia an estimated 6,000 and Pennsylvania 7,500. In Massachusetts, the third most densely populated state in the nation, complaints of bear damage have risen from just 3 a year in the 1970's to 171 in 1995. Though hunting seasons help to keep bear numbers in check, anti-hunting groups are trying to restrict or eliminate hunting of them.

Coyotes - These predators are not only increasing in numbers but are also becoming more urban and more aggressive. according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture which receive complaints on a daily basis. Issues include attacks on livestock and pets. and the fact that coyotes are becoming more accustomed to and less fearful of the urban and suburban areas leads to increasing problems.

Miscellaneous - Bee stings account for 43 deaths a year, dog attacks account for 14 deaths a year, rattlesnakes account for 10 deaths a year and spiders account for 4 deaths a year.

Remember, for those certified to carry the OC Pepper Foam, it was originally developed as defense against bear attacks. While the OC will work in most cases, your best defense is to try to avoid the above animals if at all possible.

Thank' to the American Guardian for portions of the above article.

SECRETS OF SLEEPING AND FEELING BETTER


Secrets of a better nights sleep - Any activity that you may perform during the day, including search and rescue missions and training, will be improved by simply getting a better nights sleep. The question often is, how? Many persons are helped by simply avoiding the following prior to going to bed: Alcohol - Its sleep-inducing effect is short lived, and it can make you wake in the early morning hours. Spicy foods - They can cause stomach upset during the night, thereby keeping you awake. Excessive Liquid - They can cause a need to urinate that can wake you during the night, thereby making it difficult to fall asleep again. Anger - Going to bed mad can interfere with a good night's sleep. Anxiety - Plan the next day before going to bed, so thoughts don't keep you awake. Smoking - Nicotine dependence is linked to depression, which results in insomnia and other sleep disorders.

By simply doing the following, both your sleep and mood should improve: During the day, exercise (not before going to bed), talk to friends and do some simple chores. Just prior to bedtime, listen to music or read.

LYME DISEASE- OLD NEWS NOW?



As search and rescue personnel, you must constantly be aware of the possible dangers during training or a mission and, below, is another problem to watch out for.

Scientists have discovered a new virus carried by ticks. And, they say it is just the beginning, now that the spotlight on Lyme Disease has sparked new interest on the biting, bloodsucking bugs.

'There are viruses and bacteria that we don't know about simply because we haven't looked," said Duane Gubler, who studies tick diseases at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "I think as we study them, we are going to find even more,

Besides the well-known Lyme Disease, scientists know of at least seven illnesses caused by tick bites. Now, researchers at Harvard University, Yale University and in Spain have isolated a new virus in deer ticks in New England. while they are not sure how it will affect human health, related viruses discovered in Europe cause severe brain swelling and can be deadly.

'If it does actually affect humans here, the potential for severe illness is there," said Sam Telford, a parasitologist at the Harvard School of Public Health, who wrote about the new virus in the April-June issue of the Center for Disease Controls' journal, Emerging Infectious Diseases.

Telford and a team of scientists discovered the virus while studying bacteria that cause human granuloc)~ic ehrlichiosis a potentially fatal illness identified last year that is caused by black-legged ticks.

The team was studying the salivary glands of ticks when it came across the virus The team injected the virus into mice to study its effects. The result: The mice quickly died.

'Just the fact that deer ticks have a virus is cause for concern," Telford said. "That's why we are aggressively looking at what this means for public health."

The tiny tick is proving to be a terror,' Lyme Disease reached record levels in 1996. The pests have multiplied in the past few years, thanks to snowy winters that preserve their nests and rainy springs that give them the perfect place to thrive.

There are more than 850 species of ticks worldwide, 100 of which transmit diseases. Other tick-borne diseases often go undiagnosed because they mimic Lyme Disease and its flulike symptoms. They include babesiosis, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Colorado tick fever, tularemia and ehrlichiosis,

Most ticks favor animals over humans, but when they are hungry, they will feed where they can. "We think it is likely that people are being bitten once and infected with more than one agent," said Thomas Mather, an entomologist at the University of Rhode Island. "That's why we think one person may get sicker than another. "You are talking about a tick that can suck the blood from a variety of animals before it dies. You are getting a mix of infections."

Ticks and the diseases they can transmit will continue to thrive as people move into their living areas or "hideouts," the Center for Disease Control said. Besides woods, ticks can be found in meadows, weeds, caves, cabins and on lawns and other areas where they would least be expected to be.

According to the Center for Disease Control, as more and more people move into secondary forests, the problems spreads even further and, we will be seeing more and more of this problem.

THE DANGER OF CHIGGERS


Being involved in search and rescue can bring you in contact with some things that you would rather avoid, however, some things may not be avoidable. While ticks can be a problem for search and rescue personnel, you should also know about another pest - Chiggers,

Chiggers, also known as redbugs, rougets, harvest mites and mower's mites, are mites, and mites live everywhere, from the Arctic snows to the dust under your bed. There may be as many as half a million species, of which 35,000 have been classified. The All-American Chigger accounts for 2,500 of those, with a bug called Trombicula alfreddugesi, which is the most common.

The chigger, about the diameter of a human hair (I OOth to 40Oths of an inch) is red and hairy. It has no body segments, but has a pair of mandibular claws called chelicerae, with which it grabs.

The chigger does most of its damage as a young larva. Its parents deposit it as an egg in the groirnd. When it hatches into its larval stage, it climbs a stalk of grass or plant and awaits a carbon-dioxide animal

It is the detection of a high concentration of carbon dioxide that prompts the chigger to abandon plants for its host. Once aboard, the chigger wanders about until they are stopped by constrictive clothing such as socks, underpants, waistbands of pants, bra straps, etc. This is where they start to feed.

There are a number of myths about what chiggers do.' burrow into your skin, lay eggs under your skin, bite once and fall off or suck your blood. None of these are true. Literature reports that the chigger grabs your skin with its chelicerae and injects you with a strong enzyme that liquefies, digests and otherwise plays havoc with your skin cells. The bug does not burrow under your skin. If you look closely, you can see it. It looks like a small red dot hanging on for life.

When its enzymes have done their job, the chigger feeds on your dissolved skin for 2 or 3 days. The, it drops off to live out its life, molting to a nymphal stage and finally changing to its adult form. Once a nymph, it feeds solely on plant matter and soil organisms, not humans.

The injection of chigger enzymes, coupled with the body's immune response, causes a hollow tube called a stylostome to form in the skin. The bite turns red, enlarges, often crests to a small blister, and itches to the extreme.

Although the larva finish feeding in a few days and detach, most chiggers are scratched off well before they are filled to satisfaction. Another week or 10 days must pass, however, before the body absorbs the tube of digestive enzymes.

A starch bath or calamine lotion works well to relieve itching in mild cases, but for more serious bites you will need antihistamines and perhaps topical or oral steroids, which of course, means a visit to the doctor. Watch out for infections, because scratching can contaminate the bites.

The best course of action when on search and rescue missions and training's is to tuck your pants into your boots and spray a high percentage of deet (100% if available) on your boots and pants (not your skin as 100% deet can be toxic). Apply insect repellent to your skin such as Avon's Skin-So-Soft or a product with deet (no more than 10%). Following these simple methods should avoid the chigger problem in the first place.
CLEAN HANDS SAVE LIVES - INCLUDING YOURS!


Each year, an estimated 40 million Americans get sick from bacteria transmitted by dirty hands. Colds, flus, Hepatitis A, eye infections and dysentery are just some of the diseases that can easily be transmitted by just a touch. "It probably sounds boring to have someone say that by washing your hands you can prevent infection. But it is true," said Dr. Bela Matyas of the state Department of Public Health.

Washing your hands doesn't mean passing them under running water. "If you did it in 15 or 20 seconds, then you clearly did not spend enough time doing it," said Matyas, suggesting that 30 seconds to a minute is better.

During a test, the Massachusetts Medical Society sprinkled white powder (synthetic germs) on the hands of several observers About 30 minutes later, ultraviolet lights highlighted traces of the synthetic germs everywhere - on clothes, pens, hair, chairs and faces.

"People don't realize where their hands are going," said Dr. Joseph Heyman, medical society president. Hospital staff and restaurant workers can be frequent culprits. Last summer, 29 people contracted salmonella after eating at a restaurant outside Boston. Restaurant employees are required to wash their hands after using the bathroom. But can an employer really",,' control this? "You can't walk in and watch the," said Ron Webber, manager of a downtown Boston restaurant. "You've got to trust them."

Last year, researchers studying the bathroom habits of more than 6,000 men and women in five United States cities found that only 74 percent of women and 61 percent of men washed their hands.

"It’s frightening to recognize how many people don't wash their bands even for something as obvious as going to the bathroom," Matyas said.

As search and rescue personnel (first aiders, first responders, emergency medical technicians, paramedics, nurses and physicians) be sure to carry disposable rubber gloves when on duty as they are a necessity' when rendering first aid You have a responsibility not only to the person you are rendering first aid to, but first and foremost, to yourself


QUOTES OF THE MONTH
There is no failure except in no longer trying.
Hubbard
The man who tried his best and failed is superior to the man who never tried.
Wilkinson

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