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 This post is a little different than my normal electrical safety rant but you'll still enjoy it...Are you ready to help out this year in a Geocaching CITO (Cache In Trash Out)? Good job! Here's some information I want to share with you before you go out grabbing for garbage to clean up a special area.
Keep your eyes open for used needles. HIV, Hepatitis B and C are diseases that are carried in the blood. These diseases aren’t spread through everyday contact. If needles are shared, individuals are exposed to the blood of another person. If a person is infected with hepatitis B or C or HIV, there’s a risk of the disease being spread. Accidentally being pricked by a used needle may spread a disease to the individual. Occasionally, needles are found in places where children play such as parks and school yards. When this happens, it’s important that the needle is safely collected and disposed of by an adult. In last years Edmonton CITO we found a needle in the city park. Luckily we had a pre-CITO speech for kids on used needle safety.
Teach children these simple rules: • If you find a needle don’t touch it! • Tell an adult where you found the needle. • If you are hurt by a needle, tell an adult. You will need to see a doctor right away. What is the correct way to collect and dispose of a used needle? • FOR ADULTS, Pick the needle up carefully –don’t touch it with your bare hands. If you have gloves, wear them, or use a heavy cloth. If tongs are available, use them to pick up the needle. • Hold the needle tip away from you. Be careful not to prick yourself. • Place the needle with the tip downward in a can or plastic container with a lid. Seal securely. • Call or bring the container to the health unit. Or, take the container to the police, hospital, emergency department, or a hazardous waste disposal site near you. Always look to see what you're grabbing at and use a good pair of work gloves.
Making a CITO "pokey" stick to pick up garbage is safer yet. Safe against needles, glass and easy on your lower back. It's easy to build a CITO "pokey" stick. Find an old wooden broom stick, a couple hose clamps and a long nail. Once you attach the nail to the wooden broom stick with the hose clamps you may want reinforce with duct tape. Please teach children how to use these sticks safely. (not swinging them around and always keeping the point down) You may be bending down occasionally around sharp tree branches, etc and handling a garbage pick-up pokey stick so you may want to wear a pair of safety glasses. Will you be cleaning up near a roadway? You may want to consider getting some reflective safety vests. The more visible you are, the safer you are. It's a good idea to wear a pair of boots with ankle support. Don't forget to bring a bottle of water to keep hydrated. Enjoy your CITO and please keep safe, Johnnygeo
(Ref. www.norwestchc.org needle safety )
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Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, April 03 @ 11:36:48 EDT (2016 reads)
(comments? | Score: 0) |
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| A Few Reflections On Geocaching.... |
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| I first registered on geocaching.com on Monday, December 30, 2002. I had just gotten a GPSr for Christmas, and done an internet search looking for software. On January 1, 2003, I went on my first cache hunt. (Don't ask...) On January 22, 2003, I made my first find--four years ago today. At that time, when you logged in to geocaching.com there was a bar at the top of the page that told you how many geocaches were located with 250 miles of your listed coordianates. I was amazed when that number topped 2000! If I recall correctly, there were about 10,000 geocaches and about 2,000 geocachers when I started, and a search for the caches near my home coordinates returned on 94 pages. Most geocaches were tupperware, and were generally found in out-of-the-way areas where stealth was not too important. The idea of finding more than a dozen a day was considered extreme! And a thousand finds--by one person! Quite exceptional, indeed! Travel bugs were relatively new, and geocoins not yet invented. The idea of signature items was just forming. In 2003, when you went on vacation to another city the question "Are there any geocaches there?" did not bring an automatic positive response. Urban caches, especially outside the LA/Orange County area were somewhat rare, as were micros and, of course, the "small" catagory didn't exist yet. Arizona and Nevada had less than 1000 caches each--mostly hidden by California geoachers on vacation before the guideline against vacation caches was implemented. There were three more geocaches in Riverside than in Utah! Kilo-club cachers? Not so many then--in fact the Ventura Kids were really kids! At least when I met them at the Southern California Geocachers Pizza Bash, GCGBWH, they were well under 1000 finds. And I seem to remember another newcomer at that first SoCalGeocachers event who caches as EMC of Northridge, who had been caching about two months and wasn\'t sure how much time she would have for this new hobby! She was well on her way to 200 finds by then... So, how are things different today?
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| Geocaching Electrical Safety |
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I’ve been geocaching for about a year now. I have found many creative types of geocaches. This is what makes it fun and challenging. Lately I’ve been concerned about the amount of geocaches that are hidden in and around electrical equipment. I am a Safety Coordinator for a Power Utility in Alberta, Canada. It is my job to look out for the men and women who work on our electrical lines and equipment. It’s also my job to look out for the general public. One of my job tasks that I really enjoy is teaching kids at schools electrical safety smarts. I’ll go to elementary schools throughout the year to present a safety cartoon and explain in detail the indoor and outdoor electrical hazards that exist. I explain real life examples of people getting hurt really bad and sometimes killed due to electricity. I show them what dangerous wires, boxes and other equipment look like.
I teach them to stay away from all electrical lines and equipment and not to play on guard rails that sometimes protect the high voltage electrical equipment. I am asking all parents and kids not to geocache around any electrical equipment. This includes power poles, electrical boxes that are in your yard or power boxes in some other location. Please let me explain my concerns.
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A new sweepstakes announced by büji, a manufacturer of a line of products that help protect against poison ivy and poison oak, is giving away two Garmin handheld GPS units, from their website (http://www.bujiproducts.com/gpssweeps/). With submission, entrants will also receive a manufacturer’s coupon for $2 off the purchase of büji™ Wash or büji Bock™, available at Rite Aid Pharmacies.
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| Geocaching featured in this week's LA ALTERNATIVE |
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| Check out Geocaching, featured as a summer sport in this week's LA ALTERNATIVE!!! The article is fun, charming, and great exposure for the Goecaching crowd! www.laalternative.com
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 Recent Hits:
| • Today: |
349 |
| • Yesterday: |
986 |
| • Trend: |
 |
Yearly Hits:
| • 2003: |
325,168 | | • 2004: |
594,247 | | • 2005: |
840,684 | | • 2006: |
2,939,717 | | • 2007: |
879,146 | | • 2008: |
684,144 | | • 2009: |
341,184 | | • 2010: |
244,530 | | • Total: |
6,848,846 |
Average Hits:
| • Hourly: | 40 |
| • Daily: |
955 |
| • Monthly: |
29,061 |
| • Yearly: |
348,731 |
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