SAFETY, AT HOME AND ON THE ROAD

SAFETY AT HOME AND ON THE ROAD

The strongest part of the body is the elbow. Use it when and where ever it is needed in the place it will hurt the most.
To avoid becoming a victim:
You must be AWARE of where you are and what’s going on around you. Pay attention at all times, JUST LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT. PS It does!
Body Language can prevent an attack. Keep your head up, stand up straight, swing your arms.
You don’t have to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. But it can happen. Don’t drive or walk alone in a bad area or ever in an alley at night.
LOCK YOUR CAR DOORS as soon as you get in and leave the area. If you need to check something, pull off at a convenience or drive thru or market under a big light. Pay close attention to what is around you.
Check your car BEFORE you get in it.
Do not park next to a big van. Most serial killers use vans and are “handicapped” and “need help with getting in their car or getting something out.” Just a little bit of help from you and they have you in their car.
If there is a man sitting closest to your car door when you go to your car, don’t get in. Go get security or someone to walk you to your car. If no one is around to walk you, find something to do until they leave.
Always take the elevator instead of the stairs, no matter what exercise gurus say. Crime happens in stairwells.
If someone has a gun and you are not under his control. RUN, ALWAYS RUN. They can usually only hit a running target 4 out of 100 times and then not in a vital area.

As women, we are always trying to be sympathetic and helpful. STOP IT! It could get you raped or killed. That was the way Ted Bundy, the serial killer worked. He didn’t look like a serial killer, he was handsome and knew how to speak to get women to help him. He was the last person a lot of women ever helped.
Travel and do business during daylight hours when ever possible.
BE EXTREMELY CAUTIOUS AT REST STOPS.
Check the ID’s of couriers or delivery people. If you aren’t expecting anything, don’t open the door.

Use ATM’s only in daylight or when in well lit busy locations. Better yet, get some cash out at the grocery store. Park in well lit areas. Always lock your car. Hide


_______________________________________
bags in the trunk. Don’t set yourself up to be a victim by wearing expensive jewelry just to go shopping or garage sale shopping.
Don’t carry large amounts of cash. Use debit or credit cards.

Bank of America recently started backing losses/theft on debit cards like they have for credit cards. IT’S ABOUT TIME!!!

Don’t carry your life history and pictures that are not replaceable in your purse. Carry your ID and cash or debit cards in a front pocket and leave your hands free.

If you are in a foreign country or just a bad area, do not carry an expensive purse or wear shoes that shout you are an American, like NIKE. Pick pockets/muggers go for those first.

Use automatic timers for house lights year round so no one will know if you are using them because you are gone or just because you like you lights to come on and go off at a certain time.

Have someone take care of your mail and newspaper. Stopping them is not always a good thing to do. Have a neighbor watch your home and park in your drive way.

Make sure your grandchildren are careful with their SS #’s. They can be missing for a long time before anyone knows and they are the popular new resource in Identity Theft. Most of this is common sense but a lot of people don’t take the time to use it.

INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT!

Carry a list of the medications you are taking at all times.
Just print the name of the medications, how often you take it, the strength, usually in “mgs”. Include aspirin, vitamins and any over the counter medications you usually take on a regular basis. Sound like a hassle? No where near as big a hassle as a sudden trip to the emergency hospital and no one knowing what you take. It will also help doctors know what
you already have going on in your body. The more you have to take the more important it is to have this small piece of paper with you. If you use a computer, it’s real easy to print one off and update it as needed. If not, it’s still worth the effort to write it out and keep it with you at all times.

Jot a couple of emergency phone numbers that can be called in case needed on the back of you medications. It could save your life. Just do it.
If you carry a cell phone, stick a label on the back of it with an emergency contact number as well as your name and if there is room, even severe medical problems you have. Firemen will soon be, if not already, trained to look for ICE which stands for In Case of Emergency. Give them something to work with and it may save your life.

The biggest cause of falls, in almost all age ranges, but especially in elderly, is throw rugs, area rugs or any kind of extra floor covering. If you or someone you are caring for has a tendency to fall, do them a favor and get rid of the things no matter how much they object. And they will. It doesn’t matter if they keep the carpet clean if they aren’t there to see it.

www.bsu.ed/welcomehome/index.html Hints on how to make a home safer to live in for an older person or one with disabilities.

MEDICINE
It doesn’t matter if it is over the counter or a prescription, if it is difficult to open it is dangerous to the person who needs to open it and take it. Be sure to get easy open caps from the pharmacist.

For those extremely hard to open aspirin and similar bottles that must line up with an invisible arrow, you can do either of 2 things. Paint that arrow on the bottle red with nail polish or get a pair of toe nail clippers and cut the little notch off in the lid. No one can take medicine they can’t get out of a bottle or find if it spills on the floor.

If you are helping someone take medicine, consider putting colored label circles on the lids of each bottle. Yellow for morning pills, Red for noon and Blue for evening. I strip of each color if it is 3 times a day. If you actually give the pills to the person, put them in a round votive candle holder that is easy for them to pick up and hold.


Again, use a different color for each time of the day so they know, and you will to, that they took their pills. They will drop fewer pills this way.

WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT? CELL PHONES CAN BE DANGEROUS!

Make sure workmen or women that are in your home DO NOT USE THEIR CELL PHONES INSIDE. THEY CAN EASILY TAKE PICTURES WITH THEIR PHONES AND COME BACK LATER KNOWING EXACTLY WHAT AND WHERE TO LOOK.