Don’t Become a Statistic Tonight: SoberRide offers New Year's Revelers Safe Way

MCFRS hopes all of you have a SAFE New Year’s eve tonight! I found this great article on WTOP.com with information on how you can get a free ride if you have had a bit too much to drink. Drunk driving is a preventable incident – it is NOT accident when one occurs!

So please take a moment to click on the link below to learn more. Pass along to any one you know who may be out and about celebrating tonight.  If even the slightest doubt please pick up a phone and call for a ride home. 

SoberRide offers New Year's Revelers Safe Way

Stay Safe this evening!

Bill

Whole Foods & Fire Station 6 A-Shift Partner on 28 Day Health Challenge

By: Bill Delaney



Jill Ward provides books and background
to 6 A-Shift

Yesterday I tagged along as Career Fire Fighters from Bethesda Fire Station 6, A-Shift, received a briefing and tour at the Friendship Heights Whole Foods. The reason for this meeting was for the fire fighters to get background on a unique challenge they will be undertaking starting in January.


The challenge is based on a Austin, Texas fire fighter’s book, The Engine 2 Diet, that lays out a 28 day plan to lose weight and lower cholesterol. It is part cook book as well and the personnel at Station 6 hope to prepare healthy meals while on duty.

We will be chronicling their experience here on the blog. So look for updates over the course of January and February.

Special thanks to Jill Ward and Whole Foods for partnering in this special health challenge!



Touring the Whole Foods to learn

where the healthy foods are kept



Already studying!

Ice & Cold Weather Safety Tips

Each year, many residents are injured during the winter months as a result of pedestrian accidents and from exposure in cold water incidents. Skaters fall through the ice; boaters and canoeists overturn their crafts and pedestrians are struck walking in roadways because sidewalks are snow covered.

Here are a few general guidelines for use by winter recreation enthusiasts to lessen their chances for an icy dip or worse. It's impossible to judge the strength of ice by its appearance, thickness, daily temperature, or snow cover alone. Ice strength is also dependent on water depth under the ice, the size of the water and water chemistry, currents, and distribution of the load on the ice.

THE ONLY "SAFE" ICE IS AT A SKATING ARENA!

WHAT DO YOU DO IF SOMEONE FALLS THROUGH THE ICE?

Act quickly and call 9-1-1 for help immediately. Make sure properly trained and equipped rescue personnel are alerted to respond.

DO NOT go out onto the ice. Many times would-be rescuers become victims themselves.

Reach, Throw, or Row. Extend a branch, pole or ladder to the victim. Throw them a buoyant object such as a life ring or float tied to a rope. If a boat is nearby row out to the victim or push it toward them.

HOW COLD IS COLD WATER?

Any water that is cooler than normal body temperature (98.6 degrees F) is by definition "cold water"

Cold water drains away body heat 25 to 30 times faster than air!

The lower the temperature of the water, the faster the onset of hypothermia.

WHAT IS HYPOTHERMIA?

Hypothermia is the excessive lowering of body temperature. A drop n core temperature below 95 degrees F., causes shivering, confusion, loss of muscle strength, and if not treated and reversed leads to unconsciousness and death.

Safety experts estimate that half of all drowning victims die from the fatal effects of hypothermia and cold water, not the fatal effects from water filled lungs.

PEDESTRIAN SAFETY

Slippery driveways and sidewalks can be particularly hazardous in the winter. Keep them well shoveled, and apply materials such as rock salt or sand to improve traction.

Be especially careful crossing the street and wear appropriate shoes and brightly colored (not white) clothing while walking in snowy conditions.

Use reflective clothing or stickers for maximum protection, especially at dawn and dusk.

Christmas Tree and Holiday Light Recycling

Though I am still off for another day winding down my holiday weekend, I thought it important to get out some great information provided by the Montgomery County Division of Solid Waste Services (DSWS), in the Department of Environmental Protection. Below, please find some great information as it relates to Christmas Tree and Holiday Light Recycling.

Hope everyone has had a December full of health and happiness that continues into the New Year!

-Bill

Christmas Tree Recycling Schedule and Tips

Montgomery County residents may recycle their Christmas trees from Monday, December 27, 2010 through Friday, February 4, 2011 by placing the entire tree at the curb by 7 a.m. on their regular recycling collection day.

After February 4, Christmas trees may be recycled through the County’s curbside yard trim recycling collection program. Because the trees will be chipped for mulch, they must first be cut into smaller pieces.

The Division of Solid Waste Services reminds residents to keep trees in their natural state and to remove the stand and all decorations, including lights, ornaments, tinsel and garland. There should be nothing attached to the tree.

Residents are also reminded not to place trees in plastics bags. Trees with root balls are considered

“live” and therefore cannot be collected as part of this recycling program. In addition, artificial trees cannot be collected as part of the recycling program. Residents might consider donating artificial trees to charitable organizations or offering them for reuse through online reuse networks such as the Freecycle Network at www.Freecycle.org.

Tree branches and needles may be recycled at home by placing them under outdoor trees and shrubs as temporary winter mulch, or they may be chopped up and added to a backyard compost bin.

Wreaths and roping that are typically bound together with wire cannot be recycled unless the wire is removed from the greens. If there is no wiring attached, the greens may be placed directly into paper lawn bags or in reusable containers or bundled as yard trim and placed at the curb for recycling collection on recycling day.

Residents of apartments and condominiums, as well as businesses, should check with their property or business manager for specific Christmas tree recycling instructions.

After Christmas trees are collected for recycling, they are shredded into mulch that will be available in February and March at County-operated Neighborhood Mulch Preserves. The preserves are located at: Montgomery County Recycling Center, 16105 Frederick Rd. in the Derwood/Rockville/Gaithersburg area; and at E.E. Halmos Park (use the Bodmer Ave. entrance) in Poolesville. The mulch is free but must be loaded and transported by the user.

This mulch is good to use on woody plants, such as bushes, shrubs and trees; as a cover material on walkways or other areas where vegetation needs to be controlled; and as a carbon-rich addition to home compost bins. Because the mulch is “green,” it must be aged for at least six to eight months before it can be used on flowers, vegetables or other plants with tender or shallow root systems.

For more information about Christmas tree recycling, the Neighborhood Mulch Preserves and/or using mulch, call 311; 240-777-0311 240-777-0311 from outside Montgomery County; TTY 240-777-3556; or visit www.montgomerycountymd.gov/recycling.

Holiday Light Recycling Opportunities

Broken, burnt out and/or unwanted holiday lights used on Christmas trees or around the house can be recycled, but not as part of the County’s curbside recycling program. Residents may take their holiday lights to a number of local retailers for recycling collection or they may send the lights directly to private recycling companies.

For an updated list of holiday light recycling options, visit www.montgomerycountymd.gov/recycling and click on Recycle Your Holiday Lights.

MCFRS Triathlon Team Members raise $19,140 For the Make-A-Wish Foundation

MCFRS triathlon team members raised a total of $19,140 this year for the Make-A-Wish Foundation and Kensington resident Theresa Brooks was our official honoree.  The triathlon was held in September at Bethany Beach in Delaware.

Theresa is a 6 year old cancer survivor, who had a wish to "be a ballerina" fulfilled last year by the Make a Wish Foundation.  In December 2006, at the age of two and a half, she was diagnosed with Rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare soft tissue cancerous tumor.  Theresa was treated primarily at Children's National Medical Center in Washington, DC, where she received chemotherapy for 10 months.  She also received radiation treatments at Mass General in Boston.  As of this date Theresa is cancer free.

Theresa has been a good friend of Katie Monahan (daughter of Fire Fighter T.J. Monahan, 33 A Shift) since preschool.

You will actually be able to see Theresa in a two minute segment called “Theresa’s Wish” that will air on CNN as part of a one-hour special called "Giving in Focus" on Christmas Day at 4:00 PM.

MCFRS Triathlon Team Members: Michael Johns, TJ Monahan, Robert Stojinski, Elwood Ey, Michael Green, Joshua Devries, David Carter, Michael McDonald, Amanda Viragh, James Riddle, Andrew Welk, Jose Estrada.

Special thanks to Fire Fighter Carla Myers (22 C Shift), for the embroidery for this year's team shirts.