Firehouse Events Photo Contest

Firehouse Events is looking for action shots of fire/rescue/EMS professionals in the field or conducting training. They’re in the process of designing looks for upcoming Firehouse Events (Firehouse World, Firehouse Expo and Firehouse Central) and your submitted photos could be featured in show guides, advertising campaigns or other marketing materials (published photos will receive their due credit).

The top 10 runner-up photos will be published in the Firehouse Expo 2010 Show Guide. The Grand Prize (valued at $305) winner will receive a 3-Day Conference Package to the 2010 Firehouse Expo July 20 – 25 in Baltimore, MD in addition to being featured in the Firehouse Expo 2010 Show Guide.

Send your photos to Marcia Schnaidt at Marcia@FirehouseEvents.com by March 1, 2010. If your files are too large to email go to http://webftp.cygnuspub.com, enter the name Marcia Schnaidt and click continue. Instructions are provided to successfully transfer files.

Submission requirements:

Submission automatically grants rights to use your photo(s) to Cygnus Business Media, which includes Firehouse Expo, Firehouse World, Firehouse Central, Firehouse Magazine, Firehouse.com and all EMS EXPO properties. You must own all rights to the photo. Include your full name, agency or institutional affiliation (if any), address, e-mail and telephone number and exactly how you want the photo credit published. Please indicate if, where and when the photo may have been published previously.

All photos must be high resolution digital files (300 dpi with 8.5 x 6.5 minimum output size). Digital image files should be TIFFs or highest-quality JPGs.

All photo files MUST have your name in the file, e.g. MarciaSchnaidt1.tiff.

Cygnus Business Media reserves the right to publish or use any photos with appropriate credit agreed upon with the photographer.

The photographer retains full copyright to his\her images.

A panel of Cygnus Business Media personnel will judge the photos. The panel’s decision is final. The grand prize winner and ten top finalists will be featured in the Firehouse Expo 2010 Show Guide.

Photos will be eliminated from competition if they have date stamps on the photo, show unsafe practices, do not meet industry practices, violate patient privacy laws, or are of low technical quality (for example, have soft focus or show camera movement).

Submission materials will not be returned.

If the grand prize winner is not a firefighter, he/she may transfer their prize to a firefighter of their choice.

If you have questions, please contact Marcia at Marcia@FirehouseEvents.com or 800-827-8009 ext. 3309.

Source: cygnus.com

Vital Supplies Going To Haiti in Pelican Cases

Pelican™ Sends Vital Survival and Rescue Items to Provide Help in Haiti
Pelican Donates Head Lamps and Flashlights; Valued at $100,000

TORRANCE, CA – January 21, 2010 – Pelican Products, Inc., the global leader in the design and manufacture of advanced lighting systems and virtually indestructible cases, today announced its contribution of $100,000 worth of head lamps and flashlights to the Haiti relief effort. The in-kind donation will help aid and assist rescuers, volunteers and emergency response teams in their relief efforts in Haiti. Emergency triage shelters are without lighting, so head lamps allow doctors to treat patients in completely dark locations.

“Our prayers go out to the people of Haiti,” said Lyndon Faulkner, Pelican’s President and CEO. “It is impossible to see the devastation and not want to help. We hope that our donation, along with the donations of others across the county, will help bring some relief to the people of Haiti.”

Pelican™ cases are also being utilized by emergency response teams to transport and carry supplies to Haiti. Pelican cases are some of the most durable, longest lasting protector cases and are engineered to be completely watertight, crushproof and dustproof.

Source: pelican.com

NYC ½ Marathon Update

The NYC ½ Marathon lottery closed last Wednesday night (1/6/10) and the winners were announced on Thursday. If you didn’t make it and you still want to take part in it you still have a chance. The FAF Team still has spots available. If you’re interested you can register with the Fresh Air Fund.

January is National Blood Donor Month

Since 1970 the first month of the year has been recognized as National Blood Donor Month. Why not kick off the New Year with a blood donation to your local Red Cross or other blood bank in honor of National Blood Donor Month? The whole process takes only about an hour of your time.

If you’re at least 17 years old, weigh at least 110 pounds, not on antibiotics, without infection or fever, feeling healthy the day of and it’s been at least eight weeks since your last donation why not go for it? There are some other guidelines but those are the biggies.

Blood has a shelf life of only 42 days. That means it constantly needs to be replenished. In the midst of not only cold and flu season but the rise in car accidents during the winter season clean, backup blood is needed.

For information on where you can donate blood here’s a link to the American Association of Blood Banks (AABB) which has a handy Blood Bank Locator Map.

Sources: aabb.org, healthnews.com, redcross.org

FDA Approves Fluzone High-Dose for People Ages 65 and Older

FDA PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: Dec. 23, 2009

Media Inquiries: Shelly Burgess, 301-796-4651, shelly.burgess@fda.hhs.gov
Consumer Inquiries: 888-INFO-FDA

FDA Approves a High Dose Seasonal Influenza Vaccine Specifically Intended for People Ages 65 and Older
Accelerated approval process used in vaccine approval

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Fluzone High-Dose, an inactivated influenza virus vaccine for people ages 65 years and older to prevent disease caused by influenza virus subtypes A and B.

People in this age group are at highest risk for seasonal influenza complications, which may result in hospitalization and death. Annual vaccination remains the best protection from influenza, particularly for people 65 and older.

Fluzone High-Dose was approved via the accelerated approval pathway. FDA’s accelerated approval pathway helps safe and effective medical products for serious or life-threatening diseases become available sooner. In clinical studies, Fluzone High-Dose demonstrated an enhanced immune response compared with Fluzone in individuals 65 and older.

As part of the accelerated approval process, the manufacturer is required to conduct further studies to verify that the Fluzone High-Dose will decrease seasonal influenza disease after vaccination.

“As people grow older, their immune systems typically become weaker,” said Karen Midthun, M.D., acting director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. “This is the first influenza vaccine that uses a higher dose to induce a stronger immune response that is intended to better protect the elderly against seasonal influenza.”

Fluzone High-Dose, manufactured by Sanofi Pasteur Inc., is formulated so that each 0.5 mL dose contains a total of 180 micrograms (mcg) of influenza virus hemagglutinin (HA) which is made up of 60 mcg of each of the three influenza virus strains.

Other currently licensed seasonal influenza vaccines for adults are formulated to contain a total of 45 mcg of influenza virus hemagglutinin (15 mcg HA from each of the three influenza strains per dose). Sanofi Pasteur, also manufactures Fluzone, a seasonal vaccine for the United States approved for use in individuals ages 6 months and older.

As expected, because of the higher HA content, non-serious adverse events were more frequent after vaccination with Fluzone High-Dose compared with Fluzone. Common adverse events experienced during clinical studies included pain, redness and swelling at the injection site and headache, muscle aches, fever and malaise. The rate of serious adverse events was comparable between Fluzone High-Dose and Fluzone.

People with hypersensitivity to egg proteins or life-threatening reactions after previous administration of any influenza vaccine should not be vaccinated with Fluzone High-Dose.

Fluzone High-Dose is administered as a single injection in the upper arm and is available in single dose pre-filled syringes without preservative.

Source: fda.gov

Tips for Holiday Health

Between the Christmas holiday and the whole Tiger Woods’ scandal (dare this be mentioned in the same sentence) have we forgotten about one of the oldest winter woes? The cold and flu are still going strong even though we haven’t heard too much about them lately.

Here are a few tips to help you (hopefully) make it through the season.

Keep your distance – your family and your friends, you love them but do you love their germs too? If they appear to be sick staying a good 3 to 6 feet away will decrease your chance of getting sick. Hopefully if they’re sick they’ll stay home but just in case.

Wash your hands – tried and true, we all know frequent hand washing with warm water and soap puts up a huge fight against germs. If you’re at a loss for a good ole hand washing carry a pocket size hand sanitizer with you.

Maintain a healthy lifestyle – get your zees, if you miss too much sleep you can wear down your immune system. Eat a healthy diet and if you’re going to splurge do so in proportion (we all love a Christmas cookie or two but ten or twelve in a sitting is overboard). Stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water. If you’re going to drink alcohol limit your intake to one or two drinks per day. Keep up with your exercise routine to help relieve stress and maintain your weight.

Source: EHSToday.com

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