Our fireman gave us some really useful tips on fire safety and showed us a video which showed just how alarmingly rapidly a fire can spread.
He had an easily remembered message if confronted by a fire - The Three Outs
- Never try to put it OUT.
- Get OUT.
- Call the fire service OUT.
Then we talked about the many things we can do to help prevent fires in our own homes. These are all quite simple things we can all do
- Don't leave appliances on, just running, when you don't need to. Switch off when not in use, to prevent overheating.
- Test fire alarms regularly, at least once a week.
- If you don't have fire alarms, call the fire service near you and they will come and fit them free of charge.
- When you go to bed at night close all internal doors. This slows down the speed the fire will spread should one happen during the night.
- Always have a planned escape route.
- Keep the keys in, or very close to the external door. A key could be very difficult to locate, or easily dropped and lost in a smoke filled room.
- If you have an electric blanket, take it along to a local health and wellbeing roadshow, and the fire service will check it and replace it free of charge, if it is faulty. If you don't know of one happening near you, call your local fire service and they will advise you where to go, or maybe arrange a home safety check for you.
And remember, these are simple things to do, just common sense really, and house fires are pretty rare - MAKE SURE IT DOESN'T HAPPEN TO YOU !!!
Then we touched on safety of fire near oxygen - the message is it's not safe.
- Dever use oxygen while smoking
- Don't let others smoke near you when using oxygen
- Don't use oxygen near an open flame such as a gas cooker, gas fire or open fire.
It's that time of year again, when we launch our annual fundraiser - Abseil at Dinas Rock !
Every year about thirty people abseil , have a great experience, raise sponsor money for British Lung Foundation to use to back research projects into various aspects of lung health, prevention, cures, better care - the list goes on.
Over the years we have raised just over £40,000 for this great cause. call of the Wild, St John's Ambulance and Natural Resources Wales have all waived their fees, so thanks to their generosity we can raise more money for this research. If you would like to support us, just hit the link below to donate on justgiving.
Ali Sparkes and Maria, from the Medicine Centre in Neath, talked at length about lung health both the traditional and a more holistic approach.
Ali spoke mostly about all the different inhalers available and the different jobs they do, whether they are short acting or long acting. Also she made sure we all knew how to inhale the medications properly - as we all know, different ways foe different inhalers.
Maria's interest is in Chinese medicine. She brought along various seeds for us to try which could supplement our diets.
We learned that all dairy foods (milk, yoghurt, chocolate etc) are bad for mucus, whilepumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, quinoa, black kale and pot barley are so full of nutrients, we only need sprinkle a little into our food, especially when appetite is poor due to general ill health.
If you don't have a health food shop close by, most of these things are avialable now in your local supermarkets. So, why not give it a go and give yourself a boost ?
