Summer safety while on holiday

General safety advice to keep in mind when staying away from home

Warning sign image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay

1. Know what drowning looks like
"Drowning doesn't look like drowning" highlights that drowning is usually a deceptively quiet event with minimal thrashing and yelling. If someone isn't moving or can't respond, get them out of the water or get help immediately.

2. Know your fire exit(s)

Fire exit image by wiredsmartio (https://wiredsmart.io/), downloaded from Pixabay

It's dark, there's a fire alarm going off in your hotel and you need to leave your room (if safe to do so). Do you turn left or right? Once you've checked in to your hotel please familiarise yourself with where your nearest fire exit(s) are. In case your main route turns out to be blocked when you need it look out for alternatives.

If you're staying in a hotel with my mum she'll expect you to have your shoes ready near the door just in case ;)

3. Read the safety card information
Trains and aircraft tend to have big complicated doors that are quite a palaver to open (for good reason). They're not all opened in the same way either - if there's information to hand telling you what to do (and when) if there's an emergency, read it. It's much more relaxing to do this before any emergency happens!

4. Know the local emergency phone number
It's 999 in the UK but what should you dial if you're in another country? Here's a list of emergency telephone numbers from Wikipedia, with general country by country safety advice from the UK Government's Foreign Travel Advice pages, and their foreign travel checklist which includes advice to make a note of your passport number and know how to contact your relevant embassy / consulate.

I shared the original post above with Mumsnet and a couple of other suggestions came in which I've now added below.

5. Rip tides aka rip currents
Reassuring advice from RNLI on what a rip current is, how to spot one and - if you've not avoided it, how to get out by floating away from it then swimming parallel. 

See also their general beach safety advice (what the flags mean, don't use inflatables as they can sweep you out further to see if the wind comes up).

6. Float to live
From the RNLI's Respect the Water site - fight the urge to panic and thrash, lean back, extend your arms and legs and float, catch your breath and call for help or swim from danger if possible.





Note: I posted this last week to the Buzzfeed Community and it was deleted a day later (in fact my account was deleted) because it was deemed to have been too self-promotional. I think this is a pretty odd decision. Fortunately I was able to uncover a cached copy so here it is.


[Things to add for next year's version - human error is ubiquitous and not all of it can be 'trained away'!]]

Keep an eye on small batteries in kids' toys this Christmas (and at all times)

Little flat batteries, often known as button batteries, can easily be swallowed by children and cause harm  If you think a child may have swallowed a battery take them immediately to A&E / the Emergency Room. 

"Most button batteries pass through the body and are eliminated in the stool (poo). However, sometimes batteries get “hung up”, and these are the ones that cause problems. ... When a battery is swallowed, it is impossible to know whether it will pass through or get “hung up”.  (Source)

Get the child checked out by a professional (they can do an X-ray to check if a battery's inside).

Flat batteries are not safe either and it's not to do with the batteries leaking, the danger is caused by a tiny electrical current (small enough that the battery won't operate the device, but big enough that it can cause problems inside a child's body).

"Severe tissue damage results from a build up of sodium hydroxide (caustic soda)
as a result of the electrical current discharged from the battery, and not, as
commonly supposed, from leakage from the battery. The sodium hydroxide
causes tissue burns, often in the oesophagus, which can then cause
fistulisation into major blood vessels, resulting in catastrophic haemorrhage.
Even apparently discharged (‘flat’) batteries can still have this effect, and
button batteries pushed into ears or nostrils can also cause serious injuries."

Here's a video illustrating a worst-case scenario, using batteries held between two pieces of ham to represent tissues inside the body. There have been cases of severe damage requiring several surgical procedures and some cases have resulted in the death of a child.

Keep your eyes on your batteries.

Other things to watch out for: toys with a battery compartment that's easy to open (encourage manufacturers to make lockable battery compartments that need to be opened with a screwdriver), plastic packs of batteries with perforated card backing - these are also quite easy to open.

Further reading
Button batteries can kill if swallowed - a post I wrote for the CHI+MED blog in 2016 (our project looked at ways of making medical devices safer)

Family Safety: Button Batteries (Suffolk Trading Standards, writing on Families Online in 2016)

The blog post above was prompted by this tweet -

Button batteries pose a great risk if swallowed. Keep them secure & out of kids’ reach! Tips here: https://t.co/AbuJfMnJx3 @Familiessuffolk

— Trading Standards (@SuffolkTS) December 20, 2017

From 2014: When homeopaths go too far (collected vaccination statements)

This post was originally published on a Woto page but it seems that you can no longer log in with Twitter credentials so instead of trying to update it there I've migrated it here.

When homeopaths go too far

Image from page 205 of "Natural history of birds, fish, insects, and reptiles" (1808)

Reining in the homeopaths

Homeopathy is mostly harmless in that it contains no harmful ingredients (assuming it is prepared correctly, this was not the case for Nelsons in 2012). It is the medical equivalent of 'doing nothing'. But sometimes doing nothing can be a reasonable thing to do (eg 'watchful waiting') but sometimes it's a very bad idea. By taking homeopathic "medicine" people may be under the false impression that they are doing something useful, when instead they need real medicine.

There are a number of examples where organisations, both medical and homeopathic, have had to issue a statement to rein in some of the stranger notion that homeopaths have taken off and run with. Here are some of them.

The World Health Organisation made it clear in July 2014 that homeopathy is of no use for treating Ebola.

There is no evidence base that #homeopathy can cure #Ebola. Severely ill patients require intensive supportive care http://t.co/itpATExjBk

— WHO (@WHO) July 31, 2014

The Society of Homeopaths reminds its members, in June 2014, to be careful about the claims made about homeopathy in any marketing material...

The British Homeopathic Association, the Faculty of Homeopaths and the Society of Homeopaths agreed, in April 2013, that people should get their children vaccinated.

The BHA, British Homeopathic Association

"Vaccinations for infectious childhood diseases is currently a major news story. There is no evidence to suggest that the measles outbreak in Swansea or the fall-off in MMR vaccinations in the Totnes area are as a result of people choosing to use complementary medicines instead of conventional immunisation. However, we would like to state that on the issue of immunisation the BHA has for many years taken an unequivocal position.

In line with the Department of Health’s advice, the BHA recommends that immunisation should be carried out in the normal way using the conventional tested and approved vaccines."
Vaccinations statement British Homeopathic Association (date not given)

The FoH, Faculty of Homeopathy

"Vaccinations for infectious childhood diseases is currently a major news story.

There is no evidence to suggest that the current measles outbreak in Swansea or the fall-off in MMR vaccinations in the Totnes area are as a result of people choosing to use complementary medicines instead of conventional immunisation. However, as a responsible registering body for statutorily regulated healthcare professionals we again want to make clear our unequivocal and long-standing position on this issue.

In line with the Department of Health’s advice, the Faculty of Homeopathy recommends that in the case of infectious childhood diseases immunisation should be carried out in the normal way using the conventional tested and approved vaccines." 

copy of Vaccinations statement, archived on 21 Apr 2015  Faculty of Homeopaths (date not given)

The SoH, Society of Homeopaths

Philip Edmonds, chairman of the Society of Homeopaths said: "The Society does not endorse the use of homeopathic medicines as an alternative to vaccination for the prevention of serious infectious diseases and recommends that members of the public seek the advice of their GP, and/or relevant Department of Health guidelines, concerning vaccination and protection against disease."
Parents need to know homeopathy does not protect against measles, says MP The Guardian 15 April 2013

Public Health England, in February 2011, issued a statement about malaria and homeopathic remedies clarifying that

"The Health Protection Agency Advisory Committee on Malaria Prevention does not recommend relying on any herbal or homeopathic remedies for the prevention of malaria." Guidance: Malaria: Homeopathic Remedies Public Health England 1 February 2011 

Dr Peter Fisher, a homeopath, acknowledged in 2011 that homeopathy is of no use in preventing malaria and that fellow homeopaths do themselves no favour when pretending that it does

"So, yes I believe that eventually something, maybe descended from homeopathy, using the key techniques of homeopathy, will be accepted. I have to say I think the homeopathic community is in many ways its worst enemy, particularly in this country [UK]–we have people who make silly claims, frankly, who are not qualified and say things they really shouldn’t say, for instance, about preventing malaria.  That is potentially very dangerous and gets us a bad press."   An interview with Peter Fisher World of Homeopathy 4 July 2012

Useful as it is to have a senior homeopath acknowledge this @Blue_Wode has pointed me towards this nice quip (curated here on EBM-first, originally posted at Skeptico) from a skeptic, which makes a good point and references similar comments made by Dr Fisher in 2007.

The World Health Organisation made it clear in August 2009 that homeopathy is of no use for HIV, tuberculosis or malaria (or infant diarrhoea, or flu)

"People with conditions such as HIV, TB and malaria should not rely on homeopathic treatments, the World Health Organization has warned."
Homeopathy not a cure, says WHO BBC News 20 August 2009

"WHO also said that it does not recommend homoeopathy for treating diarrhoea in infants or flu. WHO experts, who have clearly criticised the use of treatments that have not been proved clinically and that are not evidence based, said that homoeopathy had “no place” in treatment of these five dangerous diseases."
WHO warns against using homoeopathy to treat serious diseases BMJ  24 August 2009

Dr Michael Dixon, Medical Director for the Prince's Foundation for Integrated Health also lent his support to the WHO's statement on homeopathy, agreeing that

"There is no place for homeopathy in treating serious illness such as HIV, TB, malaria and infant diarrhoea in developing countries. The Prince's Foundation for Integrated Health absolutely supports the recent statement by the World Health Organisation."
WHO warns against using homoeopathy to treat serious diseases (response) BMJ 11 September 2009

Summary
From this it's clear that both homeopathy organisations (in the UK at least) and medically qualified people agree that homeopathy is no substitute for vaccination, does not prevent or treat malaria and cannot treat HIV, TB, diarrhoea or flu.
I'm not aware of any homeopathic organisation which has acknowledged publicly that homeopathy is of no use in treating Ebola though. Which is a shame because, as @sciencebabe puts it bluntly, homeopathy contains #NoFuckingMedicine.

Apparently a team of homeopaths have taken themselves off to Liberia with a box of 'remedies'. It seems like they could cause problems in several ways:

• giving people who may need actual medicine medicine that isn't actually medicine
• generally getting in the way and making a nuisance of themselves
• harming themselves by getting infected and increasing the workload of real doctors and support staff, coffinmakers etc.