Tag: health

Summer festival safety advice

images[2]It may be last thing festival-goers think about before heading off to party, but take some good advice from the professionals: 

NHS 24’s Medical Director, Professor George Crooks, OBE, is urging music lovers going to T in the Park this weekend to think ahead and look after their health.

Professor Crooks said: “Summer festivals are great places to meet people and enjoy music with friends but try and remember to pack a few small items with you in case you do become unwell. Take some over the counter medication with you for stomach upsets or diarrhoea and take a simple painkiller such as paracetamol or ibuprofen. It is also really important to have sunscreen of SPF 15 or higher and antiseptic hand gel is always handy to have at outdoor events.

 “Plan ahead and take some condoms with you to protect you from sexually transmitted infections. Also tampons, wet wipes and hay fever medication – if you are a sufferer – will always come in handy over the weekend. Don’t forget to take your asthma inhaler or any prescription medicine you need with you and keep it handy.”

Festival goers are reminded not to ruin the weekend for themselves and others by drinking far too much too quickly. Try alternating soft drinks or water for alcoholic ones on a regular basis over the day and don’t forget to eat regularly. You don’t want to miss out on seeing your favourite bands by feeling unwell with the effects of too much alcohol.

Professor Crooks advised: If youdo become ill, go with a friend to the nearest First Aid area. Remember there is safety in numbers. Never leave your drink unattended, never leave friends on their own and don’t wander off by yourself. Organise a meeting point if you get split up and stay with people you know.“

By taking simple steps, you can help minimise or even prevent minor health problems from ruining your weekend. Stay safe and have a happy and healthy time at T in the Park.

For further summer health advice go towww.nhsinform.co.uk

 

And Police Scotland reinforce the safety message:

Keeping your valuables safe

Make sure you know where your valuables are at all times. Leave anything you can do without at home. Do you really need to take an expensive camera. iPod, iPad or MP3 player with you? If you do have to take them, make good use of locker facilities if they are available at the festival site, knowing your valuables are safe inside will give you peace of mind. If you need to carry them, secure your valuables in a zipped or fastened pocket. Pickpockets often use the cover of large crowds to commit crime so be vigilant.

Mobile phones

Keep your mobile phone safe and charged up, most festival sites provide facilities to charge your phone. Before you go to the festival, make sure it’s registered with your network operator. Keep a separate note of your phone’s unique IMEI number. Ensure your phone has a ‘Find Me’ Application installed that can remotely show the location of the device should it be stolen and know how to remotely lock the phone.

Input an ICE – In Case of Emergency – contact number into your phone before you go, should you become unwell or unable to use your phone the emergency services will be able to contact a nominated person on your behalf.

Tickets and Money

Keep your cash and cards in two places on you, for example, some in your purse/wallet and the rest in a zipped pocket. If you lose some money, you will still have the rest, likewise for your ticket, it can be devastating and will end your weekend if it is lost or stolen. Keep it safe.

Camping

Tents can be easily entered as they generally have few security features. Please make an effort to take valuables with you when you leave your tent, again make good use of locker facilities to keep valuables secure. Introduce yourself to the people camping nearby and/or regular campsite staff. This will enable you and others to quickly identify anyone unfamiliar hanging around your campsite, although don’t be tempted to trust your valuables with people that you don’t know.

Padlocks on your tent zips can often draw more attention to your tent and give potential thieves the impression that you have valuables inside. A determined criminal will get into your tent whether you use a padlock or not, so the best advice is to take your valuable items with you when you leave your campsite.

Personal Safety

When you arrive at the festival site, or ideally before you go, make sure you know how you can report any suspicious or criminal behaviour on site. If you become a victim or witness anything criminal, report it immediately to Police, site staff or a steward. You may not want to get involved, but think about what you’d like someone else to do if it was happening to you or your property.

Get to know your surroundings, when you arrive, make sure you know exactly where your camping area is and how to find it. Identify a landmark nearby or memorise the campsite’s name and check where the nearest first aid and fire safety points are.

When it gets dark, try to use main thoroughfares and well-lit areas of the site and stay with your friends, you can explore the darker, quieter areas during the day.

If you require regular medication, make sure you have enough with you and keep it safe in a locker. Be prepared for all types of weather, sunscreen, midge repellent, welly boots and waterproofs may all be required.

Know your limits

Remember; alcohol can impair your judgement and coupled with darkness and unfamiliar surroundings can make you more vulnerable. Drink in moderation, sip on non-alcoholic drinks in between drinks, stick with the people you know and look after your friends. Don’t go off on your own with people you don’t know or have just met.

Drugs

Possession of controlled drugs and supplying anyone else with drugs is illegal. Festivals organisers adopt a zero tolerance approach to illegal drugs and work alongside the police to tackle this criminal activity. If you are caught you will be prosecuted, don’t take the chance.

New Psychoactive Substances

These substances are known by a variety of names and have been talked about in newspapers and on the TV regularly during the last 12 months. The term ‘New Psychoactive Substance’ originates from the European Union and relates to new drugs that are made by mixing chemicals. The common street name you will have heard is Legal Highs.

Calling these substances Legal Highs is confusing it suggests that they are safe and always legal they are not.

There is no way of knowing what chemicals are in these substances or how unwell they might make you feel or what effect they will have on your body.

Some NPS are described as being ‘herbal’ with claims that they are naturally occurring or grown. The reality is often they are no more than plant material which are sprayed or soaked in a chemical solution. As with all NPS unless you have access to a laboratory it cannot be said with any certainty what they contain.

Generally they come as white powder, or a variety of different coloured tablets, they can also be available as small capsules similar in size to normal medication. The packaging can be colourful and attractive with hundreds of different names such as Mind Candy, Gogaine, Super Doves and Diablo. To hide what is in it the packaging often has small print on it with phrases such as Research Chemical, Not For Human Consumption, Bath Salts, Plant Food and Novelty Collectors Item

Research by Government scientists has shown that some of these substances actually contain harmful chemicals and controlled drugs that mean that you might even get a criminal record if caught by the Police if in possession of these. Like other controlled drugs these powders and tablets can be mixed with other substances to make it look like you are getting more. These mixers are known as adulterants and can be substances such as benzocaine, used by dentists, creatine, used by body builders and caffeine, found in energy drinks.

In the short term they can affect different people in different ways. More and more people are going to hospital after taking these substances with specific symptoms such as nose bleeds, bleeding tongues, sickness and diahorrea, black outs, short term memory loss, panic attacks and severe mood swings: some NPS may have been responsible for deaths.

So get the message – have fun, but stay safe!

images[1] (3)

 

 

 

NHS is 65 today

BILL

The National Health Service celebrates it’s 65th anniversary today.

The National Health Service was created by Clement Attlee’s Labour government to create “comprehensive health and rehabilitation services for prevention and cure of disease”. Described by Minister for Health Aneurin Bevan as ‘the biggest single experiment in social service that the world has ever seen undertaken’, the legislation to create the NHS was implemented in England and Wales in 1946 and across the rest of the United Kingdom by 1948.

Sixty-five years on the NHS has seen many changes – for better and worse – and has become something of a political football. But for all it’s shortcomings and faults, the NHS remains by far the country’s most cherished institution.

Prime Minister Daid Cameron (pictured below) said: “Our National Health Service is one of the most precious institutions we have. We all know it, because all of us have been touched by it. I will never forget the care my son Ivan received and the inspirational people who helped Sam and me through some of the most difficult times.

The consultants, the community nurses, the care team – every one of them became part of our lives. When you have experienced support and dedicated professional care like that, you know just how incredibly special the NHS is.”

Cameron visits north west

Holyrood Health Secretary Alex Neil visited Wishaw General maternity unit to meet babies born on the same day as the anniversary of our health service, and took the opportunity to point out what the Scottish Government is doing to improve health in Scotland.

Mr Neil said: “I am absolutely committed to the founding values of our NHS. I can promise that while this Government is in charge it will be free at point of access for everyone, and as  we move towards the historic moment of the 2014 referendum, I can guarantee that independence will help maintain Scotland’s NHS as the wonderful institution it is today.

“Today, Scotland’s NHS is a both a tribute to the kind of society Scotland is, and the kind of society we must continue to aspire to be. Anyone who comes for treatment will get the care they need – regardless of whether they are rich or poor. That is the embodiment of a just and equitable society.

“But this isn’t just about the institution that is the Health service. It’s about the health of our people. Health inequalities blight Scottish society. It is simply not good enough that someone’s life expectancy should depend on where they are born, or the income of their parents.

“Where can act, we have. We’ve banned smoking in public places. We are tackling excessive drinking and will introduce a minimum price for alcohol. But the main levers to tackle the kind of poverty that is a driver of health inequality remain in the hands of London Governments.

“The recent welfare cuts are just the latest example of this. With our population ageing, and pressures on the health service growing significantly, we need to be allowed to take control of the levers needed to tackle poverty and with it finally rid Scotland of health inequalities.”

Date set for Active Lives Forum

As some of you know we are planning to develop an Active Lives Forum.

The forum will enable better link working between  organisations in the local area, help us to avoid duplication and enable us to  support each other in terms of developing physical activity in Greater  Pilton.

The first meeting is due to take place on

Wednesday 19 June 2-4pm at Pilton Community  Health Project

It would be great to see you or someone from your  organisation there. The aim of the first meeting is to explore what people think  the forum should look like, identify its primary aims/objectives and to start  the process of building relationships.

Some local people who took part in our project review would  also like to take the opportunity to present the findings; these include some  very novel and interesting ideas!

Please get back to us by Tuesday 18 June to  confirm your attendance at the meeting if possible and please circulate to  anyone else you think might have an interest or would benefit from being  involved in the forum.

Lianne Pipskyj

Physical Activity  Project Coordinator, Pilton Community  Health Project

0131 551  1671

liannepipskyj@pchp.org.uk

www.pchp.org.uk

 

activity2

 

The snow’s stopped – so it must be hayfever time!

With snow settling on the hills again only this week, thoughts of seasonal illness are still more focused on winter coughs and colds – even at the end of May. And while Scots are looking forward to the arrival of some real summer weather, there is bad news for hayfever sufferers now that the grass pollen season is almost here – this time of year marks the peak of allergic reaction for 95% of hayfever sufferers and can often last until the end of September.

Unfortunately there is no cure for hayfever but there are a range of things that we can try to minimise our suffering. NHS 24’s health information service, NHS inform, has lots of tips and advice we can follow – from preventative measures to the types of treatments that are available.

NHS 24 Medical Director, Professor George Crooks, says people should try and be prepared for the season: “Most people who suffer with hayfever understand their own allergies and what triggers them. They’ll also know how to minimise the impact of an attack which, although perhaps not serious, can have a huge impact on a person’s quality of life.

“The severity of reactions can change because of all kinds of environmental influences so it’s important that people keep up to date with the Met Office’s pollen count. We have lots of tips available on www.nhsinform.co.uk and I would recommend that people take a look and perhaps try new techniques to help minimise their symptoms.

“It’s always worth reviewing how we minimise an allergic response since, like the things that cause it in the first place, it does change and evolve over time. I know from my own experience as a GP that patients can benefit from a fresh approach to dealing with the annoyance of hayfever to stop it ruining whatever summer we might get.”

Advice that’s not to be sniffed at!

hayfever

 

New course will take music into communities

Edinburgh College is blazing a trail by offering Scotland’s first further education course in Music for Wellbeing, which promotes the enormous benefits of taking music into the community.

Research shows that music can have a wide range of health and social benefits, such as improving communication, managing stress, expressing feelings, enhancing memory – and even alleviating pain and promoting physical rehabilitation.

Jess Abrams, an American-born community musician, youth worker and singer, is leading the new course in Music For Wellbeing, which starts in August. Jess (pictured below, far left) said: “This is a fast-growing sector and will appeal to people with a love of music who want to use music as part of their livelihood.”

Community music projects take place in a range of settings, including arts centres, community centres, schools, hospitals and residential homes.

“There can be considerable social benefits for people taking part in community music projects, such as learning to create music as part of a group and working with others. Music can elicit emotion from people and we need to understand and manage that better. Playing music in a group is a feel good experience and triggers the same pleasure centres in the brain as eating chocolate. And as well as the health and social benefits, participants might learn some musical skills too!”

There are just 16 places available on the one-year course, a National Progression Award delivered with Skills Development Scotland that covers a very broad range of skills.

Jon Buglass, Head of Creative Industries at Edinburgh College, said the course was designed to widen the employment opportunities open to musicians. “We realised there were limited options – you might be in a function band or if you’re lucky, make it as a rock star. Yet there are lots of opportunities in community music – but no course to prepare people for that. It seemed sensible to design a course directly linked to employment opportunities.”

Mr Buglass developed the course with colleagues and SQA (Scottish Qualifications Authority). Although several Scottish universities offer modules in community music as part of broader courses, this is the first time an entire course in Scotland has been devoted to this specific area – and the first community music course offered by a college in Scotland.

“If you have well-developed musical skills, that’s great – but this course might also appeal to community and youth workers as it is as much about taking music into the community by using different personal skills,” said Jess. “You need to show confidence, leadership, team-working – and perhaps most importantly, to be able to build a rapport and relationships with different groups of people.

“Historically, community musicians have come up through a more grassroots approach to the field, but as the sector expands there is a growing demand for training. There is great value in learning by doing and the course will have a very strong work experience element. Students will spend at least 100 hours on placement, learning from people already working in community music.”

“There will be a strong emphasis on ‘before, during and after’,” added Jess. “Planning and designing community music sessions, workshops and events, evaluating their success and where improvements might be made as well as reflecting on our own practice.”

Jess, who is also the Development Manager for the Edinburgh Youth Music Forum, an organisation that works to support community musicians in continuing professional development, hopes the course can act as a catalyst to encourage even greater interest in community music. Jess Abrams has a long connection with North Edinburgh – some readers may remember Jess from her involvement in the acclaimed ‘Oyster Wars’ community drama production staged at North Edinburgh Arts back in June 2003.

Stevi Manning, Principal Officer Arts and Learning at City of Edinburgh Council, said: “This is an exciting new course offering fresh opportunities for people in Edinburgh who have a passion for music – and want to help others to both share that passion and benefit from it.”

To express an interest in the course, email info@edinburghcollege.ac.uk or apply online at www.edinburghcollege.ac.uk

Music2

Digging deep to resolve Pilton’s problems

Final workshop pitch

Pilton Community Health Project has been speaking to people in North Edinburgh about issues affecting their lives and what they think is important in the local area.

Many of the same themes come up again and again – safety, dog mess, no motivation, no sense of community.

Lets look at things in a different way; get underneath the issues and work together to come up with inspiring solutions that really change things!

We invite you to join us in some inspiring and thought provoking sessions thinking in a different way to resolve problems and issues and make Pilton a more active community!

What it will be:

Fun, interesting, thought provoking, possibly it may even transform your life.

We will provide:

Food, drink, prizes, childcare and fun for 2 x 5hr sessions on:

Wednesday 29 May

 &

Wednesday 5 June

from 10am-3pm

at West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre

For more info call Lianne or Clare on 551 1671, email: moveit@pchp.org.uk

dig

PCHP: think about health in a different way

PCHP

Pilton Community Health Project has been speaking to people in North Edinburgh about issues affecting their lives – especially about physical activity and what they think is important in this area.  Many of the same themes come up again and again such as safety, dog mess and underuse of greenspaces.

We want to look at things in a different way and work together to come up with inspiring solutions.

Are you someone

  • · Who thinks differently?
  • · Who likes to get involved in their local area, with local people.
  • · Who likes solving problems?
  • · Who has energy and enthusiasm!
  •   Who is interested in physical activity?

We invite you to join us in some inspiring and thought provoking sessions thinking in a different way

What it will be

Fun, interesting, thought provoking, possibly it may even transform your life!

We will provide

Food, drink, childcare and fun

On

Wednesday 29 May & Wed 5 June 

times and venue to be confirmed

Interested? Please contact Clare or Lianne on 0131 551 1671

 

Move It, Pilton Community Health Project

73 Boswall Parkway

Edinburgh EH5 2PW

http://www.pchp.org.uk/

PCHPoffice

 

A happy and healthy birthday to Leith Rehab Group

The Chest Heart & Stroke Rehab Group celebrates it’s first anniversary at the Calton Centre in Leith’s Montgomery Street this month. The group provides much-needed support and exercise for people in the Leith area who are living with chest and heart conditions.

Enthusiastic group member Paul Hodson describes himself as a “stroke survivor” and is really passionate about the support he receives. “There are a couple of things about the Leith group that really matter to me. They’re really good company and also I’m finding I’m getting my strength back, step by step – after a heart attack and a stroke, that’s pretty important.”

The group, which meets every Wednesday from 2 – 3.30pm at the Calton Centre, may only have been running for a year but it has already made a real difference to all those who attend regularly. As well as weekly exercise there is an opportunity to exchange information and relax over a cup of tea.

Group chairman Roger Jones was initially unsure about joining a group. “When it was suggested I join cardiac rehab sessions, I said ‘no way!’ First, I was recovering from a difficult operation and felt that was enough to be getting on with” he explained. “Second, I wasn’t keen on the idea of joining ‘a club’ – I’m not that sort of person. But I was wrong. These classes are both helpful to my health (light exercises only!) and good fun. Being part of a group like the Chest Heart & Stroke Rehabilitation Group offers the chance to meet like-minded people who have been through similar health experiences. They’re a great crowd!”

An important part of keeping well following any hospital stay after a heart or chest incident is exercise. Anyone who has received heart or pulmonary rehabilitation following a stay in hospital is advised to continue exercising – but many do not, and this can lead to further hospital admissions.

Further information is available from Roger Jones on 0131 652 350 or Morag Hammond their trainer on 07818 250871. The Chest Heart & Stroke Rehab Group is affiliated to Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland and is one of five support groups in Edinburgh.

chsslogo[1]