Pool Safety

These are safety steps you can adopt at your residential pool or spa:

Staying Close, Being Alert and Watching Children in and Around the Pool

• Always watch your children when they are in or near a pool or spa
• Teach children basic water safety tips
• Keep children away from pool drains, pipes and other openings to avoid entrapments
• Have a portable telephone close by at all times when you or your family are using a pool or spa
• If a child is missing, look for him or her in the pool or spa first
• Share safety instructions with family, friends and neighbors

Learning and Practicing Water Safety Skills

• Learn how to swim and teach your child how to swim
• Learn to perform CPR on children and adults, and update those skills regularly
• Understand the basics of life-saving so that you can assist in a pool emergency

Having the Appropriate Equipment for Your Pool or Spa

• Install a four-foot or taller fence around the pool and spa and use self-closing and self-latching gates; ask your neighbors to do the same at their pools.
• Install and use a lockable safety cover on your spa.
• If your house serves as a fourth side of a fence around a pool, install door alarms and always use them. For additional protection, install window guards on windows facing pools or spas.
• Install pool and gate alarms to alert you when children go near the water
• Ensure any pool and spa you use has compliant drain covers, and ask your pool service provider if you do not know
• Maintain pool and spa covers in good working order
• Consider using a surface wave or underwater alarm

ATV Safety

There are more than 700 deaths and 100,000 injuries each year involving ATVs, according to CPSC’s most recent data. By following the key safety tips below, hundreds of deaths and thousands of injuries related to ATVs could be prevented.

Stay Off of Paved Roads

• ATVs are designed to be driven on off-road terrain and are difficult to control on paved roads where they are at risk of overturning or colliding with cars and trucks.
• In some states, it is illegal to ride ATVs on paved roads. Check the state or local laws and regulations where you plan to ride.
• CPSC is deeply concerned that some states and local governments are changing their laws and ordinances to allow ATVs to be used on paved roads.  CPSC, the ATV industry, and consumer advocates are united in our belief that riding an ATV on a paved road can result in tragedy.

Never Allow Children Younger Than 16 on Adult ATVs

• More than 90 percent of ATV-related injuries involving children can be attributed to a lack of developmental skills needed to maneuver the faster, more powerful adult ATVs.
• Children younger than 16 should be on one of the age-appropriate youth models, which are required to travel at lower speeds than adult ATVs and to have an adjustable speed limiter.
• All ATVs should be equipped with a label that indicates the manufacturer’s recommended age for that particular model.
• Children younger than 6 years of age should never be on any ATV -- either as a driver or passenger.

Don’t Allow More People on the Vehicle Than It Was Designed to Carry

• A single-rider ATV should only have one person on it -- the driver.
• ATVs are designed for interactive riding. The driver must be able to shift his or her weight freely in all directions. Passengers can inhibit the driver’s ability to safely control the ATV and it could roll over or crash.
• Most ATVs sold today are single-rider ATVs, which are not equipped with handholds or footrests for passengers.
  
  

Always Wear a Helmet and Other Protective Gear

• CPSC and the ATV Safety Institute recommend U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and/or the Snell Memorial Foundation (Snell) certified helmets.
• Riders should also wear goggles, gloves, long pants and a long-sleeved shirt, and over-the-ankle boots.
  
  

Get Hands-On Training

• CPSC recommends that all ATV drivers -- adults and children -- take a hands-on ATV safety course from a qualified instructor.
• Many deaths and injuries occur when an inexperienced driver loses control of an ATV, is thrown from an ATV, overturns the vehicle, or collides with a fixed object or a motor vehicle. Hands-on training can give experienced and first-time riders the skills to handle multiple riding situations that can happen in off-road conditions. 
• Courses are offered by the ATV Safety Institute. Riders can also check with the National 4-H Council, local ATV rider groups, state agencies and some ATV manufacturers.

Information provided from cpsc.gov for more information please visit their website. 

 PREPARE FOR SPRING WEATHER

Spring weather can be unpredictable. When severe weather hits unexpectedly, the risk of injury and death increases, so planning ahead makes sense. Prepare for storms, floods, and tornadoes as if you know in advance they are coming, because in the spring, they very likely will.

Spring is the time of year when many things change—including the weather. Temperatures can swing back and forth between balmy and frigid. Sunny days may be followed by a week of stormy weather. Sometimes extreme weather changes can occur even within the same day. Mark Twain once said, "In the spring I have counted one hundred and thirty-six kinds of weather inside of four and twenty hours."

Thunderstorms cause most of the severe spring weather. They can bring lightning, tornadoes and flooding. Whenever warm, moist air collides with cool, dry air, thunderstorms can occur. For much of the world, this happens in spring and summer.

Because spring weather is...Read More

FOREST FIRE SERVICE PRESCRIBED BURNING PROGRAM UNDER WAY

It is that time of year again and the New Jersey State Forestry Services is begining its annual prescribed burning program. Over the next month residents in Tabernacle and the surounding communites may see smoke or even fires from these prescribed burns. It is recommended that residents stay out of these areas while these burns are taking place.   

“Prescribed burning is part of a planned strategy that the state uses to reduce accumulations of undergrowth, fallen branches and downed trees that can act as tinder and increase the severity of wildfires, making them difficult to control,” said State Forester Lynn Fleming. “Prescribed burns help protect lives and property and, at the same time, improve the overall health of our forests.”

Click Here to Read More 

Photo: philly.com (CLEM MURRAY / Staff Photographer)

Extreme Cold Safety Tips

General Information

• Minimize travel if possible.
• Stay indoors during the worst part of the extreme cold.
• Keep a winter survival kit in your vehicle if you must travel.
• Check tire pressure, antifreeze levels, heater/defroster, etc.
• Learn how to shut off water valves for potential pipe bursts.
• Check on the elderly.
• Bring pets inside

How Should I Dress?

• Wear layers of loose-fitting, lightweight, warm clothing.
• Wear a hat, because 40% of your body heat can be lost from your head.
• Cover your mouth to protect your lungs from extreme cold.
• Mittens, snug at the wrist, are better than gloves.
• Try to stay dry and out of the wind.

For more information visit http://www.ready.gov/winter-weather

Carbon Monoxide

As we all know winter is now upon us and the days are getting colder. As we turn on our heaters, use our wood stoves and fire places we should all be reminded of the dangers of Carbon monoxide and the importance of having a home Carbon monoxide detector. Carbon monoxide is an odorless, colorless and toxic gas. Because it is impossible to see, taste or smell the toxic fumes, CO can kill you before you are aware it is in your home. At lower levels of exposure, CO causes mild effects that are often mistaken for the flu. These symptoms include headaches, dizziness, disorientation, nausea and fatigue. The effects of CO exposure can vary greatly from person to person depending on age, overall health and the concentration and length of exposure.

Sources of Carbon Monoxide

Unvented kerosene and gas space heaters; leaking chimneys and furnaces; back-drafting from furnaces, gas water heaters, wood stoves, and fireplaces; gas stoves; generators and other gasoline powered equipment; automobile exhaust from attached garages; and tobacco smoke. Incomplete oxidation during combustion in gas ranges and unvented gas or kerosene heaters may cause high concentrations of CO in indoor air. Worn or poorly adjusted and maintained combustion devices (e.g., boilers, furnaces) can be significant sources, or if the flue is improperly sized, blocked, disconnected, or is leaking. Auto, truck, or bus exhaust from attached garages, nearby roads, or parking areas can also be a source.

Steps to Reduce Exposure to Carbon Monoxide

It is most important to be sure combustion equipment is maintained and properly adjusted. Vehicular use should be carefully managed adjacent to buildings and in vocational programs. Additional ventilation can be used as a temporary measure when high levels of CO are expected for short periods of time.

• Keep gas appliances properly adjusted.
• Consider purchasing a vented space heater when replacing an unvented one.
• Use proper fuel in kerosene space heaters.
• Install and use an exhaust fan vented to outdoors over gas stoves.
• Open flues when fireplaces are in use.
• Choose properly sized wood stoves that are certified to meet EPA emission standards. Make certain that doors on all wood stoves fit tightly.
• Have a trained professional inspect, clean, and tune-up central heating system (furnaces, flues, and chimneys) annually. Repair any leaks promptly.
• Do not idle the car inside garage.