Preventing Carbon Monoxide Poisoning After an Emergency

CO2 Information:

Generators, grills, camp stoves, or other gasoline, propane, natural gas, or charcoal-burning devices should never be used inside a home, basement, garage, or camper - or even outside near an open window.

Every home should have at least one working carbon monoxide detector. The detector's batteries should be checked twice annually, at the same time smoke detector batteries are checked.

Carbon monoxide (CO) is an odorless, colorless gas that can cause sudden illness and death if inhaled.

When power outages occur during emergencies such as hurricanes or winter storms, the use of alternative sources of fuel or electricity for heating, cooling, or cooking can cause CO to build up in a home, garage, or camper and to poison the people and animals inside.

Every year, more than 500 people die in the U. S. from accidental CO poisoning.
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Fight The Bite! Avoid Mosquito Bites to Avoid Infection

When dealing with West Nile virus, prevention is your best bet. Avoid bites and illness; although the chance that any one person is going to become ill from a single mosquito bite remains low, the risk of severe illness and death is highest for people over 50 years old.
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Including Families and Caregivers

Family and informal caregivers play an important role in the lives of their loved ones. They also play an increasingly important role in how the health care system functions. By communicating effectively with all the individuals involved in your patient’s care, you can help him or her while making efficient use of time and resources. Informal caregivers may be important “informants.” They can also help to reinforce the importance of information you give or the treatment you prescribe.
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Warning Signs That 401(k) Contributions Are Being Misused

Increasingly employees are asked to make voluntary or mandatory contributions to pension and other benefit plans. This is particularly true for 401(k) savings plans. These plans allow you to deduct from your paycheck a portion of pretax income every year, invest it and pay no taxes on those contributions until the money is withdrawn at retirement. Is your plan being misused?
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Federal Whistleblower Protection in Jeopardy

Special Counsel Scott Bloch, appointed by President Bush in 2004, is overseeing the virtual elimination of federal whistleblower rights in the U.S. government.The U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC), the agency that is supposed to protect federal employees who blow the whistle on waste, fraud, and abuse is dismissing hundreds of cases while advancing almost none. According to the Annual Report for 2004 (which was not released until the end of first quarter fiscal year 2006) less than 1.5 percent of whistleblower claims were referred for investigation while more than 1000 reports were closed before they were even opened. Only eight claims were found to be substantiated, and one of those included the theft of a desk, while another included attendance violations. Favorable outcomes have declined 24 percent overall, and this is all in the first year that the new special counsel, Scott Bloch, has been in office.
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