Tls Smoke Lesson 2 18
Pilato Hull
Objective: Community colleges face challenges to becoming smoke-free and have higher smoking prevalence rates than four-year colleges. This case study examines how Sacramento Taking Action Against Nicotine Dependence (STAND), a community-based organization's project, achieved tobacco-free policies at California's second largest community college district. Methods: Data sources describing the STAND policymaking activities (2001-2016) include evaluation reports and key informant interviews (n = 9) with community college nursing staff, former STAND staff, and other Sacramento tobacco control partners. Reports and interview transcripts were analyzed using content analysis. Results: Collecting campus data and engaging campus champions were key strategies to demonstrate internal support for stronger policies, as STAND faced resistance from the District leadership. External momentum encouraged the campuses to adopt 100% smoke, tobacco and vape-free policies. Conclusion: Community-based organizations can facilitate long-term support for smoke and tobacco-free campus policymaking efforts at community colleges, as internal and external support is demonstrated for more comprehensive policies.
Wildfire smoke filling the New York City skyline was a familiar sight to communities in the Western U.S., who have had to learn to live with the effects of more extreme fires. Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
When New York City's skyline turned an eerie orange color with smoke from widespread wildfires in Canada, it was an all-too-familiar sight for residents of the Western U.S. In recent years, record-setting wildfires have darkened the sky for weeks at a time with unhealthy air, upending life for Westerners.
Hazardous wildfire smoke is becoming an increasing problem around the country, as NPR's California Newsroom has reported. The risk is only expected to rise, as a hotter climate helps create bigger and more severe fires that can take months to contain.
The tiny particles in smoke can go deep in the lungs, increasing the risk of asthma, heart attack and stroke. One scientific study found wildfire smoke is even more dangerous than pollution from cars and trucks.
When wildfires raged in California in the summer of 2020, the air was choked with smoke for weeks. Many residents tracked the air quality in real-time on Purple Air, a crowd-sourced network of sensors that shows pollution readings across a city.
The lesson: just going inside isn't enough. Invisible particles in smoke, known as particulate matter or PM 2.5, can seep in through doors and cracks in windows. In older homes and substandard housing, the infiltration can be even worse.
The Covid-19 pandemic has made portable indoor air purifiers a much more common item, but when smoke fills the skies, it can be tough to find one in a store. So, plans to build more affordable DIY air purifiers have proliferated online where all someone needs is a box fan, some air filters and duct tape.
Children are particularly vulnerable to the effects of wildfire smoke. They're more active, have developing lungs and take in more air than adults do relative to their body size. The decision to close school is up to each local district, but just a few years ago, there weren't many health resources to inform those decisions.
As wildfire smoke became more severe in California, state officials released an index with more specific advice for schools about activities, like what to do about P.E., recess and sports events. (In the state's version, it doesn't mention exact air quality index numbers, though many school districts have consulted local air quality officials and created guidelines, like this version from Shasta County Office of Education.)
Creating smoke response plans ahead of time, with community input, is key for schools, according to Eric Wittmershaus, director of communications for the Sonoma County Office of Education. On the West Coast, "smoke days" are becoming the new "snow days."
Some of those most susceptible to the health impacts of wildfire smoke are the least able to protect themselves. Recent episodes of smoke on the West Coast have revealed how some populations are falling through the cracks.
Many people don't realize they need to protect themselves from smoke, unlike other extreme weather events. The elderly or those with health problems might struggle to get the tools and solutions to filter the air at home. Those who lack housing have no way to escape being exposed.
"We see individuals with access to fewer resources, who may live in substandard housing, who may desire to reduce their exposure but who are unable to do so," says Gabrielle Wong-Parodi, assistant professor in the department of earth system science at Stanford University, who has studied how communities responded to smoke in California.
Overall, not many people are checking the air quality index on a regular basis and changing their behavior, her research found. Instead, seeing how other people react to smoke is the bigger motivator.
The lesson: make sure the message is coming from those in the local community, like community groups, senior centers or faith groups. Providing masks, air filters and resources to groups on the ground can help ensure it reaches those who need it most.
Materials: Smoke alarm, batteries
Background: FireSafety.gov Kids Smoke Alarm Page
Procedure:
- Ask students if they know what smoke alarms are and why they should have them in their homes.
- Smoke alarms help protect families by making a very loud beeping noise to warn that smoke is in the air or a fire has started.
- Sometimes, especially at night when people are sleeping, they may not see fire, smell smoke or wake up in time to get out safely.
- Smoke alarms provide an early warning signal for escape from fire.
- Demonstrate what a smoke alarm looks like and the sound it makes when it detects smoke.
- Ask students what they should do if they hear a smoke alarm sound.
- They need to follow their home fire escape plan and get out fast.
- Ask students if they know where smoke alarms should be installed.
- Smoke alarms should be installed on every level of the home, including the basement.
- For extra safety, install smoke alarms both inside and outside the sleeping area.
- Smoke alarms should be installed on the ceiling or on the side walls 6 to 8 inches below the ceiling.
- Ask students how often they think the batteries in smoke alarms should be changed.
- Batteries should be changed at least once a year and tested monthly to make sure they are working.
- Show students where the batteries go in a smoke alarm.
- Press the test button to demonstrate it is working properly. Also, remind students that alarms need to be kept clean from dust. This can be done by running a vacuum cleaner attachment over and around them.
- Conclude the lesson by telling students they can keep their homes safe from fire by helping grown-ups remember to:
- put smoke alarms in the home, especially near bedrooms
- test smoke alarms monthly to make sure they are working
- replace with brand new batteries at least once a year
- keep smoke alarms clean from dust
Smoke alarms are very easy to install and take care of. To help teach your children about smoke alarms, ask them to help you install and maintain them.
- Install smoke alarms on every level of your home, including the basement.
- Many fatal fires begin late at night or in the early morning. For extra safety, install smoke alarms both inside and outside the sleeping area.
- Also, smoke alarms should be installed on the ceiling or 6 to 8 inches below the ceiling on side walls. Since smoke and many deadly gases rise, installing your smoke alarms at the proper level will provide you with the earliest warning possible.
- Always follow the manufacturer's installation instructions.
- Each month, ask your child to help you test all of the alarms in the home. This would also be a good time to make sure your alarms are clean and free of dust.
- Ask your child to pick at least one special day a year, like a birthday, holiday or other special event. Designate that day as "Smoke Alarm Safety Day" and replace all of the batteries in your smoke alarms with new ones. If your home has "hard-wired" alarms (connected to the household electrical system), they may or may not have battery back-up.
This lesson educates participants about how to help improve community health by curbing tobacco use. With the rise of e-cigarette use among young adults, tobacco use continues to have a critical impact on the health and well-being of our communities.
Smoking has been part of the cultural fabric in mental health care for many decades. Within inpatient settings, this has included the supply of cigarettes to patients (for example, every hour on the hour), and purchase of those cigarettes by the hospital where the patient was indigent and could not buy their own cigarettes. Within long-stay inpatient settings, this has also included patients who are smokers receiving discounted board and lodging fees in order to cover the costs of their smoking [6,7]. In previous decades, many psychiatric hospitals also possessed canteens with a tobacco license. There is evidence that both patients and nursing staff, in particular, have begun smoking as a result of exposure to the smoking culture in mental health settings [6]. This has clear legal and occupational health and safety implications for policy makers, services, staff and patients in these settings [8].
The management of smoking in mental health settings is first and foremost a question of good clinical practice in relation to recognized addictive behaviours and nicotine dependence [52,53,54]. Nicotine withdrawal is a clinical reality in inpatient contexts, even where there is no smoking-free policy. Often, patients are unable to smoke where they like or as often as they need in order to alleviate symptoms of nicotine withdrawal. Periodic provision of access to tobacco, such as hourly provision of cigarettes in the locked ward, is a poor form of control for nicotine withdrawal. It is likely to heighten dependence by placing the patient in a continual state of peaks and troughs of withdrawal. Within such a system of care, inpatient psychiatric care providers can miss or misinterpret nicotine withdrawal for worsening psychiatric symptoms [49]. This implies that nicotine withdrawal and dependence require proactive management, even where smoking is permitted. It also points to the need to understand the nature of nicotine withdrawal and dependence better within these settings. In particular, it suggests the importance of understanding how to effectively use nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) and other interventions, which are now a standard part of the repertoire of strategies, to address smoking in these settings [16,23].
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