Have a safe and Happy 4th of July and upcoming Pioneer Day as we celebrate with fireworks.
Be safe when discharging and pay attention to when. Ariel fireworks are not allowed within Vernal City limits. Fireworks can be discharged starting July 2, from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. This time is extended to midnight on the 4th of July and back to 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. on the July 5. Firework times are the same for Pioneer day, two days before with an extended time on July 24 (through midnight) and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. on July 25.
Listen to July 2 Give’m Health on KLCY below and get more information on Uintah County Firework safety.
It’s not too early to be preparing to go back to school. Utah State law requires vaccinations for children entering into kindergarten and seventh grade. If you have a child that will be in one of these grades for the 19-20 school year now is a good time to check and see if they are up to date on their vaccines. Most kindergarteners need 2 immunizations a Dtap/polio booster and MMR/Varicella booster. Seventh graders are required to have a Tdap booster and meningococcal vaccine. The Gardasil or HPV vaccine is recommended but not required. These can easily be done at a well child visit with your Doctor or at TriCounty Health Department. If for some reason your child is missing any vaccines this is a great time to catch them up.
E
verybody knows they need to shower before getting into a public swimming pool. To most people, that simply means getting their hair wet. This required shower, however, should be a complete cleansing shower. This means using shampoo and soap, just like you would at home. The purpose of the shower is to remove bacteria and personal care products from your body, so they don’t come off in the pool. Personal care products reduce the effectiveness of Chlorine (or other disinfectant), and can clog filters. We need to wash off the bacteria on our bodies (particularly in the nether regions), to make sure we don’t use up the disinfectant faster than the pool equipment can handle–otherwise we’re all just swimming in a giant bathtub.
Parents, please make sure your infants are properly secured with swim diapers and plastic shorts. You don’t want to be responsible for your child closing the pool due to a ‘Code Brown’. If the child does have an accident, the plastic shorts keep it contained.
If you, or a family member, has recently had diarrhea, you must wait at least 2 weeks before going to a public pool. That’s just not something you want to share.
One of the biggest concerns with diarrhea and pools is the possibility of cryptosporidium. About a dozen years ago, there was a big outbreak of Crypto in Utah because people weren’t showering properly, and weren’t waiting long enough to swim after being sick. Chlorine and other similar disinfectants are great at removing bacteria like E. coli, but much less effective on larger, hardier organisms like Crypto. Let’s work together to keep our pools clean and enjoyable by properly showering and staying home when sick.
Pro tips:
Keep pool water out of your mouth. Even if you spit it back out, some will remain in your mouth, and you will swallow it.
If you smell chlorine when approaching a pool, it is best to wait and come back later. This smell could sometimes indicate an excessive amount of chlorine that could irritate your skin and lungs, but most likely means the chlorine present is not being effective and the water is actually not very clean.
There are 48 public swimming pools in the TriCounty area–most of which are in hotels. We sample every public pool twice each month to make sure the water is good to swim in, and the pool operators are staying vigilant. In addition to the regular sampling, we inspect each one annually to make sure equipment is in good working condition.
Get the information you need on Temporary Food Permits
WITH ALL THE SUMMER ACTIVITIES AROUND THE CORNER, REMEMBER WHEN YOU FEED THE PUBLIC YOU NEED A TEMPORARY FOOD SERVICE PERMIT OR A FOOD ESTABLISHMENT PERMIT FROM TRICOUNTY HEALTH DEPT. THE PERMIT MUST BE POSTED IN VIEW OF THE PUBLIC WHEN IN OPERATION.
- WHEN YOU ARE SERVING FOOD OR DRINKS TO THE PUBLIC WHETHER A COST IS INVOLVED OR FREE YOU NEED A TEMPORARY FOOD SERVICE PERMIT.
WHO DOESN’T NEED A PERMIT?:
- IF YOU ARE SELLING ONLY HOME BAKED GOODS YOU ARE ONLY REQUIRED TO POST A SIGN FROM TRICOUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT STATING THAT THE ITEMS ARE NOT REGULATED.
- IF YOU ARE ONLY SELLING INDIVIDUALLY COMMERCIALLY PRE- PACKAGED ITEMS
TO PROTECT THE PUBLIC HEALTH YOU NEED TO FOLLOW THE RULES FOR TEMPORARY FOOD SERVICE WHICH ARE:
Anything offered to the public for human consumption within the TriCounty area is regulated under the State of Utah R392-100: Food Service Sanitation Rule, October 1999. Everyone offering consumables must apply for a Temporary Food Service Permit. The following is a list of items that need to be addressed.
* 1. All food shall be from an approved source (permitted markets, wholesale food suppliers, commercially
supplied ice, etc.) NO HOME CANNED FOODS or NON USDA MEATS ARE PERMITTED TO BE SOLD OR USED AS AN INGREDIENT.
*2. All time temperature controlled foods, (meats, fish, dairy products, poultry, and related foods that spoil
rapidly) shall be maintained at the proper temperature: (see chart on back)
- Food must be prepared and cooked on site or in a regulated food establishment kitchen.
- A thermometer is needed on hand with range from 32 – 165 degrees.
- Hot Storage – 135 degrees or higher (steaming product) reheating in a crockpot is not allowed.
- Cold Storage – 41 degrees of lower (packed in ice) ice must be drained to prevent water from
pooling.
* 3. No bare hand contact. Foods that will receive no further cooking, like bread and garnishments, are not to
be handled with bare hands. Deli paper, tongs, gloves or other utensils are acceptable.
- The public must not serve themselves from a communal container such as: bags of buns, bags of chips with their hands. Use tongs or other utensils to avoid hand contact.
*4. At least one person holding a current food handler’s card must be present and providing
supervision to all workers handling food at the booth during all hours of operation.
*5. Adequate water supply needed:
-
- For hand washing – soap and paper towels with clean water that runs over hands. (A hand-dipping bucket is not adequate or sanitary).
- Hand washing station must be where you are or within 10 feet of cooking area.
- Hands must be washed before putting on gloves and between each glove change.
- Hands must be washed after handling money and before putting on gloves or touching food.
-
- Sanitizing
- You will need a wiping cloth in sanitizer for wiping up spills.
- Sanitizing solution will need to be proper temperature and concentration. (see chart on back)
*6. Booths shall be constructed to minimize the entrance of flies, vermin, dust and any other form of
contamination. For public protection the cooking area should be restricted.
- Single service items (plastic utensils, paper plates, napkins, etc.) cannot be stored on the floor/ground.
- Condiments (catsup, mustard, sugar, salt, etc.) shall be single service type or from a pour, pump or squeeze type container.
NO BOWLS.
- Garbage shall be properly bagged prior to discarding into a main refuse/garbage container.
- Ice must be dispensed from an approved container using a handled scoop.
*Indicate critical items. These violations must be corrected immediately.
COOKING TEMPERATURES
130°F: WHOLE BEEF ROASTS
[AT LEAST 121 MINUTES]
135°F: COMMERCIALLY-PRE-COOKED FOODS; AND FRUITS & VEGETABLES
[AT LEAST 15 SECONDS]
145°F: SHELLED EGGS, WHOLE MUSSEL FISH, BEEF, PORK (MEATS)
[AT LEAST 15 SECONDS]
155°F: GROUND, CHOPPED OR INJECTED
MEATS; AND GAME MEAT
[AT LEAST 15 SECONDS]
165°F: POULTRY; FOODS STUFFED WITH
MEAT AND/OR STUFFING
[AT LEAST 15 SECONDS]
SANITIZERS
CHLORINE: 50 to 100 ppm, 75 degrees
QUATS: 200 ppm, 75 degrees
TO OBTAIN AN APPLICATION GO TO: www.tricountyhealth.com or at one of our offices 133 S 500 E, Vernal or 409 S 200 E, Roosevelt or call Gary at 435-722-6310
Food Handler Class Schedule:
August 20, 2019 at 3:30 pm at the Roosevelt TriCounty Health Office
August 21 and November 13, 2019 at 3:30 pm at the Vernal TriCounty Health Office
We are promoting good mental health at the Health Department.
Mental health is one of the 12 Healthy People 2020 Leading Health Indicators. Mental health refers to an individual’s ability to negotiate the daily challenges and social interactions of life without experiencing undue emotional or behavioral incapacity.
Mental health and mental disorders can be influenced by numerous conditions including biologic and genetic vulnerabilities, acute or chronic physical dysfunction, and environmental conditions and stresses.
Mental health is a very broad term that can mean a variety of different things.
Depression
Suicide
One way it is measured is through the seven day test (if an individual reports having 7 or more “poor mental health days in the past 30”)
In the basin we have roughly 12,000 individuals who report experiencing poor mental health of seven or more days in the past 30.
Some mental health issues are very severe and should be dealt with immediately, e.g. suicide, major depression.
Many mental health issues can be addressed in a number of ways. e.g.:
Sleep
Exercise
Light
Fun
Interaction (social, family)
Eating Well
May is a great time of year to promote good mental health. Winter is over and the sun is up. It is easier to spend time outside, more social interaction etc.
Teen Pregnancy is a public health issue because it is so common and is associated with many negative consequences for both the pregnant teen and the child or children.
When looking at the data we observe that infants born to a teen mother are more likely to have lower birth weights, and have a higher rate of infant mortality, as well as increased risk of hospital admissions throughout their early childhood. The data also shows that these children also grow up in less supportive home environments, have poorer cognitive development, and are more likely to have a teen pregnancy themselves. For the teen mother they are more likely to be socially isolated, have mental health problems, and have fewer opportunities for employment and education. Teen mothers and fathers are less likely to be financially secure and this makes it more likely for families to perpetuate the cycle of inter-generational poverty.
TriCounty Health Department offers the Teen Outreach Program (TOP) at several schools as an after school club. TOP is a teen pregnancy prevention program. However, it also provides youth with the skills to be successful in life. TOP is a suicide prevention program, substance abuse prevention program, and life skills program. It is truly a positive youth development program where well trained adults go into the schools and teach the youth life skills and provide them with volunteer opportunities. The instructors provide the education and insight so youth can choose a life path for themselves, understand how to take responsibility for their actions and their future decisions. Honestly, I’ve been teaching this program in schools for 3 going on 4 years now and have never even discussed teen pregnancy with any of the youth. We have seen our teen pregnancy rates begin to decrease in part I believe to this program.
The program is based on a National Curriculum that instead of focusing on teen pregnancy as a topic of discussion focuses on building their skills, and teaching them how to think instead of what to think. Again, this is to give them the tools they need, and the confidence to choose their path for themselves with a better understanding of the decision making process as well as consequences associated with their decisions.
Each week we focus on a topic or service idea. Some of the topics we’ve covered this year include communication, empathy, emotion management, health and wellness, goal setting, identity, and more. For service we really try to make this meaningful by giving them what we call the CSL glow. Which is that feel good feeling where they accomplished something, they helped someone, and they did something challenging to better themselves and their community. We also try to utilize our service hours to build their skills a little more. This year we built a community garden in Vernal and it was constructed 100% by the youth. They learned how to measure out the boards, cut the boards using a saw, and how to use a drill to assemble their planter boxes
(Don’t worry, everyone had consent forms signed to do this and we taught safety while using these tools as well).
Overall, we want to teach youth that there is more they can do, more they can accomplish, and that they do have the power to accomplish whatever they want in life. Our goal is to provide youth the tools needed to take ownership of their lives, and provide the means for success for themselves, and their future families.
Listen to Give’m Health’s radio spot for more detailed information.
Reasons it is important to bike to work this spring.
- 40% of all trips in the U.S. are less than two miles, making bicycling a feasible and fun way to get to work. With increased interest in healthy, sustainable and economic transportation options, it’s not surprising that, from 2000 to 2013, the number of bicycle commuters in the U.S. grew by more than 62 percent.
- Hundreds of American communities have been successful in increasing bicycle commuting by providing Bike to Work Week and Bike to Work Day events. TriCounty Health Department is incouraging the community to bike to work from May 12 to May 18.
- Cycling is a healthy, low-impact exercise that can be enjoyed by people of all ages, from young children to older adults. It is also fun, cheap and good for the environment. Riding to work or the shops is one of the most time-efficient ways to combine regular exercise with your everyday routine. An estimated one billion people ride bicycles every day – for transport, recreation and sport.