Healthcare

How to Minimize Jet Lag Symptoms

by Melissa Dudley in Travel. Posted July 29, 2017

Circadian rhythm disruption occurs when the rhythm set by one’s biological clock is misaligned with the solar day and night cycle of the environment. One of the most acute disruptions to circadian rhythm is rapid travel across time zones – a phenomenon known as jet lag. Jet lag not only impacts individual travelers but can also ...

N.fowleri Infections Update

by admin in Insurance & Loss Prevention, Lodging, Safety & Security, Travel. Posted July 31, 2015

Naegleria fowleri is an amoeba common to warm bodies of fresh water, including lakes and unchlorinated or poorly chlorinated swimming pools. This amoeba can infect the human nervous system and induce a lethal form of encephalitis when a victim insufflates contaminated water deep into the nasal cavities; while infection is relatively rare, only one percent ...

Hotel Pools: Another Potentially Hazardous Amenity

by admin in Insurance & Loss Prevention, Lodging, Safety & Security. Posted July 30, 2015

We wrote about the hazards inherent in hotel balconies last week, but that isn’t the only potentially troublesome amenity that hotel owners and operators must review. Hotel swimming pools seem innocuous enough to most guests and hotel staff, but as a deep body of water, they present a drowning hazard nonetheless. Hotel management should consider ...

Sick Leave for Restaurant Workers Necessary for Food Safety

by Fred Pritzker in Food & Beverage, Human Resources, Safety & Security. Posted January 30, 2015

The history of food safety, corporate irresponsibility, and workers’ rights is long and tortuous (as well as tortious). From the days of Upton Sinclair (rotten and diseased meat), unpasteurized and tuberculosis-laden milk, all the way through the present, the dangers of unsafe food have been compounded by improperly trained and poorly paid food workers. In ...

Ebola Examined: The History of a Viral Scourge

by admin in Safety & Security, Travel. Posted June 30, 2014

In 2014, we’ve seen epidemics and pandemics portrayed extensively in film and theorized about in mass media. Despite the low fatality rates associated with real-life outbreaks like modern-day H1N1, pandemics are typically portrayed as diseases with a devastating fatality rate. Just when we’re ready to chalk up the exceptionally high body counts of the plagues in Contagion and 24 Days Later to ...

Coughing in the Cabin: Commercial Flights, Illness, and Passengers Who Save the Day

by admin in Safety & Security, Travel. Posted July 30, 2013

Even if we have a seat in first class, most of us don’t relish the idea of taking a commercial flight. Sitting in a cramped seat in a confined space for several hours straight simply makes most people uncomfortable. However, flying takes its toll on some more than others; passengers become light-headed, nauseous, and can ...

Ban Smoking and Lighters in Planes and Airports: Fire and Jet Fuel? Everyone Knows Better

by Stephen Barth in Travel. Posted July 30, 2013

I strongly encourage a ban on incendiary devices aboard planes, whether a person carries it in his/her clothing or stores it in a carry-on bag. We should also ban smoking on airport premises, including parking facilities. No one has a good reason to have a match or lighter on a plane, and yet most people ...