| One part of the Longevity goal is safety. If you take care of your health, but neglect your safety, you could shorten your life and its enjoyment. Walking Walking has great health benefits but can be safer if you:
The following are some rules if you're biking or rollerblading:
Learn to swim. Learn how to avoid drowning while saving someone. If someone is drowning, and you try to save them, they might grab you and pull you under. If this happens dive down under the water and they should let go. This actually happened to me when I was a teenager at Orchard Beach in the Bronx. I went with a group of kids to the beach and we ran into the water. There was a drop-off about two feet out from shore. One of the kids who couldn’t swim ran into the water but after two steps it was over his head. I saw him drowning and swam to help him. He grabbed me and pulled me under. Everything moved in slow motion from that point. I remember a teacher in school telling us to dive down if someone drowning grabs you. I remember whether true or not standing on the bottom and the kid was standing on my shoulders. Then I remember a life guard pulling us both out. I don’t remember if the kid even said: “Thank you.” Learn how to get out of rip currents. When on a boat, find out where the life preservers are located. If you do try to save someone remember the rhyme: Reach. Throw. Row. Then Go.First, reach for them from land, then throw a floatation device to them. Next, use a boat to row to them. If none of these worked then go into the water but bring a flotation device with you. Driving Safety In the world, there are about 1.25 million deaths worldwide. That's one person is killed every 25 seconds1. The following are some rules that can keep you safe:
When I was a teenager I was driving home from hockey on the Sprain Brook Parkway. I noticed a car driving the wrong way on the highway flashing their high-beams. I pulled on to the shoulder of the highway and came to a stop. The next day there was an article in the paper about 6 people dying on the highway due to a head-on collision and they didn’t know which car was going the wrong way. Don’t text and drive, or drink and drive. Don’t get into a car with a drunk or high driver, take a cab. Your parents will always pay for it. Sports Safety Be safe when playing sports. Wear safety equipment, helmets, pads, etc. I didn’t wear a cage on my hockey helmet and got hit in the eye with a stick. I had to go to the hospital via ambulance and got stitches on my eyelid. My twin brother hit me in the eye accidentally while trying to lift my stick. Gardening Safety When doing gardening or housework, be careful on ladders and roofs. Use eye cover when using a weed whacker as to not get a rock thrown into your eye. Wear mosquito repellant and watch for ticks when outdoors. Be safe with police officers Don’t fight or argue with the police. Just listen to them and obey their directions. Never flee. Keep your hands visible to the officer. When I was a teenager, I was driving home from hockey with my brother. It was late, about 2:00 A.M. My brother was sitting in the back seat and I was in the front driving. We just we dropped someone off. A cop car pulled us over and asked to see my license and registration. My twin said, “WHAT FOR?” The cop told us to get out of the car. The cop frisked me and grabbed my balls. I jumped and he banged my head against the car and said: “When I frisk you, you don’t move.” All the while my brother, just stood there and nothing happened to him. The cops finally let us go. Rushing Kills Rushing can kill you in a number of ways. One way is throught the constant stress from waiting until the last minute to do something. Second is through accidents you can have. Always plan backward from appointments and try to get to your destination early. Just have something to do when you get there. Include travel time and prep time. For example, if I want to go to the gym on Saturday and the gym closes at 7 pm. I must leave time to workout which could be an hour to hour and a half. That leaves me at 5:30 pm. But it takes 10 minutes to get there and 15 - 30 minutes to get ready and 10 extra minutes for rounding. So I should start preparing at 4:30 pm which is 2 1/2 hours prior to the closing time. Identify where you are rushing and start changing the habits that are causing this issue. If you're rushing to work in the morning then set your alarm for 10 minutes earlier or go to sleep earlier or prepare the night before. Electricity When working with electricity be very careful as it could kill you. Never touch live electrical wires. If you’re doing house maintenance make sure you turn off the fuse. Also work with one hand because if you work with two the electricity can travel through your body if you contact a live wire. Lightning Lightning is something to be respected. Get indoors or to a car ASAP. Get out of the water if swimming. While working at Bronx House Camp in Copake, NY, my bunk was hit by lightning. It knocked people off of their bunk beds. I was opening the refrigerator and saw a spark jump from my hand to the handle of the fridge. Many years later I visited the camp and saw that lightning struck a tree right outside the bunk. Lightning can and does strike twice, it’s just very rare. Smoke Detectors Make sure your house or apartment has smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and that the batteries are new. 1https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_traffic-related_death_rate |