POISON CENTER

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The American Association of Poison Control Centers works to support the nation's 60 poison centers in the valuable work they do. America's poison centers are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week to help you. The Poison Help hotline at 1-800-222-1222 serves as a key medical information resource and helps reduce costly emergency room visits. More

Poison Exposure?Call Your Poison Centerat 1-800-222-1222.
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Hand sanitizer safety
New! The start of flu season - and the spread of H1N1 - has consumers increasingly turning to hand sanitizers to help stop the spread of viruses. While ethanol-based hand sanitizers have the potential to be toxic, toxicologists and members of the American Association of Poison Control Centers say that with proper monitoring and guidance, the benefits of disease prevention outweigh the potential for ethanol poisoning. More.

Poison Centers at the front lines of H1N1 fight
The same reassuring voice on the telephone when you fear you've had a poisoning emergency may now be answering your questions about the H1N1 flu pandemic. The nation's poison centers are increasingly helping states respond to H1N1. More

Keep Kids Safe
A poison is something that makes you sick or hurts you if you eat, drink, touch or smell it. Poisons can be SOLID. Solid poisons can be chunky or chewy like pills, batteries, plants, and berries. More

Child Safty

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Childproofing and Preventing Household Accidents
KidsHealth> Parents> Pregnancy & Newborns> Home & Family Issues> Childproofing and Preventing Household Accidents
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When was the last time you crawled around your home on your hands and knees? As strange as it sounds, give it a go. Kids explore their everyday environments, so it's crucial to check things out from their perspective to make sure your home is safe.
And though we often think of babies and toddlers when we hear the words "babyproofing" or "childproofing," unintentional injury is the leading cause of death in kids 14 years old and under, with more than a third of these injuries happening at home.
Household injuries are one of the top reasons kids under age 3 visit the ER, and nearly 70% of the children who die from unintentional injuries at home are 4 years old and under. Young kids have the highest risk of being injured at home because that's where they spend most of their time.
Supervision is the best way to prevent injuries, in the home and out, but even the most watchful parents can't keep kids completely out of harm's way every second of the day.
Here are some simple ways to help prevent injuries in your own home.

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Accidents That Can Happen at Home
The common causes of home-injury deaths are fire and burns, suffocation, drowning, choking, falls, poisoning, and firearms. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), most home accidents happen where there's:
water: in the bathroom, kitchen, swimming pools, or hot tubs
heat or flames: in the kitchen or at a barbecue grill
toxic substances: under the kitchen sink, in the medicine cabinet, in the garage or garden shed, or even in a purse or other place where medications are stored
potential for a fall: on stairs, slippery floors, from high windows, or from tipping furniture
You can take precautions to make these places safer, but the most important thing to remember is to watch young kids at all times. Even if your home is childproofed, it only takes an instant for babies and toddlers to fall, run over to a hot stove, or put the wrong thing in their mouths. Your watchfulness is your child's best defense.
However, accidents will still happen, so it's important to be prepared. If you're expecting a baby or have kids, it's wise to:
1. Learn cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and the age-appropriate Heimlich maneuver.
2. Keep the following near the phone (for yourself and caregivers):
poison-control number: 1-800-222-1222
doctor's number
parents' work and cell phone numbers
neighbor's or nearby relative's number (if you need someone to watch other kids in case of an emergency)
3. Make a first-aid kit and keep emergency instructions inside.
4. Install smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors.
Check out these articles for more information:
Household Safety: Preventing Injuries From Falling, Climbing, and GrabbingHousehold Safety: Preventing Burns, Shocks, and FiresHousehold Safety: Preventing Strangulation and EntrapmentHousehold Safety: Preventing SuffocationHousehold Safety: Preventing ChokingHousehold Safety: Preventing PoisoningHousehold Safety: Preventing DrowningHousehold Safety: Preventing CutsHousehold Safety: Preventing Injuries in the CribHousehold Safety: Preventing Injuries From Firearms
Reviewed by: Kate M. Cronan, MDDate reviewed: December 2007
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EYE TEST

Having an eye test
On this page:
What happens in an eye test?
Questions to ask the optometrist
At the end of your eye test
Do I need extra tests as part of my eye test?
If you need extra help to get your eye test
Open Your Eyes
Other sources of help
What happens in an eye test?
When you go for your eye test you should take with you any glasses that you wear, the names of any tablets or medicine you are taking and the name of your doctor.
Eye tests should normally include the following but the order may vary:
Discuss the reason for your visit
It may be a routine eye test, you may have specific problems with your eyes and vision, or you may have been sent by your GP. Special demands on your eyes created by work and hobbies may also need to be addressed. The optometrist may also want to know about your general health and health of your family, including if someone in your family has an eye condition.
Checking your eye sight
You will be asked to read letters on a chart. For those who are not able to read, there are other tests such as identifying pictures or matching letters and pictures.
Checking your outer eye
A light will be shone on the front of your eyes to check their health and how well they react to light.
Checking your inner eye
An ophthalmoscope is used to check the back of the eyes. The light of the ophthalmoscope will be shone into your eyes to check their health and you will be asked to look in different directions.
Checking your eye muscles
Your optometrist will check that the muscles that control your eye movement are working well.
Checking to see if you need glasses
If you need glasses to improve your vision, the optometrist will work out exactly what prescription you need. They may shine a light in your eyes and then ask you to look at letters or colours on a chart through various lenses in a special frame or machine.
Questions to ask the optometrist
Do feel free to ask questions about any aspect of your eye test, for instance:
When do I need to wear these glasses?
What is the name of my refractive error?
How large is the error in my eyes?
Is my eye generally healthy, no signs of any eye condition?
When should I come back for another test?
How often do you think I should have my eyes tested?
Why do you want to send me on to the hospital or GP?
Do I need to tell anyone in my family to have their eyes tested?
At the end of your eye test
Your optometrist should discuss your eye test results and your eye health with you. If you don't need glasses then the optometrist will give you a statement that says this. If you do need glasses then they must provide you with a prescription for your glasses. This prescription can be used to buy glasses at any optometrist's practice, not just the one where you had your test.
Do I need extra tests as part of my eye test?
Some people may be at higher risk of eye diseases like glaucoma and diabetic eye disease. Extra tests ensure early detection.
If you over 40 years old (people over 40 are more at risk of developing glaucoma)
If you have a close relative with glaucoma (people who have or have had a close relative with glaucoma are more at risk of developing glaucoma themselves)
If you are of African or Caribbean origin (people of African or Caribbean origin are more at risk of developing glaucoma, and at a younger age.)
If you answer 'yes' to any of these, you should ask for:
the inner and outer eye tests
the field of vision test
the eye pressure test.
It is important to ask for all these tests. Together they detect signs of glaucoma more effectively than only one or two tests. When you make your appointment tell the optometrist that you will need these extra tests.
Do you have diabetes?
Diabetes can cause eye problems that may lead to sight loss if not treated. You should ask about the tests below and also about dilating eye drops.
The extra tests
The field of vision test
There are various different machines (most are computerised) that measure the field of vision. These tell how far around you can see. You will be shown patterns of lights and asked to say which ones you can see.
Each eye will be tested separately. This test can help to detect glaucoma and other problems.
The eye pressure test
An increase in eye pressure may be a sign of glaucoma. There are two ways to test the pressure. One uses eye drops to numb your eyes for a short while and then placing an instrument on the front of your eyes, and the other involves blowing at least three puffs of air at the front of each eye. Neither test hurts.
Dilating eye drops
If the optometrist needs to see the back of your eye more closely, drops will be put in your eyes that make your pupils larger. It takes up to half an hour for the drops to work properly. Some people find the drops make their eyes dazzled or their sight blurred. You should not drive or use heavy machinery for a few hours after the drops.
If you need extra help to get your eye test
If you are housebound, you should find out about having your eyes tested at home. Your local Primary Care Trust (PCT) will have details of optometrists providing this service.
People who have problems with language, with communicating or with understanding are entitled to an eye test, but may need more than one visit to the optometrist. Check that all of the parts of the eye test have been done.
Open Your Eyes
Our Open Your Eyes campaign aims to bring an end to preventable sight loss in the UK by 2020.
Thousands of people in the UK are needlessly losing their sight every year through treatable conditions like glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy.
Thousands more are living with sight loss because they are simply wearing the wrong glasses or not seeking treatment for cataracts. A regular eye test checks your eye health as well as your sight. Don't put it off, book one today!
Other sources of help
For advice and support with coping with your eye condition and living an independent life, see our Sources of help pages.
Contact: eyehealth@rnib.org.uk
Last updated: 17 September 2009
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Having an eye test
After your eye test
Having an eye examination at home
Eye health
Eye conditions
Visiting an optician
Visiting a hospital
Looking after your eyes
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HEARING TEST

Hearing test
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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A hearing test provides an evaluation of the sensitivity of a person's sense of hearing and is most often performed by an audiologist using an audiometer. An audiometer is used to determine a person's hearing sensitivity at different frequencies. There are other hearing tests as well, e.g. Weber test and Rinne test.
Contents[hide]
1 Audiometer
2 Weber and Rinne
3 Other
4 References
//
[edit] Audiometer
An audiometer hearing test is usually administered to a person sitting in a soundproof booth wearing a set of headphones which is connected to an audiometer. Small foam insert earphones placed in the ears may also be used. The audiometer produces tones at specific frequencies and set volume levels to each ear independently. The audiologist or licensed hearing aid specialist plots the loudness, in decibels, on an audiogram. People having their hearing tested will convey that they have heard the tone by either raising a hand or pressing a button. As the test progresses, the audiologist or hearing aid specialist, plots points on a graph where the frequency is on the x-axis and the loudness on the y-axis. Once each frequency of hearing ability is tested and plotted, the points are joined by a line so that one can see at a glance which frequencies are not being heard normally and what degree of hearing loss may be present. Normal hearing at any frequency is a sound pressure of 20dBSPL or quieter; with worsening hearing as the number increases.[1]
[edit] Weber and Rinne
Main articles: Weber test and Rinne test
A complete hearing evaluation involves several other tests as well.[2] In order to determine what kind of hearing loss is present, a bone conduction hearing test is administered. In this test, a vibrating tuning fork is placed behind the ear, on the mastoid process. When the patient can no longer feel/hear the vibration, the tuning fork is held in front of the ear; the patient should once more be able to hear a ringing sound. If they cannot, there is conductive hearing loss in that ear. Additionally, the tuning fork is placed on the forehead. The patient is then asked if the sound is localised in the centre of the head or whether it is louder in either ear. If there is conductive hearing loss, it is likely to be louder in the affected ear; if there is sensorineural hearing loss, it will be quieter in the affected ear. This test helps the audiologist determine whether the hearing loss is conductive (caused by problems in the outer or middle ear) or sensorineural (caused by problems in the cochlea, the sensory organ of hearing) or neural - caused by a problem in the auditory nerve or auditory pathways/cortex of the brain.
[edit] Other
The audiologist or hearing aid specialist may also conduct speech tests, wherein the patient repeats the words he or she hears.
In addition, a test called a tympanogram is generally done. In this test, a small probe is placed in the ear and the air pressure in the ear canal is varied. This test tells the audiologist how well the eardrum and other structures in the middle ear are working. The ear canal volume indicates whether a perforation in the eardrum (tympanic membrane) may be present. The middle ear pressure indicates whether any fluid is present in the middle ear space (also called "glue ear" or "otitis media with effusion"). Compliance measurement indicates how well the eardrum and ossicles (the three ear bones) are moving.
The last test the audiologist may perform is an acoustic reflex test. In this test a probe is placed in the ear and a loud tone, greater than 70 dBSPL, is produced. The test measures the reflexive contraction of the stapedius muscle, which is important in protecting the ear from loud noises, such as a person's own speech which may be 90dBSPL at the eardrum. This test can be used to estimate the hearing thresholds in patients who are unable to perform normal pure tone audiometry and can also give information about the vestibular and facial nerves and indicate if a lesion may be present.
[edit] References
^ Audiometry - American hearing Research Foundation, Chicago, IL, USA
^ Yueh, B; Shapiro N, MacLean CH, Shekelle PG (April 2003). "Screening and management of adult hearing loss in primary care: scientific review". Journal of the American Medical Association (American Medical Association) 289 (15): 1976–1985. doi:10.1001/jama.289.15.1976. PMID 12697801. http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/289/15/1976. Retrieved 2007-11-10.

The New RUBIK's Cube

I have always been a fan of the many different Rubik's Cubes. I recently got the newest one at Best Buy for $149.00. It was one of many birthday gifts that my late mother bought me for my birthday. This is the worlds very first touch cube. Fully electric with lights and sounds. Not for kids under 8 years old. You can choose between modern sounds effects or an actual recording of the original Cube's twist for a new or nostalgic Rubik's experience!

It's hard to believe it all started in Eastern Europe. Rubik's Cubes are now all over the globe.

ITS ALL PAID OFF

Just wanted every one to know that my mothers service is completely paid off in full today. And this was done all by my self. I am sorry I forgot to give credit to my aunt in NY for giving me $400.00 down payment back on June 2, 2008. And also $50.00 dollars paid by Jenn. Sad to think my mother had 2 sisters yet only one helped out! And out of all my mothers kids and one step daughter. I was the only one to pay the bill. But in all fairness to my brother John, he did offer to help. And my step sister has a large family, and is helping to take care of her sisters funeral bill. And what is Sperm donors excuse for not helping?

The final bill paid in full was for the amount of:
$2,764.82 Paid on 11/17/09
By Joseph E Hover