West Nile Virus found in Terrebonne mosquito population
July 13, 2018
IT’S SNO-TIME
July 15, 2018
Children played with adults in the pool and venders networked under canopies, as a water safety conscious organization held a workshop to raise public awareness in methods to prevent drowning,.
Aqua Safety First Community Program held its second “People in Wheelchairs Event” at the Homewood Suites by Hilton, 142 Citiplace Drive, Houma on June 30.
“Emory said, ‘when I grow up I want to be a shark,” Kimberly Baker said of her 4-year-old, who did not have a wheelchair. “Well buddy, we going to have to start swimming lessons right away.”
Full of enthusiasm as he played with bracelets from the Veteran’s Affair’s stand, Emory Scott jumped around a table while Baker kept an eye on him. Occasionally he would tease his mother by pushing on the entrance to the pool and looking back with a mischievous smile. Baker would play along fussing him while not being able to hide a light-hearted smile of her own.
Baker said she was excited to finally have time to bring Emory to swimming lessons. She had wanted to for a while but work always conflicted.
Once the instructor was in the pool, Emory’s nervousness kicked in; however, after some encouragement he finally joined the instructor.
“This is not the bath tub,” Baker said. “In the bath tub he thinks he’s a pro.”
The ASFCP was founded 10 years ago in Morgan City. The 501C3 nonprofit was formed to spread water safety techniques among Louisiana residents. They include swimming lessons, post CPR instructions, and techniques for infant swimming.
Children learn different swimming strokes, how to use tools such as pool poles and life preservers to rescue others, showing post CPR techniques and encouraging parents to become certified. Woodrow J Parker, the founder of ASFCP, said that he hoped that any skills gleaned by the attendees could assist in a life-threatening event.
Finding a short moment to talk as he ate an apple, Parker explained that he attended the Ohio institute of Photography and Technology and said that his experience as an assistant corporate photographer prepared him for this work.
“I’m utilizing my skill-sets to do event coordinating,” said Parker. “The photography side of it is the creativity which allowed me to tie in and come up with different concepts and connect with people and places.”
The hotel venue was chosen by Parker to capture a larger audience.
“In the outer lying areas we see a need because children are not as educated on swimming as those in the inner city,” said Parker. “But more accidents happen in the inner city.”
With his apple finished, Parker was off greeting attendees and soon firing up a grill to feed everyone.
Vendors in attendance all revolved around healthcare in some fashion.
Lorie Beal, clinic administration for the Houma Veterans Administration outpatient clinic, stood behind a bench to share information about the clinic and all the services it provides.
Beal has been in her position for two years and this was her first outreach event. Before long, she had her first veteran, John Richardson, arrive at her table and asked about the Veteran’s ID.
Richardson, who was staying at the hotel with his family, served in the Navy and got out in 1994, and said he had been putting off the ID for a long time.
“I knew that the VA existed and that’s about all I knew,” said Richardson. He also said he was told he was eligible for it, “It’s one of the things they tell you when you get out.”
Not everyone who serves is available for healthcare, said Beal, but she encourages everyone to apply just to see. She stressed that anyone who served prior to 1980 needs to apply.
Another vender, Bayou Region Black Nurses Association, also had a bench where Jason and his wife Derika Gray, both Registered Nurses, provided free blood pressure checks.
During the check, the two provided information about the other services their organization provides free of charge: blood sugar, breast screenings, HIV screenings, prostate cancer screenings, and the organization can make referrals to doctors. On the rare occasions they send people directly to the hospital.
“For those people who have typically a really high blood pressure reading, we always try to do a manual because that’s the most accurate,” said Jason. “Because we’ve had, at the health fair, we’ve had to send people directly to the hospital because their blood pressure was so high.”
He said people can have high blood pressure without symptoms, but when symptoms are exhibited it becomes dangerous.
Next to their table was Courtesy Home Care. The company which began 4 months ago, greeted attendees with smiles. Shanika Coleman and Kierria Howard, both outreach employees, were spreading the word of their company’s services.
Coleman said the company is a home care provider, for the disabled of any age as well as the elderly, that doesn’t limit itself to just home care. Howard provided some examples: bringing clients to appointments, errands, transportation, gardening, taking care of pets, cutting hair, laundry, light housekeeping, “where there’s a need, we’re there,” she said.
The company doesn’t however over it’s patients like most homecare because some people don’t like that, “we come in, on call,” Coleman said.
Necessity is the mother of invention, and Coleman said the inspiration for the company came from a tragedy in her family. Her grandmother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s:
“It drew wedges in the family because everyone couldn’t be there every time… we had times when someone couldn’t make a doctor’s appointment, we had times when my grandmother was lonely in the nursing home and wanted someone there for her,” said Coleman. “If we had someone we could call to be there when we couldn’t, and we saw a need, so that’s what made us form our company. We saw a need in our family, and we figured, if we had that need, how many other people have that same need?”
A mother does pool work with a child during on Aqua Safety First Community Program held two weekends ago in Houma.
