Help us help you be safe around water. Enter to win lifejackets!

With the May long-weekend fast approaching, the Red Cross and Mustang Survival have a special contest to help you get ready for another fun season of water activities.

We know many of you will be looking forward to boating on the long weekend, but don’t forget to wear your life jacket! The sad reality is that too often when people have boating accidents, their lifejacket couldn’t help them because they didn’t have it on. Don’t forget to #WearIt.

Enter online to win one of 10 Mustang lifejacket family packs, and share with your family and friends the importance of wearing a lifejacket every time you’re on the water.

World Health Day – Providing care where it’s most needed

Photo credit: Ibrahim Mall/SARC

Many people around the world today are marking World Health Day. World Health Day was celebrated on Sunday, April 7 to mark the anniversary of the founding of the World Health Organization, the UN’s health agency. Health services are one of the core programs offered by Red Cross and Red Crescent societies around the world. In this photo, staff and volunteers from the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) provide emergency care to people in the city of Homs. The SARC team in Homs have responded as best they can to the deteriorating humanitarian situation by mobilizing first aid teams in the city and in the surrounding countryside. The teams provide first aid on the spot, evacuate the wounded and transport them for medical care.

Tech Talk: Rethinking the map to predict pandemics

Spring break is rapidly approaching in many provinces, and for some families, that means air travel. Visions of sand, surf and sun abound, but what are you inadvertently bringing home from vacation?

Scientists who study epidemics have long known that air travel fundamentally changed the way outbreaks spread. When people travelled primarily on foot, it was easy to predict how an epidemic would spread—an ripple spreading away from the centre.

The ease with which we travel means that picture now looks very different. Watch the animation below, and put yourself in the shoes of global emergency responders or health officials. Pandemics now spread in what appears to be a random way, making it difficult to predict and respond to them.

However, a researcher of complex systems has come up with a stunningly simple way to predict the spread of pandemics. Instead of looking at geographic distances between cities—Halifax is more than 6,000 km from Vancouver—this new approach looks at the temporal distance—there’s a direct flight between the two. This new map of the world looks like a spider web, instead of a series of continents.

Tracking the spread of outbreaks on this new map makes modern pandemics look much more familiar, and predicting their spread suddenly seems possible.

This new approach would allow emergency responders to anticipate needs, and scientists to figure out where the infection originated. After all, without seeing you throw the rock, any child could look at the expanding ripples and tell you where they started.

Technology and new ideas are reshaping the face of outbreaks, but some things never change: washing hands frequently with soap and warm water is still the best way to prevent infections. As spring break approaches, whether you’re flying away or going only as far as your neighbourhood park, don’t forget to maintain good hand washing habits, and you’ll go a long way towards preventing or stopping outbreaks in your own community.

Here’s an article where you can learn more about this new approach to pandemic mapping.

What do you want to know about international development?

A Bolivian Red Cross volunteer teaches a Bolivian woman about child nutrition, as part of a program to reduce deaths of children under five.

Today marks the beginning of International Development Week, an opportunity to explore how this country and your fellow Canadians are changing the world for the better. The global Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a leader in international development, and the Canadian Red Cross partners with Red Cross/Crescent Societies in 26 countries to deliver programs that improve lives in communities in need.

But what does ‘international development’ actually mean, how do we do it, and how can Canadians get involved? This week, international development and humanitarian response experts from the Canadian Red Cross are answering your burning questions about development. Ask your question as a comment below, tweet your question to @redcrosscanada with the hashtag #IDW2013 or submit your questions through our Facebook page, and hear the answers straight from our experts.

Global health headlines you never heard this year

1)     Treating HIV prevents transmission: Treatment as Prevention is a made-in-Canada strategy that treats people living with HIV before they show signs of AIDS. This transforms the infection from a death sentence to a manageable chronic condition, and reduces HIV transmission by as much as 96%.

2)     India celebrates one year polio-free: India became the newest member of the polio-free club, celebrating its first full year with no new cases of the paralyzing infection. Today there are fewer new polio cases, in fewer regions of fewer countries, than ever before.

3)     Guinea worm on track for eradication: Another global target for eradication, only 1,096 cases of Guinea worm disease were diagnosed in four African countries this year, down from an estimated 3.5 million cases across Africa and Asia when eradication efforts began in 1986. There is no vaccine or drug treatment for Guinea worm; eradication is based almost entirely on making drinking water safer.

In this photo taken earlier this year in Sierra Leone, a Red Cross volunteer demonstrates proper hand-washing technique. Lack of clean water and sanitation, and poor hygiene can lead to disease outbreaks such as cholera. Photo credit: Jarkko Mikkonen / Finnish Red Cross

4)     More people have access to safe drinking water: The UN announced that between 1990 and 2010 more than 2 billion people gained access to safe drinking water. 89% of the world’s population, 6.1 billion people, now use improved drinking water sources. However, the UN cautions that 783 million people still can’t access safe water, and 2.5 billion lack access to basic sanitation.

5)     Child mortality is falling: A UN report said that child mortality has fallen in every part of the world in the past 20 years, and is down by at least half in many regions. In 2000-2011, countries in Sub-Saharan Africa reduced child mortality twice as quickly as in the decade before. Still, last year nearly 7 million children died before their fifth birthday, largely due to pneumonia, diarrhea and birth complications.

Citizens of Earth, the end is near!

‘Beware!’ That is the message from various organizations predicting the end of the world on Friday or over the weekend. Doomsday scenarios include the magnetic poles reversing, Earth colliding with an interplanetary object, the planet being consumed by an exploding star, and other more cryptic scenarios based on the end of the Mayan calendar.

However, the Red Cross would much prefer that you ‘Prepare!’. Having food, water and supplies to last you and your family 72 hours should get you through the worst of any nasty Doomsday surprises.

Our disaster experts here at the Red Cross have seen some strong evidence suggesting the world will not end this weekend. After all, society seemed pretty functional when Marty McFly visited the year 2015 in Back to the future, Part II.

Nonetheless, according to our recent survey, two-thirds of Canadians are not ready for more commonplace disasters like house fires, floods, earthquakes or extended power outages. Be ready for Doomsday, and you’ll be in good shape whatever crops up in the future.

Need supplies to prepare for the end?

Photo of the Day: Tipi of Courage facilitates HIV outreach in Aboriginal communities

Representatives from southern Alberta First Nations, Metis and Inuit communities gather for a Tipi Transfer ceremony in Calgary. The ceremony allows the Canadian Red Cross Tipi of Courage to be set up in regional events. The Tipi of Courage is a community-based project, taught by Aboriginal leaders, that facilitates HIV awareness and outreach in Aboriginal communities in the region. Photo credit: J. Keith Howie

Learn how the Red Cross is working with HIV-affected communities around the world.

Food Friday: When in doubt, add mustard

For all the fun we have at the Canadian Red Cross showing Canadians how to make scrumptious meals with non-perishables and no power, we seem to have forgotten to make disaster dining delicious for disaster responders themselves.

Since arriving in New Jersey to help the American Red Cross assist thousands of families affected by Sandy, I’ve eaten some very strange concoctions. Think more disaster than dining. Now, a disclaimer: I’ve been a vegetarian since I was a child, and, somehow, cold beef ravioli from a can hasn’t been enough to win me over to the dark side since arriving here. My chances of an epicurean disaster dining experience while on a massive disaster response operation have definitely been hampered by my dietary limitations.

Here are some interesting (and some terrifying) insights into the diet of a vegetarian disaster guru:

1)      Coleslaw burgers are a-ok!

When presented with half of the required fixings for a burger (buns and meat, check; condiments, hmm only mustard; veggies to adorn said burger, nope), I opted for a glob of coleslaw on a bun, adorned with mustard and corn chips. The slaw was creamy and fresh-tasting, the corn chips added a nice crunch and zesty ranch flavour, and the mustard was the je ne sais quoi that brought it all together. The end result had a satisfying sloppy-joe-like messiness that was the envy of many Red Crossers passing by with their dry meat-mustard-bun combo.

2)      Instant Yakisoba with powdered fake cheddar sauce is a thing.

It is not a good thing. It is not a tasty thing. I’m not even sure I would call it a ‘food’ thing. It is a thing I am thankful to have never seen in my home country. But it is definitely a thing. I ate it with more mustard, obviously.

3)      Caffeine and antacids are your friends.

There’s nothing like being exhausted to make you crave delicious and nutritious food. ‘Delicious’ is not on the menu, so I’ve instead decided to never get tired. Tea is my friend. Given these decisions (tea, mustard, overwork), antacids are also my new friend. I prefer the strawberry flavoured ones. They remind me of fresh fruit.

Here’s a selection of snacks set out for disaster responders

Photo of the Day: Another milestone in eradicating polio

Last month the southern African country of Angola celebrated one year without a new case of polio, moving the world one step closer to total eradication of the virus that has an estimated 10 to 20 million survivors worldwide. Spurred on by Angola’s achievement and Bill Gates’ global clout, world leaders vowed last week to end polio for good by 2018 in the three countries where it remains entrenched: Nigeria, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies is part of this response. It funds national Societies’ community-based work during polio immunization days and local volunteers bring the global polio eradication campaign into homes and classrooms in some of the world’s most remote communities. For polio eradication campaigns to be successful, more than 95 per cent of children under the age of 5 must be fully vaccinated, a huge undertaking that wouldn’t be possible without the participation of volunteers and community members in affected regions.

Communities in Afghanistan and Pakistan are doubly impacted by ongoing conflict, which has prevented many kids from receiving their vaccines. The International Committee of the Red Cross plays an important role there, carrying out door-to-door immunization campaigns and facilitating vaccination for all children.

World First Aid Day: Many Canadian parents don’t have the skills to save a life

Parents want to ensure their kids’ safety in every aspect of life, whether at home on a summer afternoon, or during an emergency. Knowing how to save a life with basic first aid is an important skill. It’s one that we hope to never have to use, but 40 per cent of Canadians have used first aid in an emergency at some point in their lives. However, recent research by the Canadian Red Cross shows that Canadians, including parents, are underprepared for a health emergency, with only 18 per cent of us currently certified to provide life-saving help.

Recent IPSOS polling across the country shows that 48 per cent of Canadians with kids at home don’t think they have the skills to provide life-saving basic first aid in an emergency; this is only marginally better than the 52 per cent of Canadians in childless households who believe they wouldn’t have the skills to help. Even more worrying, the research also found that 1 in 3 Canadians with kids at home say they have never taken a first aid course.

The Red Cross research found some areas of particular concern. Canadian parents were even less likely than those without kids to say they would recognize the signs of choking, a serious concern given how frequently and quickly this can happen with children. Eighty-nine per cent of respondents with kids at home said they would recognize the signs of choking, compared to 91 per cent of those without kids. Fewer than 70 per cent of Canadians, with or without kids, say they have the skills to save a life if someone is choking.

First aid is personal. Although many of us are trained through work, nearly 60 per cent of Canadians who have used their first aid skills did so to help a family member. Saturday is World First Aid Day. Be prepared to save a life by registering to update your training at www.redcross.ca/firstaid.