Safety
County has new, safer options for prescription drug disposal
September 21, 2017If you’ve been flushing unused medications down the toilet, it’s time to stop. Doing so in the past has led to widespread contamination of water supplies, because wastewater treatment plants were not designed to remove these compounds. Throwing drugs into the trash or leaving them in the medicine chest, though, is also problematic, because it can…
As Irma hits Florida, it’s a good time to ask: Are you prepared for an emergency?
September 10, 2017As Hurricane Irma tears into Florida, it seems like the perfect time to re-visit a subject we’ve written about several times in the past: emergency preparedness. With late summer and early fall comes hurricane season – and we’ve often felt the after-effects of coastal storms all the way up in the Lehigh Valley region. As…
Fourth of July fireworks: This year, celebrate safely
July 1, 2017Fireworks are a part of every Fourth of July, and sadly, so are fireworks injuries. According to the Consumer Products Safety Division, about 11,100 people were treated in U.S. hospital emergency departments in 2016, and at least four people were killed. Of the injuries, about 7,600 — well over half — came during the one-month…