Real Talk: Community Health Care in Action
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Real Talk: Community Health Care in Action
Summer Safety and Health
Real Talk is starting the summer off with health and safety for everyone at home. Quincy chats with Dr. Angie Mitchell, Family Nurse Practitioner, about some facts and tips to keep you and your loved ones safe and happy.
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Welcome back to Real Talk Community Health Care in Action. As we work our way into these summer months, we thought it would be a good idea to talk through ways we can keep ourselves healthy and safe during these hotter months. These will be great tools for you to have for your family throughout the year as well. Joining me today is Dr. Angie Mitchell. Dr. Mitchell is a family nurse practitioner who has been a nurse practitioner for 25 years and practices at AdventHealth Manchester in behavioral health. She is also a faculty member here at Frontier Nursing University. Dr. Mitchell, thank you for joining me today. And before we dive too deep into the summer talk, tell us a little bit about yourself and your background.
SPEAKER_01:Well, I live here in London, Kentucky. I am originally from Ohio, but moved to Kentucky in 2002 and I haven't left since. I have a real passion for primary care and the things that we're gonna talk about today, they may seem a bit like on the common sense side of things, but I don't know about other people, but sometimes I need to remember the basics. And I know that's something I always stress with my patients.
SPEAKER_00:Right. Awesome. So one of the most telling signs, at least for me, that summer is approaching is the rising temperatures. So with that, we often hear of people overheating or becoming dehydrated. So what are some ways that we can prevent these things?
SPEAKER_01:Well, sometimes it's not just even the heat, it's the humidity. And I think simple steps are really important. That is one, if you know you're going to be going out and partaking of summer fun, you got to start with So before you go out, make sure that you have taken in adequate amount of fluid. And I always have to review, you know, what are our appropriate fluids we should be taking in? Because a lot of times we love our caffeinated beverages, our sodas, our teas, our coffee, our energy drinks. And the thing is, is I like to remind people that, you know, 80% of you as a person is water and that it doesn't have to be fancy. It doesn't have to be ionized. Just basic, clean, safe water is what we should be trying to take in in a day. And a lot of times people want to think about, well, I'm not thirsty. And I go, well, something that you can look at typically multiple times a day to know your hydration status is the color of your urine. And I know that maybe I should have given a little disclosure before I just jumped right into urine, but the color of it really tells us our hydration status. And we don't want to wait until our urine's like a really dark yellow, even brown sometimes. We want to keep it a really light yellow. So before you go out and engage in those activities, did you get a glass or two of water in? And that you're keeping up with your hydration throughout the day and not really waiting. Thirst is like a lagging indicator of your hydration status. And the thing is, is it can really catch you off guard. It's not really about sweat. You can lose, you know, fluids in other ways through sweat and perspiration. It's your body's way of keeping you cool. But also when we speak, we're losing moisture through our breathing. So staying cool So staying and packing water with you when you go out. Now, there are lots of things on the market, lots of electrolytes and what I call fancy drinks. Yes, sometimes having those things, especially if you're going to be engaging in a lot of physical activity, you're sweating, water may not be enough and that we need things that have some glucose in it, some salts like sodium and potassium. And so things like Gatorade or even probably better would be Pedialyte and watering down Pedialyte can be a great source of rehydration. So
SPEAKER_00:being proactive rather than simply just reactive is key to kind of avoiding the dehydration.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And then you talked about the urine. And so what about frequency of urination? Is that something that we should kind of try to be mindful of too?
SPEAKER_01:Well, it's certainly, I mean, not making urine or is a really, again, a lagging indicator. And I bet most of us have really kind of sat down and thought about it. You kind of know your usual pattern, right, and frequency. But making sure that you're consistently taking in fluids versus, you know, downing, you know, a liter of water all at one time, it's better to keep up with that. The other thing I remind people about, and I think this can be often forgotten, is that... You don't really have to be engaging in strenuous activities to become dehydrated from the heat and the humidity. Many of my patients don't have access to air conditioning. And so I think a lot about my older patients or even my patients who have lung and heart conditions, maybe not the best controlled diabetes. So when you have chronic illness, just being in a home and we're going to see the temperatures rise here in Kentucky, right? We are no strangers to 90, even over 100, but doesn't even have to be that hot when our humidity is so high. So making sure that we are being mindful and keeping an eye out for our older family and friends and community members is going to be also important to think about.
SPEAKER_00:And with that, just speaking of community resources, I know here in Lexington, Kentucky, and I know we have several cooling centers and where the university is in Versailles, they have cooling centers that are activated once certain temperatures or weather events occur. But that's a great resource across the country that we can look at and find and be mindful of to... guide those folks to encourage them to go there.
SPEAKER_01:And I know there might be somebody out there listening to this thinking, Oh, come on. I grew up, right? I grew up in a house without air conditioning. I went to school without air conditioning. But the thing is, is that there is a much higher burden of chronic illness, side effects of medications that people are taking. And we're looking at the big picture. What you may be able to get away with versus another individual in our community is very different. And so kind of these recommendations, I want to think on the big, large scale, because a lot of people are going to be seeking urgent care or emergency care for hydration issues, overheating, or, you know, what we call heat stroke, heat exhaustion. And that really can have a large burden on our healthcare system and the cost of healthcare. Yeah. when these are easily preventable to think about. And even if we kind of start to get maybe a little more creative in how we're thinking about hydration, there are foods, right? Just thinking about, this is one of my favorite times of year living in Kentucky, the access to our farmer's market, you know, people just, there's such great, what I refer to garden food.
UNKNOWN:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:And so thinking about watermelon, cucumbers, all these great vegetables and fruits that have, you know, high concentration of liquids. And it's a great way to get the vitamins and the minerals and rehydrate in other ways. So it's not just liquids all day long.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. And that is a perfect reminder. I just, I, we cut up a watermelon last night and we had watermelon and we had cucumber for dinner. So yeah, it's always, it's just so refreshing and, and helpful whenever you're feeling kind of from a long day and easy, especially some people are just not water drinkers. I feel like I am, but some people, kind of despise water, I feel like. And so it's an easy solution for that.
SPEAKER_01:And I think of, you know, ways to make water more enjoyable. Put, cut up watermelon in it or squeeze a fresh fruit in it. You don't have to go out and Again, fancy drinks. I try to be practical and if you don't need it, you don't have to. So I think about lemon and oranges and melons and berries, cucumber, herbs. So there's lots of ways to make water more enjoyable.
SPEAKER_00:And what about, what are the warning signs that we've had a little too much fun in the sun and we need to seek medical attention. So I need to get an appointment with you at the office.
SPEAKER_01:Well, I think a lot of times It is, you know, there are these vague symptoms when you're out in the heat, like a headache, feeling nauseous, you know, later symptoms, being dizzy. Now, if somebody is, you know, in your family or you happen to be at the park or wherever, and someone is what I call not acting right, they are not themselves, that is signs that you need emergency room evaluation for for heat related. So the thing is, is were we prepared heading in? Did I keep up with it throughout the day? When I start to not feel good, meaning I'm feeling tired, I'm feeling nauseous, I'm irritable, I have a headache. These are signs of some mild dehydration or heat overheating. You need to heed them. I know many people just go, you know, push through, you know, feel the burn. You got to suffer to have, you know, enjoy things. And that's not true, especially people who are more weekend warriors, that you're not being physically active during the week. So my thing is that keeping up with it to prevent it. But if you start to not feel good, you take some steps to get into cooler space out of the sun, and you're partaking in water, electrolyte drinks, or even eating some food, and it's not quickly resolving your symptoms within 30 minutes, it's probably time to seek evaluation that day. That's not something you really wanna put off and go, gosh, let me see how I feel tomorrow.
SPEAKER_00:Because
SPEAKER_01:being dehydrated stresses your kidneys, it stresses your heart. And the thing is, a lot of us take lots of medications and when we become dehydrated, there can be consequences.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Okay. So then similar to heat, we need to address the sun in our skin. So give me the scoop on the sunscreen. How much and how often?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. So first, skin cancer is a real problem in our commonwealth. And we have higher rates of skin cancer than the national average. And so... But I also recognize, and some of my patients even are going, how good is it to put that stuff on your skin? I hear bad things, right? Can I try some alternative products? And so the thing is, is sunscreens kind of come in two flavors, so to speak. One is it reflects the sun. If you put it on it, The sun cannot be absorbed by your skin. It's a blocker. And I think about this, you know, I am a child of the 80s. I remember zinc oxide and people putting it on their face, on their nose and their... And that blocked the skin. The other form of sunscreens are more of what we call chemical blockers. And there's been some press over the past year or two about, hey, if you travel to some what I call exotic locations where there are coral reefs, they're going to tell you you can't bring or use certain types of sunscreen because they do damage those environments, the coral, the fish. And so people are I too was like, well, if it's bad for them, is it bad for me? But it's all dose dependent. They're getting the dose of thousands of people using sunscreen. I am only one. So the thing is, is that if you have any concerns using the reflectant or the sunscreens that don't allow you to absorb the sun and that would be zinc oxide or titanium oxide and you see them now on the labels of sunscreen where it's like coral reef safe you know these types things will be they're mineral-based sunscreens but you're probably going to want to you know We all again perspire, were you in the water? Were you doing lots of activity where the sunscreen could have been wiped off? or things, but you should reapply after a few hours being out in the sun. Now, other things you can do besides sunscreen, if you're really not into using sunscreen, well, wearing large brim hats, because a common spot for skin cancer that people don't really think about, the tops of your ears, your nose, the tops of your shoulders, because we're getting sun. For those who don't have hair covering the top of their head. The tops of heads are common places for skin cancers to develop. What about me? Light hair? Yes, light hair. Or if you have your hair styled where you have parts and you can see the scalp. These are areas that are prone for sun damage. So besides sunscreen, we can use clothing, hats, avoiding the most intense times of the sun. Typically, during the summer, we'll start to get the UV index rating, how intense is the sun. Those could be times of the day in which you want to avoid being out in direct sunlight. And so those are things that you might want to consider.
SPEAKER_00:So one thing that I feel like my husband and I are like really awful at putting on sunscreen, like we put it on, but the practice of Like the application
SPEAKER_01:cover.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Really, really terrible. I mean, we always have at least one ear burnt or a nose or something or like a patch of our forehead. So one thing that we started doing is I bought a cheap makeup brush, like a dollar. And that's how I've been applying it, especially on our faces and like those hotspot areas just to ensure we get everything covered. And I feel like it's helping us do a better job at hitting all the areas and we're using the lotion and not the spray because again when we're using the spray I have patches on my body that I'm like oh gosh you missed it um so that's just a tip from me yeah no
SPEAKER_01:that's and those are the things I think we should you know you can get creative with these things you know um you know what works for you um it it It's great. That's a great idea.
SPEAKER_00:And what, back to warning signs, what is a warning sign besides like, Oh, I've got a little red that we've gotten too much sun. And that again, what, when are the times that we need to go and seek medical attention?
SPEAKER_01:Well, again, I'm dating myself, you know, I, I, I was a lifeguard in my teenage years. And I remember thinking, well, I just need that one really good sunburn. And then I'm going to be fine for the summer. Let me just get a good burn and over. However, those sunburns are what are really increasing our risk of skin cancer. And I like to remind people the pig... of your skin does not completely protect you from skin cancer. People of color get melanoma too or other types of skin cancer. So when it comes to when should I seek care for my skin, I always remind people skin is like one of your, it's one of your largest body organs. It's covering every aspect of your body and that inspecting our skin is a really good place to start. So if you ever see a spot that is changing size, shape, it's getting taller, bumpy, the color isn't uniform with the spot. Those are all reasons you should go have it checked out by a healthcare provider. Now, when it comes to sunburns, I think we've many of us have probably experienced it that it's painful and that now over the counter there are a lot of you know first aid creams that can help soothe burns and I think I think of aloe there are others however if you're really it's a large surface area is very painful it is still a burn and so we think about hydration you can get blistering and these are things that you want to seek health care for. So it's a really, if it's painful, there's blistering or a large surface area, you might want to go to see your health care provider because there are creams that can really be extremely helpful in managing your symptoms.
SPEAKER_00:When you're talking about aloe, is there a certain kind of aloe we should be looking for or is like the green stuff and the clear bottle with the yellow lid, is that okay? Or do we need to be looking for, I don't know, what are we looking for? Yeah, there
SPEAKER_01:are so many products on the market. I'm like, well, you got the blue, or at least I've seen the blue, that's aloe with lidocaine. So, you know, those things can be helpful with pain. But a lot of them also have a lot of alcohol, they're alcohol-based, which can also dry your skin. If you have sensitive skin, So I'm just, I'm a straightforward 100% aloe and I try to avoid all the fancy stuff that can be put into it as a something I use. I mean, heck, I even have an aloe plant that I have, you know, cut off, squeezed out and applied to my skin.
SPEAKER_00:Right. Okay. So that's helpful. And that kind of goes with our next topic. So food safety. And so you and I were talking last week, Sam, and I was telling you how my, we are grilling Memorial day weekend and my sweet 18 month old was going to help us cook on the grill and he burned himself. And so perhaps that would have been an excellent opportunity for us to have an aloe plant nearby because I did put some lavender on it and wash it in water to, to stop the progressive progression of the burn. But talk to me about food safety in the summer because we're eating outside more, we're having barbecues with families and a lot of people coming over, many hands in the kitchen. So what does food safety look like, especially in the summer?
SPEAKER_01:Well, the thing is, is that I used to think, you know, I only had to worry really about meat or maybe dairy foods as something that could cause illness. And I might steer away if I didn't know who was preparing the food. But the thing is, is that's no longer true. Fresh foods are now they're not they're not quite equal to the risk of uncooked meat or undercooked meat and dairy, but it's slowly approaching it. And we see this with a lot of food recalls, bagged lettuce, pre-cut veggies. Heck, even last week I saw eggs, right? An egg recall. So the thing is, is, is that again, Sometimes I go, do we have to talk about this? But I need the reminder. Just good, basic hand washing. The surface we're preparing our food on has been cleaned. The utensils we're using to cut and chop are important. And we do need a thermometer. Thermometers... There's a part of me that wants to kind of push back from it and go, gosh, no fun. Like, do you really have to check the temperature? And when we're having barbecues or picnics or graduations, weddings, and people are preparing food, we want our community to stay safe. I have not really met people who want to give a large group of their most loved individuals in their life, you know, Salmonella. No. So, so the thing is, is basics that, that we separate our foods, those that need to be hot versus those that need to be cooled and that we are cleaning our hands and we're avoiding cross contamination. So, uh, I think about that we really want to set our food out and then consume it and not let it sit around. I mean, I love to graze. I like to graze. You know, it's like Thanksgiving. But when it's outside in the heat, we really want this... You want to put away food within an hour or two at the max. And that food that needs to be kept cold needs to be sitting on ice to help keep it cold. And that food that was cooked that is hot is served promptly. So we don't want to weed these things out. But just... those basic things of hand washing, avoiding cross-contamination and making sure that we're keeping cold food. We're striving for 40 degrees or lower and hot food greater than 140 degrees. We wanna keep it above 140 when we're serving it.
SPEAKER_00:So one thing that I, saw recently as another hack was, and I think there are things now that you can buy, you know, containers to put your veggies in, have ice packs in the bottom, things like that. But the one thing I saw, if you're not wanting to buy something out, if you have containers of your, of your own at home. So they have like the aluminum trays that you can cook in and putting water in those and then freezing it. Yes. And freezing it with like your bowls that you're going to put your veggies or your dips in. And then it kind of helps it stay a little cooler. So I'm going to try that because I feel like there'd be one helpful and two, I'd rather not buy something extra to keep myself cold.
UNKNOWN:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, no. And clearly you can do this ahead of time and store these kind of blocks of ice that are specific for your containers in the freezer. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:What about, do you know much about like the grill bristles? Have you heard much about those? I always see the warnings against utilizing them. So talk to me about that. So
SPEAKER_01:those are related to if they're made out of metal. And so that sometimes when you are cleaning with those metal things, I think I was like, I'm probably guilty for having one. Do I use it that often? Maybe not. But those little shards of metal can be broken off and remain on the grill. So just imagine you're getting your grill ready. You've cleaned it with one of those grill brushes that have the little metal pieces. Some pieces have maybe broken off and are on there. And then you put your hamburger patty on top of it. And that little piece of meat, the little piece of metal, I should say, can get embedded in the meat. And then when someone eats it, I think we've all probably heard maybe a case report or two about somebody developing throat pain. And it comes from somebody who had been at a barbecue and one of those little pieces of the brush got lodged in the side of their throat. throat and caused pain and swelling in a subsequent infection. So now there are metal scrapers or more of a pumice stone type thing to clean your surface.
SPEAKER_00:And so if you're experiencing symptoms like that, immediate medical attention is probably
SPEAKER_01:necessary.
SPEAKER_00:And
SPEAKER_01:the thing is, is that I, I always, when I have to make a decision, like, do I go get healthcare? Do I not? I think there's nothing worse than sitting at home worried, worried about your child, worried about you, your family member, and no one wants to go to the ER, urgent care, even your primary care and someone be dismissive of your concern. Right. Unfortunately, I've seen too many times when people delayed care because they just didn't appreciate the seriousness of their symptoms. And so my rule of thumb is, If you're ever having any trouble with swallowing because of pain, that is an immediate, you need to seek care. Having pain where you can't swallow well, there's something not right going on. That's always my thing. I go, I don't know what that is, but that's not normal. That's not right. And it needs further evaluation. If you're ever running a fever, I mean, you're not sure what's going on. Not being able to adequately take in fluids or nutrition, clearly reasons. If like, let's say you partake, you know, so if you go to a picnic or a barbecue, soon after do symptoms of let's call food poisoning, if you will, start to emerge? Well, it can be within a few hours, but it can be several days later, up to a week, seven, 10 days. And I would have to say probably the most common foodborne illness is the norovirus, which you might hear on the news from time to time about cruise ships and like everybody comes down with nausea, vomiting, diarrhea. It's not necessarily, it's a virus that's easily spread amongst people with not washing our hands, keeping our cleaning surfaces, those types things. Then, you know, other foodborne illnesses such as salmonella shigella campylobacter these can be ones that also cause nausea diarrhea type symptoms but those might take a few more days to get going to disrupt your digestive tract so If you cannot keep up with replacing fluids from vomiting and diarrhea and you feel weak, lightheaded, you might need to seek care so that you can receive either hydration or medications to allow you to start drinking and replacing your fluids with some nausea medicine.
SPEAKER_00:Okay. Okay. Good to know that. So we are running close to time, but the one thing I do want to talk about before we wrap it up are the bugs and that's my least favorite part of the summer are the mosquitoes and the ticks. So I
SPEAKER_01:know many of us right now are probably thinking about the cicadas but the cicadas aren't really impacting or transmitting disease like ticks and mosquitoes and We have really, I was reading an interesting article a few weeks ago from our state epidemiologist, excuse me, our state entomologist, the people who studied the bugs living in the Commonwealth in the trends. And that I remember when I first learned about Lyme disease, I was like, I live in Kentucky. Lyme's disease is not something that is really common in our tick population. Well, that is changing. We do see Lyme disease. It's not the most common tick-borne illness we'll see, but we have Rocky Mountain spotted fever. You hear if it's becoming more common, this alpha gal, the lone star tick that transmits where if you get bitten by this tick, you can become severely allergic to red meat. Meaning if you eat a hamburger, you could have an anaphylactic reaction and be very life-threatening. So again, like we've been talking about here, um, our time together, prevention is the best thing. So if you're going out, you're going to want to, um, long sleeves, you know, where am I going? Ticks love grasses, wooded areas. And, uh, so wearing clothes to protect us, you know, it's a repellents like DEET. So those things help repel. And the thing is, is that for a tick to transmit disease to you, they gotta be attached for a while. So the thing is, is that once you come back, Doing that tick check. So usually showering once you return, that way the water can wash off any tick that is not yet attached. You're more likely to easily identify a tick if one has attached. And this is where I want to talk about how to remove a tick. So let's find, right now I'm having flashbacks to when I have found a tick. I can remember being a teenager in the shower and freaking out and my poor father had to contend with a 16-year-old having a meltdown about a tick on my arm. Get it off, get it off. You know, my patients have told me I've learned a variety of things over my time, you know, gasoline, lighters, a match. The thing is, is that we don't want to stress the tick when we're removing it. So when we touch it with a hot match, if we get a lighter, nail polish, we're stressing the tick and then the tick wants to inject its saliva and the potential pathogen more into you. The best way to remove a tick is with a pair of tweezers. Now, some ticks are tiny, tiny, tiny. You're just going to do your best that you want to get as close to the attachment point and with firm pressure, pull it out. You don't want to squeeze the body. You don't want to manipulate it. And the thing is, is sometimes you're not going to get it all out and there'll be some parts that are left in. It's okay. Your body is going to take care of that and it will come out.
UNKNOWN:Okay.
SPEAKER_01:Washing the area good with good old soap and water then is the next. Now, sometimes you might come across a tick and you have no idea. I haven't been hiking. I have no idea how I've come across this tick. I have no idea how long it's been on. Well, we're going to remove it, wash it with soap and water, and we're going to be on the edge. look out for symptoms. Symptoms of tick-borne illness are like any other common viral infection. They're going to typically be, I don't feel good. I'm tired. muscle aches, headaches. Now, some of the tick-borne illnesses, you'll get a rash like a bull's eye where you had the tick bite. You might have other types of rashes. But the thing is, is I've experienced tick bites and I kind of mark it on my calendar and I'm on the outlook of do I develop symptoms? And if you do start to develop symptoms, you need to seek care. Do you need to go to the urgent care or ER? Probably not. This is a great use of your primary care provider to say, hey, I'm not feeling so good and I had a tick. Now, some people will bring me ticks in a bag and say, hey, can you have this tick tested? And if it's positive, treat me. That's not a very good approach because the thing is, is Just because a tick has the disease doesn't mean you'll get it because it depends on how long they were attached. And sometimes the tick will test negative, but you still get symptoms and need treatment. So it's best to prevent them, look for them when you come back. If you find them, safely remove it and then monitor for symptoms.
SPEAKER_00:And what's that time frame for like...
SPEAKER_01:Again, it typically is going to be within a few days to a couple weeks. So you should be on the lookout for symptoms for up to at least two weeks.
SPEAKER_00:So whenever you see a patient who... might have a tick-borne illness. Do you send like blood work for testing or do you just kind of assume or how long does that, what does that kind of look like?
SPEAKER_01:So typically if a symptom, if a patient presents with symptoms and again, they're kind of vague. I had a tick-borne illness last year. I could have swore when it started, I was coming down with COVID.
SPEAKER_02:And
SPEAKER_01:I tested negative for COVID and my symptoms kept getting worse. And then all of a sudden I was like, oh, you dummy. You had a tick bite about a week and a half ago. My provider started me on an antibiotic. I had blood drawn, but did not wait for my results to come back before starting treatment. And that is kind of the standard of care. If someone presents, they've been bitten by a tick, they have symptoms, we start with antibiotic treatment and we order tests. And then those test results can dictate if we need to make changes in our treatment strategy.
SPEAKER_00:All right. And then mosquitoes. Yeah. That's my worst enemy. Although the ticks, I mean, seriously walking out of my driveway and I live in the city, um, I will have one fall in my arm and I of course freak out even if it's just falling on, but, um, Mosquitoes are my worst.
SPEAKER_01:Yes. So, and a lot of people have quite an allergic type reaction to mosquito bites. They become swollen and itchy. So again, the same philosophy can apply, you know, prevention. So am I wearing color? I'm in clothing, mosquito repellents. There are lots of different types of products available that you can use for mosquito repellents. You can, there are plenty, you know, so if you're a person that really likes to use your patio, there are plants, citronella, there are candles, things that you can do to help repel them, bug zappers, these kinds of things. But to realize our climate has changed and we now see mosquito-borne illnesses that quite honestly, I only really thought about if I was taking care of someone who had traveled abroad, foreign, very tropical places. Some of us can remember the days of Zika. We certainly have West Nile in the Commonwealth. You might see things called the dengue, chikungunya. I mean, again, these foreign sounding illnesses. So again, we always wanna know if people have traveled, but to realize Mosquitoes in our area are carrying some of these viruses. And so we got to be aware.
SPEAKER_00:All right. So my tiki torches that I light anytime we're outside, they work. They're doing something. Yeah, they're repelling. Yes. Okay, good. I didn't want to be wasting my time, but I'm always like, we have to light up. All right. So that's kind of all we have time for today. But anything else that you want to add before we give some... any parting words?
SPEAKER_01:Well, my thing is, is, is that I'm all about being frugal, that these are the things that we've talked about today are common sense. And the thing is, is that I hope that people are out there enjoying, I mean, this is one of the joys I love One of the things I love about living in Kentucky is our state parks. And we have such wonderful waterways and great things to do in the great outdoors. However, I got a plan a little bit. And that is to be hydrated, to bring water or foods for hydration, that I'm protecting my skin. And that I'm just going to say... We all need to be weather aware when we're out there enjoying activities. Kentucky this year, 2025, has just seen such devastation from natural disasters, tornadoes, flash flooding. And so we need to be weather aware and be prepared and be on the outlook for our community members while we're outside enjoying Mother Nature.
SPEAKER_00:All right, well, thank you so much for joining me today, Dr. Mitchell. And thank you all for joining us and listening to today's episode. Here are a few quick recap tips. So one, stay hydrated, even if you don't feel thirsty. Watch for heat exhaustion. Your body gives you early warning signs. Three, sunscreen isn't optional. It is protection. Four, keep it cool and clean at your next barbecue. ticks and mosquitoes, they are not just annoying. They actually do carry disease. Okay. We'll see you next time. This podcast is brought to you by Frontier Nursing University and the Woodford County Chamber of Commerce. And as part of the What's Up Woodford Network.
