The following tips can insure a safe time.

Grilling Tips:

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics mentions these barbecue safety tips:

• Buy two sets of grilling tools. Use one for raw meat and one for cooked meat. Also, use a meat thermometer to test that you cook the meat until done.
• Grill lean meats to avoid flame flares caused by fat drippings.
• Don’t allow your food to become charred. Some studies show there is a link between charred meat and cancer.
• Let your meat marinate for a few hours before cooking to help reduce the chances of charring.

Scuba Diving Tips

The American Academy of Family Physicians wants you to know that diving without training can raise your risk of problems including dizziness, chest pain and shortness of breath.

More serious medical problems can include decompression sickness (the “bends”). They offer these general guidelines for safer scuba diving:

• Don’t push yourself beyond your comfort level and always stay within your dive plan.
• Slowly and gently equalize the pressure in your mask and ears as you descend and ascend.
• Educate yourself on local dangers, such as currents, tides and dangerous marine life.
• Always dive with a buddy and stay calm; turn to your buddy if you need help.
• Always use the proper equipment.
• Make sure your doctor says it’s safe for you to dive.
• Never drink alcohol before a dive.

Source: women’s health dot gov, a program of US Dept of Health and Human Services

Kids love the water, whether it is the bathtub, the backyard pool, a river, lake or ocean. But, keeping children safe around water during the summer especially takes all our concentration.

What follows are prevention tips from the Centers for Disease Control.

Learn life-saving skills.  Everyone should know the basics of swimming (floating, moving through the water) and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

Fence it off. Install a four–sided isolation fence, with self–closing and self–latching gates, around backyard swimming pools. This can help keep children away from the area when they aren’t supposed to be swimming. Pool fences should completely separate the house and play area from the pool.

Make life jackets a “must.” Make sure kids wear life jackets in and around natural bodies of water, such as lakes or the ocean, even if they know how to swim. Life jackets can be used in and around pools for weaker swimmers too.

Be on the lookout. When kids are in or near water (including bathtubs), closely supervise them at all times. Adults watching kids in or near water should avoid distracting activities like playing cards, reading books, talking on the phone, and using alcohol or drugs.

Here are some other resources on water safety.

The Red Cross offers a Water Safety Quiz http://www.redcross.org/prepare/disaster/water-safety/quiz

waduing Pool Safety for Parents: http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/eh/pools/wadplsftprnt.html

For more water safety resources and fun activities, visit:

• Beach Kids! – Environmental Protection Agency
• Bobber the Water Safety Dog