Adjutant General Joins Local Organizations for Disaster Relief Panel

Adjutant General, Bob Livingston, will join the South Carolina Emergency Management Division, American Red Cross and local public officials at the Greater Lexington Chamber of Commerce building for a disaster symposium on June 14th at 7:30am.

When the Boston Marathon Bombing, West Texas explosion and Oklahoma tornado destruction devastated local communities, first responders, public officials and private citizens teamed together to minimize damage and protect residents in harm's way. All of these groups worked diligently under standard protocol, reenacting drills and utilizing communications mediums in order to be effective.

          In Lexington on June 14th, a panel of emergency response experts will prepare residents for such disasters by emphasizing safety tips to utilize before, during and after small or catastrophic events. The speakers will specifically focus on hurricane safety and evacuation, but will reiterate precautions and procedures to follow during every type of local event. Q&A will follow each presentation and will also be allowed at the end of the symposium.

General topics will include:

•   Preparing safety kits for home and business

•   Evacuation routes

•   Shelter information and protocol

•   Surviving emergencies with children and pets

•   National guard and official response procedures

•   Protecting business, home and valuables

•   Staying informed before, during and after an emergency

The event will be hosted by Lexington Young Professionals, SERVPRO and the Greater Lexington Chamber of Commerce.

The symposium is FREE to the public. Breakfast will be provided courtesy of Chick-fil-a.

For more information, visit http://www.lexingtonanchor.com/around-town/events/item/224-disaster-panel

-Denea Duran

Skin Type Factors

It makes no difference whether you're Irish, African-American, Hispanic, Asian, Native American—or whatever! People of all races can burn—no matter who you are or where you live!

Although everyone is at risk from too much UV exposure, some people with certain skin types may have a higher risk factor.This doesn't mean that if you have a darker skin tone you shouldn't practice proper sun safety though, as skin cancer affects everyone. In fact recent statistics have shown that while those individuals with lighter skin tone have a higher incidence of skin cancer, those with a darker skin tone have a significantly lower survival rate once diagnosed. So everyone should take proper precautions, regardless of skin type!

The chart below represents a range of skin types and the frequency of burning or tanning. Remember though that skin cancer can occur in any of these skin types, so even if you have darker skin you should always practice sun safety.

Skin Type	History of Sunburning or Tanning
I	Always burns easily, never tans
II	Burns easily, tans minimally
III	Burns moderately, tans gradually to light brown
IV	Burns minimally, always tans well to moderately brown
V	Rarely burns, tans profusely to dark brown
VI	Never burns, deeply pigmented

Content Credit: http://www.sunsafetyalliance.org

-Denea Duran

WALK FOR BRYNLEE

Our SERVPRO guys walked for Cystic Fibrosis and later that day SERVPRO held a car wash to raise money for Cystic Fibrosis.

If you want to learn more about Cystic Fibrosis please go to http://www.cff.org

and to follow sweet BRYNLEE go "LIKE" her page https://www.facebook.com/BrynleeMarie822

-Denea Duran

Avoid Holiday Fire Disasters Through Safe Candle Use

http://www.servprolexingtonsc.com/fire-smoke-damage-restoration

Candles lend a special light to the holiday season: Halloween jack-o-lanterns, Thanksgiving dinner tables, Advent wreaths, Menorahs, luminarias, and Kwaanza Kinaras. If not for a seasonal purpose, then perhaps the romantic lighting or the smell of sugar cookies has convinced you that candles are an undeniable asset to ambiance. Whatever the reason, candle safety is important, particularly during the holiday season when their use is particularly common. Here are some basic guidelines to help keep you safe. Commit these to memory and avoid the embarrassment of last year's flaming cheese fondu (the result of a single candle... and might I add, not my fault).

Who

Children should be taught to stay away from lit candles. Try to keep them out of reach of young children and pets. Candle lighting is not an appropriate activity for small children, so keep matches and lighters out of the sight and reach of children.

Where

Burn candles away from drafts, other heat sources, and all flammable objects or materials. In other words, never use candles near windows or exits. Don't place them on Christmas trees, real or artificial (I know, it's tradition, but setting the house on fire isn't). Keep burning candles away from curtains, wrapping paper, paper, combustible decorations and displays (including Aunt Juanita's hair), flammable liquids, and aerosol sprays (please see Aunt Juanita's hair), such as hair spray, which can explode. Never allow a candle flame to touch any glass surface.

When

Don't burn candles for more than four hours at a time. Unattended candles are an invitation to disaster, so don't forget to snuff out candles before leaving the room or going to bed (that's right, falling asleep to candle light: bad idea). Blowing out candles doesn't do the trick: extinguish them by wetting the wick.

And some other quick tips:

• Candles other than jar candles must be used in an appropriate non-tipping, non-flammable holder made of tempered glass or made with a proper glaze.
• Place candles on a safe, heat-resistant dry surface. If possible, place glass chimneys or shades over them.
• For Christmas luminarias, use 15-hour votive candles in holders placed in paper bags filled with at least 2 inches of sand. The candle must be of a size that will allow adequate space between the candle and bag so as not to ignite the bag.
• Remove labels and tags from candles before burning.
• Keep wicks trimmed to 1/4 inch at all times. This inhibits smoking and carbon build-up at the tip of the wicks and provides a cleaner burn.
• Sometimes a layer of liquid wax forms that causes the wick to fall to the side. To maintain an even burn, keep the wick centered. This will also protect the candle holder, since a flame that's too close for too long may crack the holder.
• Keep the wax pool free of foreign objects such as wick trimmings and matches. They will interfere with proper burning and are flammable.
• Extinguish taper or pillar candles when they get within 2 inches of their holders. Discontinue use of candle containers when 1/2" of wax remains.

Content Credit: http://www.tdi.texas.gov/pubs/sfmo/fmcandlesafe.pdf
Photo Credit: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO73qrp0k1YIKpeJTAH1DqZNZrhRR4YFK98wxr4WFrvDADpxNQBjSTdqJHt31Z38EZ7gzn6pbMeRmTwHS604zM-wzIbi1XTQjS6GLiMaBDjoj2FxtBMD_a8F4jAdXtNvGveMLUT47M_XWS/s1600/candle_flame.jpg

Things you need to know about the NEW Google PLUS

Recently, at the Google I/O 2013 conference, Google announced many exciting changes for various parts of its platform.

The bulk of the upgrades this year centered on Google+.

1. Change from one- to multi-column layouts by clicking on the More tab. Three-column layout exists but only for the largest of resolution displays. If you want to take a peek at it, just reduce your zoom on the page. The design is fully mobile responsive.

2. Shift+L will rapidly refresh the stream bringing you to the top and the new posts if you don't want to click the button. There's currently no way to return to auto-refreshing of the page.

3. Infographics will display in a nearly useful size at full length in the new layout. Estimated dimensions 503×930 for desktop viewing. An influx of infographic posts is likely. Keep an eye on ensuring readability.

4. Find an assortment of additional information related to each post by clicking on its "Shared Publicly" or "Shared Privately" link right under the authors name to flip the card over.

5. The "send feedback" form is located at the bottom of the menu under "home." Can't find feedback? Just type the "@" sign when not in a comment box to bring it up.

6. "What's Hot" is back in the sidebar under home—and temporarily displaying strange gender biases. (It's being fixed.)

7. A Hangout is now any form of group communication = Video Call or Group Chat or Group Calling, etc. This merges its many messaging and calling products.

8. Google has released a standalone Hangout app that replaces Google Chat and allows for text and video chat across Android, iOS, and Chrome.

9. In the right-hand hangout menu, the drop-down menu offers a number of useful options including a link to sign out of hangouts.

10. In the hangout app, the little green bar under someone's photo indicates they are active and online.

11. To start a new hangout on air, you need to first visit the Hangout on Air page and then look halfway down the page on your right for a "Start A Hangout on Air" button that is not very visible.

12. YouTube expands its live-streaming feature to all channels with more than 1,000 subscribers. Learn more.

13. You can now send money through Gmail/Google.

14. When starting a new conversation, the status box loads up front and center with bright classic Google colors.

15. Circle volume control has moved to being under the settings gear in each circle's page.Select More, Standard, or Fewer

16. Major improvements to many of the photo tools can be altered in your settings page.(Unfortunately, being able to edit an image as you upload it and before posting it has vanished.)

The auto enhance is really handy for on-the-fly image enhancing. The ability to upload high-resolution images is fantastic. Lots to love in these changes. (Including the ability to remove the download image button.)

17. Type these "cheat codes" into the chat of a Google Hangout, and watch what happens. So much fun—you've got to love Google Easter eggs. (Only works with Hangouts on Google+ and the Chrome Extension. Not in video calls or mobile.)

Try:

• /ponies (a pony running across chat)
• /pitchforks (an angry mob running across chat)
• /ponystream (ponies running across your local chat)
• /bikeshed (change the background color for everyone)
• /shydino (a shy little dino shows up)
• KONAMI cheat code (use your arrow keys, changes your local background)

18. Promotions—and dare I venture into saying advertising—will be coming soon to the Google+ newsfeed beginning with the new Offers feature.

19. Google Games is going away June 30 in favor of the new Google Play Games service.

Content Credit: http://www.prdaily.com/socialmedia/Articles/14559.aspx

Social media: The new face of disaster response

On Thursday, tornadoes ripped through Texas causing at least nine deaths. As we enter into hurricane and wildfire season, it’s a good time to take a look at how social media has shaped disaster response. During times of crisis, those affected—nearly 1 million people are affected by disasters each year—are beginning to use social networks as a replacement for 911 call centers. In fact, 20 percent of disaster survivors now contact emergency responders via social media. Of those who do, 35 percent reach out to responders on Facebook, and 25 percent on Twitter. When Superstorm Sandy pummeled the east coast last fall, Instagram was a go-to source for people to keep their social networks updated. At its peak, Instagram users uploaded Sandy-related photos at a rate of 10 every second. For more on social media during disaster recovery, check out the infographic from USF’s Online MPA below, which was compiled by PR Daily reader Frankie Rendón of Creative Signals: 





Content Credit: http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/14490.aspx?goback=%2Enmp_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1

SERVPRO/ American Red Cross Disaster Relief

In a few seconds, a disaster can change someone’s life forever. A tornado can ravage your house, leaving your neighbor’s untouched; the fury of flood waters may burst, a levee which has previously held steadfast; a powerful earthquake can topple a home that has stood for more than a hundred years.

In a matter of seconds, you too have the ability to change someone’s life. By making a donation to American Red Cross Disaster Relief, you empower the Red Cross to provide immediate assistance to those affected by disasters down the street, across the country, and around the world.

The American Red Cross cannot do this without your help. American Red Cross Disaster Relief not only supports the costs associated with a disaster response, but also sustains year-round readiness and maintenance costs. Disaster Relief pays for the vehicle fleet, warehouses, Information Technology systems, and volunteer training that must be maintained 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Please join SERVPRO^® in their support of the Red Cross and consider a gift to American Red Cross Disaster Relief today by clicking on the link below; your support helps ensure we are ready for the challenges of tomorrow.

SERVPRO^® is proudly partnering with the American Red Cross to ensure communities are prepared before disasters strike and to support our neighbors in Oklahoma during this time of disaster.  We invite SERVPRO^® Franchisees, employees, friends, and family to join us in supporting the Red Cross to aid businesses, schools, organizations, and individuals in responding to disasters.    

http://american.redcross.org/servproindustries-pub