Health and Safety

The following article on underage drinking, the risks, and what parents can do to avoid the risks was provided by The Groton Dunstable Alliance for Youth .

The following information regarding flood safety was issued by Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency and published for the benefit of Dunstable residents by our local Emergency Management Team.

"As the Commonwealth prepares for the arrival of the approaching storm, with its strong winds and driving rain, the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency has issued a number of safety tips to assist residents regarding the potential of both inland and coastal flooding over the next few days," stated MEMA Acting Director Ken McBride.

by Tom Matthews

In light of the blistering hot weather we've had this summer, this is a perfect time for us to discuss the importance of protecting yourself from the sun and the heat.

Avoid dehydration.

If you know you are going to be outside during the day, start drinking water as soon as you get up. Then, keep drinking lots of fluids throughout the day. As a crude but useful guideline, remember you should "pee clear – pee often.” Otherwise, you need to drink more.

by Tom Matthews,
Dunstable Volunteer Fire Fighters Association

Summer is here and I know what every man out there is getting ready to do: GRILL!!! Let's break out the ice cold adult beverage, fire up the grill, and cook some big thick steaks. However, before we do that we should do some preventative maintenance and go over some ground rules to ensure a safe grilling season.

With the mild winter and all this rain, we should be in for a big mosquito and tick season, assuming the weather eventually warms up. This article will discuss some easy things you can do to try and eliminate mosquitoes and tick problems and avoid the diseases these insects can carry.  It also talks about symptoms to watch for, in the event that you may have been exposed.

by Tom Matthews,
Dunstable Volunteer Fire Fighters Association

Would you know what to do if there was a fire in your house? What about a natural disaster?  Does the rest of your family know?  Knowing the right things to do is the key to getting everyone out safely and alerting emergency officials in a timely manner.

Editor's Note:  Thanks to John Callahan for pointing us to this bit of timely advice from the MassWildlife website.  A story about bears in Dunstable was published last August in the Dunstable News.