exhaustion a lot in my office. People will generally come in after the issue and they come in a tell me their story.


Q. I’ve read that food poisoning peaks in the summer months, nationwide. What are the best ways to prevent it?


A. It peaks in the summer months because warm weather is what bacteria needs to grow. They need moisture and heat, and summer provides that for them. People are cooking out more, and in the kitchen we have things to protect us, sinks, running water. Outside you may see someone sit a tray in the grass. Those things increase risk of food poisoning. You want to wash your hands often. Use sanitary gels and wipes if you are in a place where you don’t have water.


During summer months, when prepping inside, have one side of a cutting board for meat, the other for vegetables, so you don’t contaminate. If you are packing food for picnic, secure meat away from ready-to-eat foods. Double Ziploc foods so you don’t contaminate ready-to-eat foods.


If you’re going to be someplace where you are not certain of the water, bring bottled water to drink and to wash your hands. Never


underestimate ice. I have seen people go to countries and let people put ice in their tea and the ice is infected. Don’t reach into a cooler and put an ice cube in your mouth.


Q. What are the most common boating or fishing accidents you see and how can those be prevented?


A. Most common are sprained ankles carrying a cooler. The most dangerous is hitting an underwater object. I had just this year a gentleman and his friend out on their boat and they hit an object underwater, and went flying over the boat. They both floated to the surface unconscious. They were both wearing a flotation device, but if they had not had it on, they would be dead. If you hate wearing the old orange ones, spend more money and get something more comfortable. A flotation device is a must.


Another thing we see is propeller accidents, one fell out of the boat with the prop running. Sometimes it’s a case of someone in the water and you don’t know where they are and you start the boat. Sometimes alcohol is involved and alcohol and boating don’t mix.


Q. Is there any other summer injury or illness you see and how can it be prevented?


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A. Tick-borne diseases. There are a lot of them out there. Everyone has heard of Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. Lyme disease in Arkansas


is


very rare, it is more common in the New England area. I have seen a few cases, but for every case, I’ve seen 100 negative tests.


We have more tularemia, also called rabbit fever. The one common element is they all look a lot like the flu, but it’s the wrong time to have the flu. When I hear someone in summer aching all over, headache, high fever 103, 104, I look for tularemia. Cheap antibiotics will treat most of them.


To prevent tick-borne diseases, you want to use sprays with a high DEET content, at least 25 percent. Put it on any time you will go into the woods or grass that is ankle deep. This is Arkansas and if the grass has not been mowed in a while, you know there are going to be ticks in there.


The other thing I recommend is a chemical called permethrin and it will treat clothing. So if you have a pair of boots you always wear out in the woods or to a dock to fish, you can spray these and it will prevent ticks and chiggers for up to 2 weeks. You can get it at Walmart.


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