Preventing from tick-borne illnesses
Here locally, the Vigo County Health Department is sharing some tips to stay safe. Health Educator Shelby Jackson said ticks are active from early spring to late fall, and they're not limited to dense wooded areas, they can also be found in grassy areas.
Jackson said people can spray themselves with a tick repellent if they are spending time outdoors. Then once you go back inside, she said it's important to check your skin and clothing for ticks.
'When you're removing a tick, it's important that you use some tweezers and you want to get the whole body of the tick and also the head. So, take the tweezers all the way down to the skin and fully grasp the tick and pull up. You don't want to pull at an angle or anywhere that could potentially break the head of the tick off from the body,' said Jackson.
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Which, no doubt, landed him in the hospital. Still, his concern remained on those far more at risk. 'This stress is nothing compared to what people experiencing homelessness or on the brink of losing their homes are going through,' Jackson pointed out in his Facebook post. 'With shelters full, where do I sleep tonight? Where will my next meal come from? Do I pay my sky-high electric bill or let it go to collections so I can put gas in my car this week?' How, he asked, 'do I break it to the kids' all they can take when we leave our home must fit in a duffel bag? 'The need has outpaced the capacity for years and it is getting worse by the minute,' Jackson wrote, a statement that is reflected in a recent report by the Kane County Continuum of Care that highlighted 'urgent housing needs' in our communities. 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It seems more than ever people believe homeless people 'just need to get a job, pull themselves up by their bootstraps,' Jackson continued. 'And most are not taking into account how incredibly traumatic this all is, or how deep the barriers are these days with few resources out there to help.' And it's not just housing, he insisted. 'People are starting to see it is a problem just to get in for an initial psychiatric appointment. With Medicaid, it takes six months-plus for the initial counsel … that's if you can get in at all,' Jackson said. 'And every day not on meds you get worse and worse.' Jackson describes homeless shelters and other social service agencies as 'the safety net for every crack in society.' But the problem, he continued, 'is we are not equipped to be at this level of service … no one is.' It is 'all that together,' he admitted when we spoke, 'that is becoming overwhelming.' 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