THANKSGIVING DAY FIRES 

• Cooking is the leading cause of home fires on Thanksgiving Day.
• Cooking fires nearly double on Thanksgiving Day, occurring more than twice as often than on another day.
• Cooking fires are the number one cause of home fires and home fire injuries.
• Thanksgiving Day home fires cause more property damage and claim more lives than home fires on other days.
• Eighty percent of Americans don't realize that home fires are the single most common disaster across the nation.
• The number of home fires the American Red Cross has responded to has risen 10% since 2000.
• Every two and a half hours someone is killed in a home fire. In a typical year, 20,000 people are injured in home fires.
• Having a working smoke alarm reduces one's chances of dying in a fire by nearly half.

Preparedness Tips 

• Stay in the kitchen when you are frying, grilling, or broiling food. If you must leave the kitchen for even a short period of time, turn off the stove.
• If you are simmering, baking, boiling, or roasting food, check it regularly, remain in the home while food is cooking, and use a timer to remind you that the stove or oven is on.
• Avoid wearing loose clothing or dangling sleeves while cooking.
• Keep kids away from cooking areas by enforcing a "kid-free zone" of three feet around the stove.
• Keep anything that can catch on fire - pot holders, oven mitts, wooden utensils, paper or plastic bags, food packaging, and towels or curtains away from your stove top and oven or any other appliance in the kitchen that generates heat.
• If you must use a turkey fryer, make sure it is outdoors and in an open area away from all walls, fences or other structures that could catch on fire and away from moisture that can cause serious burns from steam or splattering hot oil. Always follow the manufacturer's instructions.
• Smoke alarms save lives. Install a smoke alarm near your kitchen and use the test button to check it each month. Replace all batteries at least once a year.
• After your Thanksgiving guests leave, ask a family member to perform a home safety check to ensure that all candles and smoking materials are extinguished.

Visit www.redcross.org/homefires for more information on how to be fire safe on Thanksgiving Day.    

Sources: American Red Cross,* U.S. Fire Administration,** and the National Fire Protection Association.***  

 

Thanksgiving Safety Tips for Pets

  

Talkin' Turkey
If you decide to feed your pet a little nibble of turkey, make sure it's boneless and well-cooked. Don't offer her raw or undercooked turkey, which may contain salmonella bacteria.

 

Sage Advice
Sage can make your Thanksgiving stuffing taste delish, but it and many other herbs contain essential oils and resins that can cause gastrointestinal upset and central nervous system depression to pets if eaten in large quantities. Cats are especially sensitive to the effects of certain essential oils.

 

No Bread Dough
Don't spoil your pet's holiday by giving him raw bread dough. According to ASPCA experts, when raw bread dough is ingested, an animal's body heat causes the dough to rise in his stomach. As it expands, the pet may experience vomiting, severe abdominal pain and bloating, which could become a life-threatening emergency, requiring surgery.

 

Don't Let Them Eat Cake
If you're baking up Thanksgiving cakes, be sure your pets keep their noses out of the batter, especially if it includes raw eggs - they could contain salmonella bacteria that may lead to food poisoning.

 

Too Much of a Good Thing
A few small boneless pieces of cooked turkey, a taste of mashed potato or even a lick of pumpkin pie shouldn't pose a problem. However, don't allow your pets to overindulge, as they could wind up with a case of stomach upset, diarrhea or even worse - an inflammatory condition of the pancreas known as pancreatitis. In fact, it's best keep pets on their regular diets during the holidays.

 

A Feast Fit for a Kong
While the humans are chowing down, give your cat and dog their own little feast. Offer them Nylabones or made-for-pet chew bones. Or stuff their usual dinner-perhaps with a few added tidbits of turkey, vegetables (try sweet potato or green beans) and dribbles of gravy-inside a Kong toy. They'll be happily occupied for awhile, working hard to extract their dinner from the toy.

 

Sunnyvale DPS participated in a three-day, countywide drill on October 23, 24, and 25. The drill centered around a Mass Casualty Incident (MCI), in which every fire agency in Santa Clara County participated, along with County EMS and all of the ambulance providers in the county. The drill emphasized putting into practice the Santa Clara County Multiple Patient Management Plan (MPMP) protocol.

 

Several DPS personnel were involved as members of the Command/Overhead Team, and spent several months to plan, develop and organize the drill.

 

The drill took place at an abandoned Century 10 Theater on Capitol near Berryessa, in San Jose. The morning session had the personnel reviewing the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) support trailers which are located throughout the county, setting up treatment areas, a review of both the Incident Command system (ICS) as it relates to MCI incidents, and the MPMP protocol. The afternoon session had the crews respond to a scenario of an out-of-control rave party at the abandoned theater, where personnel had to evaluate, triage, treat, and transport 50-60 patients, many of whom were injured, some critically, and/or intoxicated with alcohol and/or drugs. The "patients" were volunteers, mostly EMT/Nursing students from surrounding community colleges.

 

In addition to the Overhead Team and 50-60 "patients" each day, there were between 16 to 18 fire apparatus and six to nine ambulances each day, for a daily total of about 170 participants.

 

The drill was covered by KGO Radio, as well as ABC 7 News 

On Sunday, Oct. 21, DPS in partnership with Dream Power Horsemanship hosted Ponies, Parents and Pumpkins, a family workshop for Sunnyvale residents with at least one child in sixth through tenth grade. Each family consisted of at least one parent and one child, but could include two parents and as many children as were in the family.  

 

The group was fairly evenly divided between male and female, both in the parents and the youth. Most of the adults were Spanish speakers. The participants were referred by Valley Medical Center/Fair Oaks Medical Center Pediatric Unit, Fremont High School, Columbia Middle School and Sunnyvale PAL Boxing. Participants were picked up at Fremont High School and transported by bus to Dream Power Horsemanship in Gilroy for the three hour workshop.  

 

At the ranch, parents were divided into four groups. The youth, who ranged in age from two to seventeen years old, were divided into five groups. The parents rotated through four stations each hosted by a licensed therapist and a translator. At each station, parents learned about 10 of the 40 Developmental Assets Developmental Assets List. They worked with the therapists to identify where their families were strong and areas where they needed help. At each station, they identified one asset they wanted to either strengthen or add to their family. The therapists provided ways to help build that asset at home. The parents were very engaged in the process and mentioned they would have liked even more time at each station.

 

Meanwhile, the children rotated through five ranch stations consisting of catching and leading mini horses, grooming full-size horses, decorating pumpkins, working with the goats and chickens and face painting. Even though the children's age range was wide, they were all engaged in the activities and enjoyed learning and playing. The older youth helped and encouraged the younger kids while happily participating in all the activities.

 

Af ter the station rotations were complete, the families came back together in the horse arena where they played family teamwork games such as the Family Centipede Race, The Family Knot, The Blind Trust Walk and the Pumpkin Toss. Everyone played, laughed and enjoyed the time together. A renewed connection between parents and children was clearly visible.

 

When it was time to return to Sunnyvale, the families appeared transformed. They all wore contented smiles as they walked back to the bus thanking all the volunteers and staff.  Several parents commented that they had no idea how much they would learn at the workshop and that it was "so much fun." The youth comments included "this is a really neat place" and "the horses are cool!"

 

Read a thank you message from one of the parents here. 

 

Public Safety Officer (PSO) Robin Smith and K-9 Colt took first place overall in the 29th Annual Witmer-Tyson Police Canine Trial. The canine trials, held October 17-18 in LaHonda, Calif., were aimed at demonstrating the skills and partnership of the handlers and their K-9s.

This year, the hard work and dedication really paid off for our Sunnyvale officers, as Smith and Colt won by accumulating points with first place wins in the categories of Obedience and Protection, second place in Obstacles and third place in Search. Last year, the duo won second place overall. Also representing the City of Sunnyvale in the competition were PSO Dan Pistor with K-9 Koa, who took fourth place overall, and the new team of PSO Si Mutz and K-9 Zac, who won third place in Protection for their first year competing.

Nineteen teams competed this year, representing police departments in California from Redding to Aurora Grande. Witmer-Tyson trainer and event organizer, Jim Stark, also noted that the competition had a unique outcome. "The top three teams were all female handlers," said Stark. "That's never happened before."

Sunnyvale's Public Safety Canine Unit has up to four canines and their handlers. All of the canines are German Shepherds and are trained for patrol work. Two of the canines are cross-trained for narcotic detection work and the other two are cross-trained for explosive detection work. The canine officers patrol the streets of Sunnyvale; assist patrol officers during high risk calls and searches; and assist SWAT during their deployments. 

Sunday, December 2, 2012

10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

130 East El Camino Real

(Toys 'R' Us Parking Lot)

 

The Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety is hosting its fifth annual "Rides for Toys" event Sunday, December 2. During this free special charity event, each child who donates a new, unwrapped toy will be given a ride on a Sunnyvale fire engine.

 

Parents will have a chance to discuss fire safety with Sunnyvale Public Safety personnel and receive informational brochures. Sunnyvale firefighters will present the donated toys to Sunnyvale Community Services, a nonprofit organization supporting those in need in our community.