June 2019

DIRECTOR'S CORNER

Four Pillars

Happy June OCHD! It is hard to believe that we are halfway through 2019. As many of you begin to take vacation and start various summer adventures, be safe and enjoy your time away from the office!

I recently attended my goddaughter’s induction ceremony for National Honor Society. During the ceremony, they shared the four pillars of the National Honor Society and explained how each new inductee excelled in these four areas, granting them membership. The four pillars are:

• Scholarship – a person’s ability to find meaning in the world around them; being curious and having the ability to strive to see how the world outside of school connects to the work they do in the classroom.
• Leadership – demonstrating that they are able to lead themselves; doing the hard work to succeed and showing strength and persistence to do what is required.
• Service – volunteering and doing for others without compensation with a positive, courteous and enthusiastic spirit; understanding that service is a learning opportunity that truly benefits all.
• Character – one of the most important pillars; upholding principles of morality and ethics; demonstrating high standards of honesty and reliability; showing courtesy, concern and respect for others.

As I sat and listened to the description of each pillar, I began making the connection to what we do and who we are as public health professionals. These four pillars represent a strong foundation to a purpose driven life. I am very happy to know that this is an expectation of high school students as they prepare for higher education and jobs. As a lifelong learner, I think we could benefit from getting back to the basics and doing an assessment of what pillars support our foundation. Don’t worry; I do not have the expectation that everyone shows up for work without compensationJ, but the part about providing service with a positive, courteous and enthusiastic spirit does resonate with me. I also have strong feelings about character. Our character is not measured at one moment in time, but along the continuum of our life. I understand that the right choice is rarely the easy choice to make. Character is being able to accept responsibility when we fail and in doing so; pave the way for future successes. I am more concerned about my character than my reputation. My character is who I am, my reputation is merely who others think I am.
 
Happy Father’s Day to the dads! 

Quintana Stewart
Health Director 

Please remember to nominate exceptional employees for KUDOS! Just fill out and submit the KUDOS Nomination form HERE.

A KUDO is praise or a compliment given for something well done. Kudos can be given to thank or congratulate a person, team, or group for their efforts. This appreciation and/or acknowledgment can be presented for service, performance, effort, courtesy, efficient or effective work.

Eligibility: Kudos can be given to any Health Department employee (full time, part time, temporary or student intern). There is no length of employment required.


The nominated Health Department employee must exhibit one or more of the Core Values:

Customer Centered
Efficient
High Quality
Innovative

Customer Centered and High Quality

Congratulations to Juliet Sheridan, Kim Quatrone, Carla Julian and Steven Campbell! A special thanks to the OCHD IT team of master problem solvers and communicators! Thanks to Carla for her help with the S drive, Steven for his kindness with random requests, and to Juliet Sheridan and Kim Quatrone for their continued leadership post-ransomware. Your emails and willingness to step out of your normal duties to help us fellow colleagues is much appreciated! Thanks also to Rebecca for leading this team!

From the Desk of the Racial Equity Commission (REC)

Definitions:

• Ally | A person who is not LGBTQ but shows support for LGBTQ people and promotes equality in a variety of ways.
• Bisexual | A person emotionally, romantically or sexually attracted to more than one sex, gender or gender identity though not necessarily simultaneously, in the same way or to the same degree.
• Cisgender | A term used to describe a person whose gender identity aligns with those typically associated with the sex assigned to them at birth.
• Gay | A person who is emotionally, romantically or sexually attracted to members of the same gender.
• Homophobia | The fear and hatred of or discomfort with people who are attracted to members of the same sex.
• Lesbian | A woman who is emotionally, romantically or sexually attracted to other women.
• Queer | A term people often use to express fluid identities and orientations. Often used interchangeably with "LGBTQ."
• Sexual orientation | An inherent or immutable enduring emotional, romantic or sexual attraction to other people.
• Transgender | An umbrella term for people whose gender identity and/or expression is different from cultural expectations based on the sex they were assigned at birth. Being transgender does not imply any specific sexual orientation. Therefore, transgender people may identify as straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual, etc.
• Transphobia | The fear and hatred of, or discomfort with, transgender people.

For additional definitions visit - https://hrc.org/resources/glossary-of-terms

LGBTQ Resources:

Duke Child and Adolescent Gender Care: https://www.dukehealth.org/locations/duke-child-and-adolescent-gender-care
Specialists uses an integrative, holistic approach to provide quality, comprehensive and compassionate family-centered care to transgender youth, gender-expansive youth, and children with differences of sex development.
Listen to a story about the clinic: “Transgender Teens Travel To N.C. Gender Clinic, The
Only One In The South”
https://www.npr.org/2016/08/23/491024797/transgender-teens-travel-to-n-c-gender-clinic-the-only-one-in-the-south

LGBTQ Center of Durham: https://www.lgbtqcenterofdurham.org/
We are the LGBTQ Center of Durham; a safe and inclusive community committed to supporting and celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer identified people in and around Durham: through programming, resources, and networks of support, by acting as a hub for Durham’s LGBTQ community, and by sharing and affirming LGBTQ lived experiences.

Indy Week Pride Guide: A selection of LGBTQ news and event:  https://indyweek.com/guides/pride
 
LGBTQ Events:
Carrboro Celebrates Pride Month! During the month of June, the Town of Carrboro is sponsoring a variety of events to celebrate Pride Month. This year's activities have particular significance as this is the 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall Riots that sparked the beginning of the gay rights movement. A full list of events can be found here: https://www.evensi.us/carrboro-pride-month-2019-town-nc/309827669

June 5: Durham Bulls Pride Night, 7pm. The Durham Bulls will hold the team's first Pride Night on Wednesday, June 5 at 7:05 p.m. presented by IBM. The event will be held in partnership with Equality NC, the LGBTQ Center of Durham and the Durham Police Department, with each organization receiving in-game recognition. More details here: https://www.milb.com/durham/fans/pride-night
 
June 7: Intersections: A Community Conversation on Youth Homelessness, UNC School of Social Work. More details here: https://www.facebook.com/events/305291680388892/
 
June 15: Orgullo Latinx Pride, 5-11pm, Carrboro Commons. El Centro Hispano is hosting this event as a space to celebrate and share the diverse culture, identities, and experiences of the local Latinx LGBTQ community. We aim to create an event that fosters unity, inclusiveness, and empowerment by showcasing our community’s talents while providing social, healthcare, advocacy resources, and family fun. https://www.elcentronc.org/content/orgullo-latinx

June 22: Quiet No More: A Choral Celebration of Stonewall, Carolina Theater. http://www.carolinatheatre.org/events/quiet-no-more-choral-celebration-stonewall

Upcoming Trainings

REC encourages all staff to attend REI trainings (REI Phase l & ll, Latinx Challenge Workshops, Groundwaters, etc.) more than once in order to begin to form a common language and analysis lens among us all. Once trained, we encourage staff participation in the joint and affinity caucusing groups.  For more training opportunities please visit https://www.oaralliance.org/ and https://www.racialequityinstitute.org/.
YOUTH Racial Equity Institute Phase l

• Raleigh, NC – Friday & Saturday, July 19^th & 20^th – To register click here.
• Durham, NC – Tuesday & Wednesday, July 30^th & 31 – To register click here.

• Raleigh, NC – Friday & Saturday, June 7^th & 8^th – To register click here.
• Durham, NC – Thursday & Friday, June 20^th & 21^st – To register click here. ALUMNI ONLY
• Durham, NC – Monday & Tuesday, July 22^nd & 23^rd – To register click here. ALUMNI ONLY
• Burlington, NC – Friday & Saturday, August 9^th & 10^th – To register click here.
• Durham, NC – Thursday & Friday, August 8^th & 9^th – To register click here.
• Greensboro, NC – Monday & Tuesday, August 12^th & 13^th – To register click here.

• Durham, NC – Thursday & Friday, June 13^th & 14^th – To register click here.
• Raleigh, NC – Thursday & Friday, August 22^nd & 23^rd – To register click here.

• Race, Gender, & Jim Crow Lecture Series – Thursday, June 20^th @ 6:30 pm – FREE – Click here to register.
• Ally Conversations - Going Beyond Resistance to Create Effectiveness – Friday, June 14^th – Click here to register.
• The White Ally Toolkit - Encouraging and Equipping Anti-racism Allies – Saturday, June 15^th – Click here to register.
• Foundations in Racial Equity – Sunday, June 9^th @ 1 pm – Click here to register.
• Foundations in Internalized Racism – Tuesday, August 13 @ 12 pm – Click here to register.

• Health Care Can't Wait: Candlelight Vigil for Those Who Can't – Wednesday, June 5^th @ 7 pm @ the NC State Legislative Building
• Real Talk About Race With Genda Dockery – Wednesday, June 19^th @ 7:30 pm @ LGBT Center of Raleigh

Citations

 Alemán, R. (2018, April 25). What is intersectionality, and what does it have to do with me? Retrieved May 29, 2019, from https://www.ywboston.org/2017/03/what-is-intersectionality-and-what-does-it-have-to-do-with-me/
 Pride Month Resource Kit for Journalists. (2017, January 12). Retrieved May 29, 2029, from https://www.glaad.org/publications/pridekit

Mobile Device Security and Disposal

With the advancement of mobile devices such as smart watches, phones and tablets, consumers are replacing these devices more often. Most consumers don’t realize how much personal data can be found on these devices and just donate, trade in or otherwise dispose of them without first removing this data. These are the types of things that are found on most mobile devices:

Wiping Your Device

Regardless of how you dispose of your mobile device you need to be sure you first erase all that sensitive information. Simply deleting data is not enough, instead you should securely erase all the data on your device. The easiest way to do this is to reset your device. The reset function varies among devices; listed below are the steps for the two most common devices (see Figure A). An even more secure step is to make sure you have encryption enabled on your device before resetting it. On most recent mobile devices, the easiest way to do this is to simply enable a screen lock (which hopefully you have enabled already – and is required by County Policy for County phones or personal phones used for County business). Finally, it’s highly recommended that you backup your device before resetting it.

SIM & External Cards

In addition to your device, you also need to consider what to do with your SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card. A SIM card is what a mobile device uses to make a cellular or data connection. When you wipe your device, the SIM card retains information about your account and is tied to you. If you are keeping your phone number and moving to a new device, ask your service provider if you can transfer your SIM card to the new device. If this is not possible, it is suggested that you keep your old SIM card and physically destroy it to prevent someone else from reusing it to impersonate you and gain access to your information and accounts. Don’t forget to also remove the SD (Secure Digital) cards that are in some Android mobile devices (used for additional storage). You can probably reuse the SD card in other devices, if not, destroy it as well.

Take Simple Steps to Practice Water Safety and Protect Against Drowning, Health Officials Say 

RALEIGH — Heading to a beach, lake, river or pool this holiday weekend? Officials at the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services caution swimmers to take steps to ensure water safety, including keeping a close watch on children and young adults and avoiding rip currents at the coast.

Drowning deaths among young children often happen when children access pools without supervision or when adults are distracted. These were the findings of 12 swimming pool drowning deaths of children ages 1 to 7 investigated by the North Carolina Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in 2018.

“These deaths are tragic and preventable,” said Susan Kansagra, M.D., Chief of the Chronic Disease and Injury Section of the Division of Public Health. “Now is the time to take simple steps to prevent drownings wherever you and your family or friends gather for water recreation activities.”

For pool security, close and lock or latch gates or doors every time they are used. Never prop a gate or door open. Remove or lock ladders when above ground pools are not in use. For pool safety, monitor all children around pools. Designate one responsible adult for every five children in the water. Unlike the flailing depicted on television or in movies, a drowning child is more likely to slip silently underwater, which can be barely noticeable until it is too late. More details available at www.safekids.org/other-resource/water-watcher-card.

Along the North Carolina coast, there have already been more than six drownings this spring related to rip currents. Coastal communities post signs to alert beach goers about conditions.

“Swimmers should always observe warnings about rip currents and other potential hazards,” Dr. Kansagra said. “When swimming in ocean waters, never swim alone and choose areas of the beach where lifeguards are on duty.”

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) offers tips for surviving rip currents here. If you get caught in a rip current, remain calm to conserve energy, do not fight against the current, but try to swim out of the current in a direction parallel to the shoreline. When out of the current, swim toward shore.

The U.S. Forest Service has more tips for those planning to visit waterfalls, rivers, lakes and streams at https://www.fs.fed.us/visit/know-before-you-go/water-safety.

Triangle on the Cheap!

Join the NC Public Health Youth Network to become a Youth Public Health Advisor

Attention youth: North Carolina Public Health (NCPH) works to promote and contribute to the highest possible level of health for the people of North Carolina statewide. 

As they work to create programs, campaigns, or educate others about teen health, they need your opinion on what makes sense, what you like, and what is important to you. Your experiences and opinion as a Youth Public Health Advisor will help shape the way they approach and improve teen health statewide.

Find out more about becoming a Youth Public Health Advisor here.