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HEALTH |
COMMUNITY RESILIENCY BY DR. OLIVER J. WISCO, DO, FAAD, FACMS
In addition to my passion as a skin cancer surgeon, I have had the opportunity to serve in the US Air Force for 20 years, with the last 4 years in the Oregon Air National Guard. The National Guard has a primary focus on homeland defense, with the medical team that I am a part of being focused on mass casualty response. This past year has been fascinating as my team’ s work has taken us from Southeast Asia to several areas around the US to conduct threat assessments and training, with a focus on community resiliency.
Community resiliency is a concept that is not solely relegated to disaster preparedness; the concept should be applied to the overall health of a community. Whether it be a massive earthquake, chronic disease or cancer, the factors that determine the resiliency of a community are very similar. While there are numerous factors that contribute to resiliency, there are three broad categories in which resiliency vulnerabilities are founded: the underlying strength of a community’ s structure and its members, the natural or manufactured threats present, and the community’ s capability to respond. Of course, these three categories overlap
and are vastly oversimplified, but they provide a framework to start exploring how to address where we are vulnerable.
The third category of“ the community’ s capability to respond,” should always be paired with prevention, however, this important link is sometimes the weakest. For example, in the US, we have one of the most developed trauma response systems in the world. However, our focus on prevention is one of the worst. As a result, we have one of the world’ s worst rates of obesity and several other preventable chronic diseases. Communities such as Central Oregon that have a focus on exercise and outdoor living fare somewhat better than the rest of the country, but our“ healthy” perspective is still limited.
One significant limitation that I constantly encounter both in my role as skin cancer surgeon and as a member of a mass casualty response team, is the perspective of“ that won’ t happen to me.” While we are all guilty of this perspective in some aspect of our lives, it must be minimized when dealing with potential disasters that we falsely believe will never occur. For example, in
Oregon, we will all likely be affected by a natural disaster such as a fire or earthquake and having an evacuation plan for your family can significantly minimize the potential devastation to your family. In regards to skin cancer, living in Central Oregon makes us all prone to developing skin cancer and sun protection / minimizing sun exposure will significantly decrease our risk. The data clearly shows that the rate of melanoma in Oregon is highest in Deschutes County, yet some people are still actively working on that“ perfect tan.”
Of course, we should live life to its fullest and not in fear, just be healthy and don’ t ignore the easy prevention wins. No one expects you to stay indoors all the time to avoid the sun, just minimize your exposure when you can( e. g. stop sun bathing by the river, wear a wide brimmed hat when outdoors, remember to wear sunscreen on your face when skiing). At the core of a community’ s resiliency is the individual, and, the stronger and more prepared the individual is, the stronger the community will be. The resiliency of the community is dependent on each person doing their part and over time, an all-encompassing
focus on prevention and healthy living will become the norm, not just something that we have to do. Enjoy the outdoors, but please be safe and keep prevention on the frontline.
About the Writer: Dr. Wisco is a fellowship-trained melanoma specialist and skin cancer surgeon and is an Assistant Professor of Dermatology for Oregon Health & Science University. When not at work, he is likely on the trail running or riding his bike, or out skiing with his family and friends here at home in Bend.
MID-WINTER WORKOUT: NEVER TOO LATE TO IMPROVE STRENGTH AND PREVENT INJURY
BY ALLY GALLOWAY, ACSM CPT, NASM FNS | WWW. BODYROCKTRAININGANDFITNESS. COM
We all love the outdoor adventures that Central Oregon has to offer. Heck, that’ s why we live here. Mountain biking, skiing, trail running-oh my! The list of outdoor activities is pretty endless when it comes to the Central Oregon lifestyle.
While being the weekend warrior is par for the course here, making sure you’ re a step ahead of the game with your strength / cross training is a vital part of your sport performance. Going to the gym, taking a class, watching a video; whatever it means to you, adding a couple days of strength training and functional movements will not only make you better at * insert your sport of choice here * but it will also help you prevent injury.
Often times when we train in a certain sport long enough we end up over using certain muscles specific to that sport and consequently under use other muscles. This can create muscle imbalance and start causing aches, pains, and raises the risk of injury. Regardless if it’ s with weights or your own body weight, functional movement and strength workouts can aid in preventing the aforementioned problems.
A concern with a lot of people is that they think that adding strength training into their routine will take up too much time and take time away from their sport. You really can add these types of workouts into your gym or at home routine and maximize results without them monopolizing your schedule. A couple examples of some workouts to try and add to your routine:
Workout 2:
25 mountain climbers 20 walking lunges( can be done with or without weights) 15 squats( weights or no weights) 10 speed skaters 5 burpees
How many rounds can you do in 20 minutes? Once again form is your first focus so don’ t sacrifice your form just to go faster!
(* tip for squats and lunges: always keep your weight in your heels and don’ t let those toes go over your knees.)
Workout 1:
6 push ups 10 squats( can do with or without weight) 12 tricep dips( if at home you can use a chair, coffee table, or edge of couch!) 20 crunches 24 glute bridges
Try and do 5 rounds as fast as you can. Make sure your form is your first priority. Going fast but sacrificing your form doesn’ t count!