First Aid

You're meticulous about monitoring the expiration dates on milk cartons. You carefully check sell-by dates before putting meat in your shopping cart. And you take a moment to scan cans, bottles and jars for their "best before" dates. But have you ever checked the expiration dates on the contents of your first-aid kit? Do you even have a first-aid kit? Just face it: It's time for a medicine cabinet makeover. If you're like the rest of us, you are probably missing items that you or your loved ones will need in case of an injury that falls short of requiring a visit to the emergency room.

Los Angeles celebrates its sixth CicLAvia on Sunday, with Venice Boulevard mostly closed to cars from downtown to the beach. Parts of Alvarado, 7th and Main streets will be closed downtown. The idea is to give people on foot and bicycles the chance to experience the city from a different perspective. About 100,000 people have taken part in past CicLAvia events, organizers say. There will be food trucks along the route and spots for children to learn bicycle safety. Rental bikes will be available near City Hall and in Mid-City Los Angeles, and there are water stops, rest rooms and first aid on the route.

Question: On a recent flight from Los Angeles to Shanghai, an older woman passenger collapsed on my lap and then on my feet. The flight crew had to bring an oxygen tank to her. It was terrifying, and I didn't know what to do. If this ever happens again, what should I do? Kevin Orbach Nantong, China Answer: The quick answer is to summon help, stay calm and do what you can, which sounds simple but isn't. What you are required to do, what you can do and what you should do are different questions, so we'll start with the easiest one first.

Robert Reid frequently gets sick when he travels. He has suffered dehydration, heat exhaustion, food poisoning and bronchitis. "I thought I was dying when I had several days of bronchitis in Vietnam," said Reid, the U.S. Lonely Planet editor. "Same for when I had a tropical fungus growing out of my toe. " Getting sick on a trip is no fun. Hotels sometimes take over in an emergency, and many airlines and airports offer medical services on the ground and in the air. But travelers should not depend on these.

Pima County sheriff's deputies responding to the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords had military-grade first-aid materials, which probably helped save the lives of some of the 19 shooting victims, authorities said Friday. The department held a news conference to tout the packages, which it distributed to deputies last June. Officials said they hoped other law enforcement agencies would start programs like theirs, which they say enables them to provide care in the critical minutes before ambulances arrive at shooting scenes.

SLOWLY but surely, we're catching on: Accidents and illnesses happen, even on the most idyllic vacation and even if you're so healthy that you brag you can eat anything anywhere. (More brag than fact: As many as half of all international travelers, or more than 10 million Americans, develop traveler's diarrhea each year, says the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.) As the Boy Scouts say: Be prepared. For travelers, packing a first-aid kit is a start. Whether you're updating your own kit or thinking about giving your favorite world traveler one as a holiday gift, here's what you need to know about what's available ready-made and what you need to assemble a good one. Choosing a ready-made kit by destination makes sense, says Angel Castellanos, a buyer for Distant Lands, a book and travel supply store in Pasadena.

First aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation will be taught at both the Camarillo Health Care District and St. John's Pleasant Valley Hospital. Jacque Prater will teach a first aid class from 6 to 10 p.m. Monday at the health care district. The workshop requires current CPR certification. Participants will receive an American Red Cross card. To register, call 388-1952, ext. 258. St. John's Pleasant Valley Hospital will offer a CPR course designed for older adults from 1 to 4 p.m. Sept. 22.

The first-aid reportedly given to White Sox player Greg Walker during a seizure (before a July 30 game against the Angels) was improper. There is no danger for a person who is having a seizure of swallowing his tongue. There is danger, as was evident in the report of Walker's tooth being chipped, when a hard object is put in the person's mouth. Also, the person should not be held down during a seizure. The area around the person should be cleared and, if possible, he should be turned onto his side to help keep his airway clear.

A 24-year-old Bell Gardens woman who was receiving first aid on the Long Beach Freeway after an accident was killed when an alleged drunk driver struck her and dragged her 75 feet, authorities said Sunday. Three other people--including an emergency medical technician and the driver--were also seriously injured in the accident, which occurred shortly after 4 a.m. Saturday near the Firestone Boulevard exit, said California Highway Patrol Officer Carol Kelly.

One month after learning first aid in a program of the Orange Unified School District, Pam White used it to save the life of her 14-year-old son, Brian. The Whites had gathered at a local restaurant for a big family dinner. "I was eating, and Brian was on my left," recalled White, 37, a duplication clerk for the district. "I heard my husband say, 'Are you all right?' to Brian. I looked up, and he had his hands around his throat because he was choking."

You're meticulous about monitoring the expiration dates on milk cartons. You carefully check sell-by dates before putting meat in your shopping cart. And you take a moment to scan cans, bottles and jars for their "best before" dates. But have you ever checked the expiration dates on the contents of your first-aid kit? Do you even have a first-aid kit? Just face it: It's time for a medicine cabinet makeover. If you're like the rest of us, you are probably missing items that you or your loved ones will need in case of an injury that falls short of requiring a visit to the emergency room.

Question: On a recent flight from Los Angeles to Shanghai, an older woman passenger collapsed on my lap and then on my feet. The flight crew had to bring an oxygen tank to her. It was terrifying, and I didn't know what to do. If this ever happens again, what should I do? Kevin Orbach Nantong, China Answer: The quick answer is to summon help, stay calm and do what you can, which sounds simple but isn't. What you are required to do, what you can do and what you should do are different questions, so we'll start with the easiest one first.

For an emergency, Relief Pod International offers a kit that contains first-aid items and tools you'll need. The top-of-the-line Relief Pod Deluxe Emergency Kit contains 69 items, organized in clear pockets and color-coded categories -- red for first aid, yellow for tools, blue for food and water, and green for sanitary items and toiletries. Each category has its own zippered compartment. The kit folds into a 15¼-by-8¼-by-5-inch-deep zippered bag with a carry handle and shoulder strap.

In tight financial times, many cities save money by outsourcing municipal services such as clerical work to private companies. But there is no service more central to government and the people it serves than public safety, which should remain the responsibility of public agencies. The case of a fired lifeguard in Florida shows why. Beachgoers brought lifeguard Tomas Lopez's attention to a man floundering in shallow water. He raced to the scene; by then, the man had been pulled to the beach but had water in his lungs.

In the run-up to the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, which starts Friday, we've been anticipating not just the music and art but also the independent sense of style that will be on display. Here are some of the standouts who will hit the stages in Indio over the next two weekends. Their looks are bound to turn heads at the increasingly fashion-focused festival. Grace Potter & the Nocturnals For the last few years, Grace Potter, the leggy singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist fronting Waitsfield, Vt.'s Grace Potter & the Nocturnals, has been working a Tina Turner-Marianne Faithfull vibe, favoring sparkly, fringed mini-dresses inspired by the 1960s and '70s.

An essential app to have on the front page of your device. You might need it only once, but that one time could save a life. Name: Pocket First Aid & CPR from the American Heart Assn. Available for: iPhone, iPod touch, iPad; Android. What it does: Catalogs quick, easy-to-understand information so you can respond to and treat a medical emergency before help arrives. Some of the emergencies include choking, seizures and possible spinal cord injuries. Cost: $2.99 Android Market/ $3.99 iTunes.

The American Red Cross will offer several courses on CPR and first aid skills next month. A four-hour course teaching such skills as rescue breathing and controlling bleeding will be held once each in Ventura, Camarillo and Simi Valley. The cost is $30. In addition, an eight-hour course covering cardiac and breathing emergencies as well as first aid skills will be offered once each in Ventura, Camarillo, Thousand Oaks and Ojai. The cost is $40.

When the family pet is feeling down, animal lovers too often turn to their medicine cabinet in search of relief for their canine or feline pal. That violates pet first aid Rule No. 1: What makes you feel better can kill your pet. "People just assume they can use over-the-counter medicines on their pets, like giving a cat Tylenol. You'll kill it more often than not," warned Laguna Niguel veterinarian Clayton Simon. Pet first aid can be tricky.

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The woman's voice was urgent but composed under the circumstances. "There's an officer shot. There's an officer shot. He's still breathing. " A San Diego police dispatcher asked the caller for more information and then broadcast the imperative that brought dozens of law enforcement personnel racing to a street corner in the mid-city neighborhood on Saturday afternoon. "1199, 45th and University," said the dispatcher, using the code for "officer down" and giving the address where Officer Jeremy Henwood, a Marine combat veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, sat slumped in his police vehicle, a gaping shotgun wound in his head.