FERP Safety

Hazards

Awareness of hazards in the environment will help keep you safe out there, but importantly (and somewhat paradoxically) will help you reduce your fears while out in the wild---the Big Unknown gets replaced by the known, and that can ease the mind and allow you to focus.

Consider the following hazards:

Ticks
Poison oak
Treefall
Walking among deadfall
Hypothermia
Dehydration
Mountain lions

Cell phone reception

This is regards to calling for help if there’s an emergency. Reception is somewhat hard to predict, but obviously try from wherever you are, and if that doesn’t work head to the nearest fire road and try from there. On the FERP, the northern third of the plot is sometimes good, Empire Grade sometimes works, and the intersection of Seven Springs Trail and Chinquapin fire road is usually good.

Ticks and Tick-Borne Diseases

Ixodes pacificus (western black-legged tick) is the vector for Lyme Disease (rare in Santa Cruz County). Make it a habit to check your entire body for ticks after you’ve spent a day in the field. Take a shower and inspect everywhere. If you find a tick that’s embedded in you, get a pair of tweezers and grasp the tick as close to the head as possible and pull directly backwards (do not twist), to minimize the chance of the head breaking off inside you. Lyme’s Disease isn’t very common in our area, but it is possible to get it. In general, the tick needs to be in you for at least 24-48 hours before it transmits the bacteria that causes the disease, if it indeed is harboring the bacteria. If you find one in you and you’re not sure how long it’s been in there, or if you just want to be cautious, you can get the tick out and put it in a zip-lock bag with a moist piece of toilet paper and mail it in for testing. Call 831.454.2590 for more information.

from the CDC: http://www.santacruzhealth.org/HSAHome/HealthAlerts.aspx

Spring is a time of high tick activity in our coastal hills and residents should be aware when spending time outdoors. Santa Cruz County Mosquito and Vector Control (SCCMVC) staff and the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) collaborate to collect and test ticks in the County. At least 2% of Western black-legged ticks (Ixodes pacificus) tested in recent years contain the bacteria that can cause Lyme disease. In 2013, there were 5 reported cases of Lyme disease in Santa Cruz County, about the annual average (1.66 cases per 100,000 people).

The western black legged tick (Ixodes pacificus) and other human biting ticks found in Santa Cruz County such as the Pacific Coast tick (Dermacentor occidentalis) may carry other tick-borne diseases. Thus, SCCMVC plans to conduct surveys for these tick species and will submit them to the CDPH for testing. Because of tick-borne disease risk, residents are advised to take precautions to protect themselves from tick bites.

The tick starts out as an egg then matures into a larva, nymph and adult stage over several years. The nymph life stage is active in spring and summer, and is found on tree trunks, fallen logs, wooden benches and in leaf litter and feed on smaller animals, but they will also attach to people and pets. Adult ticks are active in fall when they climb to the tips of vegetation, often alongside trails or paths, and attach themselves to hosts, such as deer, pets or humans that brush against them.

Ticks feed by sticking their mouthparts into the skin of their host and sucking blood. Infections such as Lyme disease may be transmitted when the feeding tick is attached for at least a day. Immature ticks are about the size of a pinhead, and may be missed without careful examination.

The risk of being bitten by ticks may be reduced with the following precautions:

Wear long pants and long-sleeved shirts. Tuck pant legs into boots or socks and tuck shirts into pants.
Wear light-colored clothing so ticks can be easily seen.
Use a repellent registered for use against ticks; always follow label directions.
Stay in the middle of a trail and avoid logs, tree trunks, trail margins, brush and grassy areas.
Inspect yourself frequently while in tick habitat. Once out of tick habitat, thoroughly check your entire body and pets. Parents should examine their children, especially on the scalp and hairline.
Shower and launder clothes soon after activity in tick habitat.

To reduce the possibility of infection, remove attached ticks as soon as possible. Gently and firmly grasp the tick close to the head and pull it straight out, preferably with a tick tool or with fine-pointed tweezers. Save the tick for identification. Ticks should be kept alive by placing the tick into a sealable bag or container with a moist cotton ball in a refrigerator or cooler. The person removing the tick should wash their hands before and after removal and apply antiseptic to the bite area. Insecticides, Vaseline, lighted matches or gasoline should not be used to remove ticks because these techniques are ineffective or unsafe. Anyone who develops symptoms after being bitten by a tick should consult his or her physician.

Painful redness that occurs less than 24 hours after a tick bite and does not expand is likely a local allergic reaction to the tick bite. Early Lyme disease also has a rash but the Lyme disease rash appears three to 30 days after the tick bite, is often painless, and spreads to greater than 5 cm in diameter. The spreading rash can be accompanied by flu like symptoms, such as fever and body aches. Lyme disease is treated with antibiotics and most patients recover without complications, particularly when the disease is diagnosed early. If left untreated, Lyme disease can progress to arthritis and in some cases serious nervous system problems.

Individuals should consult their physician immediately if symptoms similar to those described for Lyme disease develop within one to several weeks after being bitten by a tick.

Click here to view the media release

Prevent Tick Bite - Pamphlet provided by CDPH

Additional information on Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases

PreventTickBitesPreventDisease.pdf

From left to right on the finger: larval, nymphal, and adult female black-legged ticks (Ixodes pacificus). The most dangerous stage for human health is the tick in the middle, the nymphal tick. It can carry the pathogen that causes Lyme disease, and is so small that it may feed on you undetected, transferring the pathogen to you. Adult ticks also bite humans but are big, more conspicuous, and easier to find and remove. Larval ticks do not carry the pathogen that causes Lyme disease.

Poison oak

Toxicodendron diversilobum will mostly be leaf-less in the winter, but the stems still have the toxic oil that can give you a rash. Make sure to wear your gloves and coveralls and avoid it when possible.

Poison Oak - CDC Brochure.pdf

Falling trees

There are many dead madrones on the FERP and elsewhere on campus---an interesting stage in the fascinating story of succession here on the old Cowell Ranch lands. These are big and ridiculously heavy trees that you’d rather not be squashed by, so make it a habit of looking around your work area to identify where these trees are and to identify a route or routes that you’d take if you hear a loud CRACK and need to high-tail it out of there. A tree falling in the woods is obviously something that’s unpredictable and out of our control, but we try to be aware of the risk and we definitely don’t work in the forest during high winds.

Walking among dead fall

Portions of the FERP, as well as other campus locales, feature a great number of downed trees (see above). In your travels from point A to point B, it’s tempting to walk along these logs as a way to navigate the labyrinth and to stay up and away from poison oak. Be advised, however, that this is one of the most dangerous things you can do out there. These logs, especially madrones and others that have lost their bark, become extremely slippery when wet, and it’s simple to slip off and impale yourself on any variety of pokey branch. If you must cross up and over logs, do so very slowly and carefully, using all four limbs to balance and stabilize yourself. Try your best to avoid this by going around deadfall areas.

Hypothermia

This is all about being prepared with proper layers and raingear, and paying attention to yourself and your crew mates. Why has Johnny been sitting over there on that log by himself not talking to anybody for the past 10 minutes? You can get hypothermic when the temperature is in the upper 50s if you’re wet enough. If you’re wearing cotton clothing, a negative insulator, against your skin and it gets wet, you’re on the road to hypothermia. Synthetic fibers and wool are better choices, as they stay warm(ish) when dry. Crew leaders will be paying attention to the crew if you’re out working in the rain and will make the call on when to head back inside to get warm and dry, but definitely speak up and let them and your crew know if you’re getting really cold. Signs and symptoms plagiarized from the Mayo Clinic website include shivering, although as hypothermia worsens, shivering stops; clumsiness or lack of coordination; slurred speech or mumbling; confusion and poor decision-making, such as trying to remove warm clothes.

Dehydration

Yep, you can become dehydrated even if it’s cold outside. Signs and symptoms include disorientation, irritability, and confusion, infrequent urination and headache. So drink water, my friends! Bring at least a liter if not 2 liters to every shift.

Mountain lions

In the words of Dr. Chris Wilmers, ENVS Associate Professor at UCSC and Director of the Santa Cruz Puma Project, you’re more likely to kill yourself with your toothbrush then you are to be killed by a mountain lion. Attacks are extremely rare and have never occurred on the UCSC campus (knock on wood!). This really isn’t an issue, but it’s good to be aware of what to do if you happen to encounter a mountain lion: don’t run; make yourself look big (lift your arms, spread your jacket); talk loudly and firmly to it; don’t turn your back on it or bend down; throw stuff at it without bending down; fight back if it happens to attack. And also call Alex Jones and make him really jealous, since he hasn’t even seen one. Ever. Damnit.

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