04 May 2012

National bike month

May is national bike month!



This is exciting to me for several reasons. First, my brother and sister-in-law, Adam and Christy, are on outreach for Bikesbelong, an organization that tries to establish safe access to biking for all Americans.



It was a natural move after they spent 2011 biking 12,000 miles through every state!

http://giveabike.blogspot.com/

here is their tour route:

http://www.giveabike.com/



You can get involved by taking a moment to visit the People for Bikes website, which has lots of information about finding safe biking in your community, and it is easy to sign their petition to keep biking resources and routes available for all Americans:

http://www.peopleforbikes.org/



It is also exciting because my family and I are trying to make biking a part of our lives every day. I bike as often as I can to work. (it's tough on the days when I have to wear a suit!) B. and I go mountain biking on the mountain behind Geisinger whenever we can. M. and I will use the tandem bike for some fun cross-training time together on our non-run days. G. and R. love to take a quick bike ride to the 5 and dime store in town for a candy treat! We can even handle simple errands like a stop at the grocery store on the tandem bike because we have a milk crate attached to the back with bungee cords.




It is healthy and fun for us, and by using less gas, it is good for the environment and in a teeny tiny way is helping reduce our dependence on foreign oil. So biking is even good for national security!

Since May is National Bike Month, it is a good opportunity to start to make biking a part of your life if you have been looking for an excuse.

Here are some national events:

You can search for events in your town here:

http://www.bikeleague.org/programs/bikemonth/events.php

Bike Month

And the doctor in me says, HELMET!

01 May 2012

Guard soldier fired before Iraq deployment wins lawsuit

Tonight President Obama broadcast a message from Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan. On the anniversary of the death of Bin Ladin, he pledged to continue the mission to destroy Al Queda. He spoke to deployed troops, recognizing their sacrifice, and urging them to hold on because there is light at the end of the tunnel, outlined in his plan to draw down from Afghanistan.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/afghanistan/story/2012-05-01/obama-afghanistan-visit/54674136/1



One troop who made that sacrifice was National Guard soldier Grace Campbell. She deployed to Iraq for 13 months from 2008 to 2009. Like many other Guardsmen, she informed her employer she was deploying for military service. Her employer, Catholic Community Services, chose to fire her. With the assistance of the Department of Defense and her legal team Sgt. Campbell has won a lawsuit against her former employer.





(Source: Komonews)

http://www.komonews.com/news/Jury-Military-vet-wrongfully-fired-from-Catholic-Community-Services-149761225.html?m=y&smobile=y

ATV training courses for kids

As a pediatric surgeon at Geisinger Medical Center, one of my responsibilities is the care of child trauma victims. Unfortunately, I frequently see children who have been seriously injured in ATV crashes. In one way or another, all of these injuries are preventable. I had the great opportunity to participate in an initiative to prevent ATV injuries in children when our trauma department obtained a grant to subsidize ATV safety training for children.


This spring marks the second year these classes will be provided. It is our hope they will serve as a vaccination against serious injury, and the children who complete the course will become ambassadors to spread the word about fun safe riding.

Here is a news report about the classes:

http://wnep.com/2012/04/25/geisinger-provides-free-kids-atv-safety-course/

Video here: