PUBLIC HEALTH
- Visit your city, county, or state public health agency. Prepare an
outline of the agency's various services and
- Explain them briefly to your counselor.
- Explain how these services affect you.
- Identify the four leading causes of death (mortality) in your
community for any of the past five years. Compare these with the four
leading causes of hospital admissions (morbidity) in your community.
Find out how the public health agency you visited is involved in trying
to reduce both the mortality and morbidity of these leading causes of
illness and disability.
- Tell about three professions of the people providing these services
at the agency.
- Explain how the following diseases are contracted: tetanus, influenza,
syphilis, hepatitis, emphysema, AIDS, encephalitis, meningitis,
salmonellosis, Lime disease, herpes, and lead poisoning.
- Do the following:
- Explain the meaning of immunization.
- Name five diseases against which a young child should be immunized.
- Name two diseases against which you should be reimmunized
periodically.
- Visit a restaurant or other commercial food service facility and
observe food preparation, handling, and storage. Interview a food service
inspector and explain.
- How foods can become contaminated
- What conditions allow microorganisms to increase in number in food
- How microorganisms in food can be killed
- How dishes and utensils should be washed in camp and at home
- Do the following:
- Show two ways of making water safe to drink under camping
conditions.
- Visit a water treatment facility and describe the steps used in
making public drinking water safe; OR visit the drinking-water
quality-control agency in your community. Describe how water quality is
monitored.
- Do the following:
- Explain how insects and rodents can be controlled in your home,
community, and camp.
- Visit a municipal wastewater treatment facility and a solid-waste
management operation in your community. Describe how sewage and solid
waste disposal is done safely in urban and rural environments, and under
wilderness camping conditions.
- Do the following:
- Describe the health dangers from air, water, and noise pollution.
- Describe health dangers from tobacco use and alcohol and drug
abuse.
BSA Advancement ID#: 89
Source: Boy Scout Requirements, #33215E, revised 2002
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