August is National Immunization Awareness Awareness Month and Solantic Baptist Urgent Care is ready with all your family’s immunization needs. With children starting school, college students heading back for the fall term and flu season just around the corner, August is prime time for immunizations nationwide. Each of Solantic Baptist Urgent Care’s Florida locations offers a full battery of immunizations required and recommended for every age group for school, work and travel.

Solantic Baptist Urgent Care offers all CDC-required and recommended immunizations.

Solantic Baptist Urgent Care offers all immunizations listed in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s immunization schedules for children, adolescents and adults. We also offer walk-in service when an unexpected vaccination need arises, such as the need for tetanus boosters and rabies vaccinations. Our highly trained medical staff keeps up to date on all needed or recommended vaccinations for people who work in specified high-risk industries. For instance, veterinarians, animal handlers, pet rescue transporters, park rangers and certain laboratory workers often are required to get regular rabies vaccinations even if they have not been bitten or otherwise exposed to rabies.

If you’re planning a trip abroad, Solantic Baptist Urgent Care also can assure you get all the immunizations required and recommended for travel to various countries and regions of the world. Whether you’re a frequent international business traveler, a spouse-to-be planning to honeymoon in some faraway tropical locale, or a student preparing to depart for a study abroad program any Solantic urgent care clinic can assure that you’re ready for travel.

We also offer seasonal immunizations such as flu shots and seasonal allergy vaccines, and screenings including TB skin tests. Solantic Baptist Urgent Care clinics are open 365 days a year and you never need an appointment. We make it easy for busy parents and professionals to get the treatment and preventative they and their families need. To make sure you and yours remain up to date on required and recommended immunizations, visit the Solantic urgent care location nearest you.

Since news of the tragic explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon and the resulting BP oil spill hit, concerns about health risks associated with oil exposure have taken center stage in the media. Florida urgent care facilities are getting lots of calls from both coastal residents and would-be vacationers worried about whether the Sunshine State’s beaches are safe to swim in, the air is safe to breath and the seafood is safe to eat.

Health advisories have been issued at beaches in three Florida gulf counties as a result of the BP oil spill.

When it comes to needing urgent care, Florida beaches in three counties could pose a risk. The state’s Division of Health has issued impact notices for fifteen beaches in Escambia, Okaloosa and Walton Counties. Tar balls, tar mats and a light, oily sheen have been spotted along these beaches in the water and in the sands. While there have not yet been any reports of major illnesses or injuries caused by contact with tar, oil or dispersant deposits found in Florida, prolonged contact can cause health problems that could carry long-term impacts.

The most common urgent care risk Florida beach-goers face is respiratory problems induced by odors and fumes given off by oil and toxic oil dispersants. Nasal irritation and nausea may occur, particularly in people with seasonal allergies, sensitivity to pollen or pre-existing respiratory conditions such as asthma. If you experience this, leave the area immediately, avoid strenuous activity and get to an air-conditioned space. If symptoms worsen, go to the nearest Florida urgent care clinic immediately. Seafood purchased at restaurants and markets have been sampled and deemed safe. But NOAA (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) just recently expanded the no-fishing zone and various agencies have differing standards of safety. Petroleum contamination (whether by touching, ingesting or inhaling) is known to cause cancer and neurological conditions down the road.

To minimize your potential health risk while visiting beaches in Florida, Solantic Urgent Care and the Florida DOH offer these tips:

- Avoid wading or swimming, skiing or using personal water craft in oil-affected areas;
- If your skin comes in contact with an oil product, quickly wash it with grease-cutting liquid dishwashing detergent and water;
- Avoid contact with oil and oily materials spotted in the water or on the beach. Note that items such as tar balls may be buried beneath the sand, so be careful digging your feet into the sand and closely watch children digging holes and building sand castles (in fact, young children age five and younger should be kept from affected areas altogether);
- Do not collect tar balls or other items for souvenirs;
- Do not pick up oil product to throw in the trash. Instead, notify local officials. Only trained community workers are authorized to remove and dispose of oil product from Florida’s beaches;
- Avoid contact with dead or dying fish or other aquatic life that may be impacted by the oil. If you see an animal in distress, call (866) 557-1401;
- Do not boat through oil slicks or sheens and exercise caution when hoisting boat anchors from waters that may be affected;
- Young children (five and younger), pregnant women, people with compromised immune systems and pets should not visit oil-affected areas.

If you believe you are suffering a medical condition from contact with oil products or fumes, head to your nearest Florida Solantic Walk-In Urgent Care clinic.

Spring is just around the corner, and for America’s 20 million asthma sufferers, that could me a rough couple of months. In fact, Solantic Walk-In Urgent Care and other urgent care providers nationwide see typically see an increase in visits by asthmatic patients during the springtime. Sunny days mean more time spent outside, which means exposure to asthma and allergy triggers such as pollen, grass and air pollution.

Consider these statistics from the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America – Every day in the U.S.:

•    40,000 people miss school or work due to asthma;
•    30,000 people suffer an asthma attack;
•    5,000 people visit the emergency room with an asthma-related condition;
•    1,000 of them are admitted to the hospital;
•    11 people die of asthma-related problems.

In fact, asthma is the fourth leading cause of work absenteeism among adults and the No. 1 cause of chronic illness-related school absences for children ages five to 17 and results in more hospitalizations than any other childhood disease. Each year, 4,000 people die as a direct result of asthma, and the condition is considered a “contributing factor” in nearly 7,000 other deaths. These statistics represent a 50-percent jump in asthma deaths since 1980, including an 80-percent jump in the asthma death rate for children under age 19 since 1980.

If you think you may have asthma, Solantic Walk-In Urgent Care offers age-appropriate screenings and wellness services that can help diagnose and treat your asthma symptoms. And to help you maintain your respiratory health, we offer several healthy tips. To help prevent asthma flare-ups, consider stress-reducing exercises and techniques such as yoga and meditation. Breathing exercises and regular (reasonable) aerobic exercise also can strengthen your lungs and increase your respiratory function. And research suggests that antioxidants (particularly vitamin A and vitamin C) can help protect the lungs of people with asthma against oxidative stress.

Solantic urgent care physicians also recommend being keenly aware of potential asthma and allergen triggers that are more prevalent during the spring season, including pollens and grasses. Got spring cleaning or sprucing up the home planned? That’s a good idea, as microscopic dust mites hiding in house dust, carpets, and pillows can be triggers as well. Just be careful as you polish that dust-laded furniture. And go light on air fresheners, particularly aerosols. Paint fumes can be irritants too, so if you’re planning on repainting rooms, consider hiring a professional painter, or putting that task on your honey-do list while you take a breather elsewhere.

Should you experience any asthma-related complication, head to your nearest Solantic Walk-In Urgent Care (30 locations throughout Florida) asap. We’ll take care of your urgent care needs and help develop a health maintenance plan based upon your medical condition and unique lifestyle.