Activity for Health and Fitness
Exercise for Fitness
Tortoise and Hare.
You can practice the tortoise and hare by yourself by running in place and alternating between running fast and running slow. You can vary the activity by running on your toes part of the time.
Team Activity
Long Ball. This game is sometimes called long base. It combines many of the characteristics of the American game, baseball, and the English game, cricket. It is played by two teams of from three to ten players apiece.
You can begin this game by marking out a playing field with a home plate, a pitcher’s box, and a long base. Follow the dimensions given in the diagram. Be sure to mark the foul lines. The long base may be a gymnasium mat or a marked out space. The ball is a 12-inch Softball and the bats are softball bats.
The pitcher pitches underhand in the normal way. The batter runs when he hits the ball, whether or not it is foul. If it is foul, he waits at the long base until a teammate hits a fair ball. No batter can strike out.
More than one runner can remain on the long base at one time. No runner can return to long base once he has started running unless a fly ball is caught. In order to score a run, a player must return to home base and tag it. Any player may wait at long base as long as he likes. Any or all of the players at long base may run to home base when a fair ball is hit.
A side remains at bat until three outs are made. The game lasts for seven innings. Outs can be made by a player by holding the ball and tagging long base before the batter reaches it, by tagging a runner while holding the ball even if he is just "off base," or by catching a fly ball or foul tip. An out is also made when all players are held at long base because no one on the team has hit a fair ball.
The fielders may cover the entire playing area. They can run with the base runners in hopes of receiving a fielded ball and tagging the base runner.
All disputes should be settled by the umpires. One umpire from each team serves while his team is batting. It is a good idea to elect the umpires for the game before the start of the game.
First Aid for Broken Bones
Preventing broken bones. Many accidents that cause broken bones occur in the home, on the playing field, and on the highway. Falls account for many accidental fractures in the home and on the playing field. Walking, automobile, and bicycle accidents account for many fractures on the highway.
You can prevent those kinds of accidents if you observe some safety rules for the home, the highway, and the playing field. When you are walking or riding along a roadway, you should observe the rules of the road. Walkers should walk on the left side of the highway. Bicycle riders should ride on the right side of the road.
Automobile drivers are never sure whether a bicycle rider will swerve out into traffic. For this reason you should be careful to ride close to the edge of the road. You should never swerve out into the roadway without giving the proper hand signal and looking both ways. Observing these highway rules can prevent an accident that could break your arm or leg and possibly cause even more severe injuries.
When you play sports such as hockey, basketball, baseball, and football, you should be careful to wear the proper clothing and use the proper equipment. If you wear the wrong kind of shoes or forget essential protective equipment, you could receive painful cuts or broken bones. It is also important that you play these rough sports in a supervised area. In that way, there will always be an adult nearby if an accident should occur.
The home may be the greatest "bone breaker" of all. Because everyone spends so much time at home, everyone has a great opportunity for severe falls. Older people in particular are likely to receive broken bones from falls in the home. An older person’s bones are brittle and break easily. He has to be particularly careful of the high hazard areas of the home.
The danger of falls may be greatly increased by loose stair treads, small rugs that are not fastened down, objects left on stairs, upturned carpet edges, and highly polished wood or tile floors. You can see that the cellar stairs, the kitchen, and hallways with small rugs would be high hazard areas for falls. If you can eliminate these hazards, you will be helping to prevent accidents that can cause broken bones.
Finding a fracture. More serious than a strain or a sprain is a fractured bone. It is not always easy to see whether an accident victim has a fracture. Sometimes a person may mistake a sprain for a break, and at other times he may not be able to feel any break at all. If he is unconscious, it may be very hard to find a fractured bone even though it might be a serious fracture.
Sometimes a victim will feel a bone break or recognize a fracture because he is unable to move a limb properly. In other cases, you must check for swelling, tenderness, an unnatural shape or position of a body part, or pain on motion. If the results of your investigation indicate that a bone may be broken, you should apply first-aid measures. No harm can be done by treating the victim if there is no break, and great harm may occur if you leave a fracture untreated.
Treatment of a fracture. Whether the break is a simple fracture or a compound fracture, the first-aid treatment is the same: keep the injured part of the body immobile. It is best to accomplish this without moving the victim., He should be made comfortable and warm, and kept cheerful until a doctor can be summoned.
If the victim is in immediate danger, or must be moved to a place where he can be given medical attention, other steps may be necessary. In this event, the broken part should be splinted with some stiffening device such as boards, rolled newspaper, cardboard, or sticks. These should be padded to prevent injury and additional pain. The illustrations on page 47 show some methods of applying splints.
In any case of a broken bone, you should not attempt to set the bone yourself. Only a doctor has the skill necessary to give proper treatment. In the case of a compound fracture, do not attempt to push the exposed bones back into the flesh. Cover the break with a sterile bandage or pad and let the doctor give the proper treatment.
Complications. In any case involving broken bones, there may be complications. You will remember from your study of general first-aid rules that shock is usually present in an accident of this sort. Severe bleeding, internal injuries, and sprains may be other complications. If you remember to keep calm and look for all injuries that require treatment, you will be able to give excellent first aid.
Safety and First Aid
Did you know that you are safer in a jet plane than you are in your own home? Did you know that there are more people seriously injured in home accidents than in industrial and automobile accidents? These facts are not startling when you consider the number of opportunities for falls, poisonings, and burns in the average home.
The fast automobiles, pesticides, electric and gas appliances, and outdoor living that are so much a part of our daily lives create many dangerous situations that did not exist twenty years ago. Because you are living in an age of fast cars, mechanical gadgets, and new chemicals, your knowledge of safety and first aid is very valuable.
The accident rate in homes has been declining in recent years. Experts agree that knowledge of safety and first-aid practices can produce an even greater decline. This knowledge can help you to eliminate the causes for accidents in your home and can help you to provide first aid for anyone who may be an accident victim.
Can You Find Out?
From your doctor, local hospital, or Red Cross unit, find out what facilities your community offers for the treatment of accident victims. Whom would you call in case of poisoning? How would you contact an ambulance unit? Is there an emergency rescue team in your community? Make a list of the names, phone numbers, and locations of the people and organizations available for emergency treatment of accident victims of all kinds.
