Stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines. Get tested if you have symptoms. Wear a mask if you have symptoms, a positive test, or exposure to someone with COVID-19. Wear a mask on public transportation. You may choose to wear a mask at any time as an additional precaution to protect yourself and others. If you are at high risk for severe illness, consider wearing a mask indoors in public and taking additional precautions.

As soon as you quit, your body starts to repair.

After only six hours, your heart rate slows and your blood pressure becomes more stable.

In just one day, the level of carbon monoxide in your blood drops and oxygen can more easily reach your heart and muscles.Your fingertips become warmer and your hands steadier.

In a week, your sense of taste and smell may improve and you have higher blood levels of protective antioxidants such as vitamin C.

Within three months, your lungs’ natural cleaning system starts recovering, becoming better at removing mucus, tar and dust , your immune system is beginning its recovery so your body is better at fighting off infection, and your blood is less thick and sticky and blood flow to your hands and feet has improved.

By six months you can expect to be coughing up less phlegm and you're likely to feel less stressed than when you were smoking.

After a year, your lungs become healthier and you’ll be breathing easier!

Two to five years after you quit, your risk of heart attack and stroke will drop and only continue to decrease. For women, within five years, the risk of cervical cancer is the same as someone who has never smoked.

After 10 to 15 years, your risk of lung cancer is half of a continuing smoker of a similar age (provided the disease was not already present when you quit).

By 20 years, your risk of heart attack and stroke is close to that of a person who has never smoked!

Quit smoking today!

• Secondhand smoke is especially harmful to young children.
• Secondhand smoke is responsible for between 150,000 and 300,000 lower respiratory tract infections in infants and children under 18 months of age, resulting in between 7,500 and 15,000 hospitalizations yearly.
• It also causes 430 sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) deaths in the U.S. annually.
• Secondhand smoke exposure may cause a buildup of fluid in the middle ear, resulting in 790,000 doctor's office visits per year, as well as more than 202,000 asthma flare-ups among children each year.
• More than 23 million, or about 35% of children in the U.S. have been exposed to secondhand smoke.

Dolly Parton once said, "If you see someone without a smile, give them yours!" It's a motto Kara Marlow, medical case manager, lives by.

Kara's bright smile has been lighting up the Saline County Health Department for over two years. Anyone who crosses her path is greeted by a warm smile and kind word.

"What I like most about my job is having the opportunity to help people," she explained. "I enjoy working with a wide variety of organizations in our community and across the state, whose sole purpose is to help other people and to positively influence and impact public health."

Kara provides medical case management services to eligible HIV positive clients in 31 counties in Northwest and North Central Kansas.

"Kara joined us during the height of the pandemic as an investigator and has shown herself to be resourceful and caring through the pandemic and later through her transition into HIV Case Management," said Jason Tiller, Health Officer and Health Department Director. "Her compassion and experience working with veterans in her previous employment, has made her a wonderful asset to the Health Department and the region."

When asked about her favorite part of working at the Health Department, her answer was immediate, "My coworkers! I work with some of the most incredible people on the face of the earth. You must have a big heart, caring soul, be selfless, and have a true passion for helping other people to work in the public health world. My coworkers are dedicated, loyal, passionate, caring, talented, loving, kind, fun, and compassionate!"

Human trafficking is a form of modern slavery that occurs in every state, including Kansas.

Although slavery is commonly thought to be a thing of the past, human traffickers generate hundreds of billions of dollars in profits by trapping millions of people in horrific situations around the world, including here in the U.S. Traffickers use violence, threats, deception, debt bondage, and other manipulative tactics to force people to engage in commercial sex or to provide labor or services against their will.

REPORT HUMAN TRAFFICKING

CALL - 1.888.373.7888

TEXT - 233733

TTY - 711

Death from an opioid overdose happens when too much of the drug overwhelms the brain and interrupts the body’s natural drive to breathe. During an overdose, breathing can be dangerously slowed or stopped, causing brain damage or death. It’s important to recognize the signs

and act fast.