Health and Safety at GGB

May 1, 2009

Dear Girl Scouts,

We are all excited about the 28th Annual Golden Gate Bridging event on May 9. With 8,000 registered participants, this will be the largest Golden Gate Bridging event ever!

As always, we want this to be a safe and fun event for all Girl Scouts. The recent cases of swine flu in California have raised some important questions about public health for large events.

We are working in partnership with the California Health Department and Center for Disease Control to ensure the safety of our participants.

Both organizations had no public health concerns for Golden Gate Bridging. Their spokespersons have also stated that there is currently no restriction on large events, events in a public venue, or events with travel on buses.

Participants are reminded to take basic precautions for the flu such as:

Stay home when you are sick. Stay home from work, school, and errands when you are sick. You will help prevent others from catching your illness.
Cover your mouth and nose. Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing or sneezing. It may prevent those around you from getting sick.
Clean your hands. Washing your hands often and using hand sanitizer will help protect you from germs.
Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs are often spread when a person touches something that is contaminated with germs and then touches his or her eyes, nose, or mouth.
Practice other good health habits. Get plenty of sleep, be physically active, manage your stress, drink plenty of fluids, and eat nutritious food.
Avoid people with the flu or individuals who are coughing.

If any additional updates develop regarding health and safety, we will keep you posted.

We look forward to celebrating this very special Girl Scout tradition with everyone on May 9!

Melanie Johnston, Program Director
goldengatebridging@girlscoutsnorcal.org