 Hello, this is Watika Smith, Safety Compliance Manager with the Safety Risk Management Department for the City of Columbia. This is your monthly safety message for the City of Columbia employees and the public. I'm here to discuss with you today heat stress and defensive driving. The symptoms for body temperature for heat stress is loss of fluid, fatigue, muscle tightness, and the stress on the body cooling system, which is your temperature. Also, the most common heat stress are heat exhaustion, heat stroke, heat rash, and heat cramp. The most serious disease when it comes to heat stress is heat strokes. Heat stroke is when the body temperature is actually above 103. When it's above 103, that is also a sign of death and also you need immediate tension. Just remember when you have a heat stroke that someone needs to take you to the hospital to do not drive yourself. Remember, in order to beat heat stress, you need to always remain in a cool condition, drink plenty of water, and take many breaks in order to relieve the stress off your body. The City of Columbia is built off of teamwork. If you see something, say something. If you need awareness or needs assistance, always reach out to our department. Let's do that together. We are team. We built to work together at all times. At this time, you will now hear from our Director of Safety Risk Management, H. Demetrius Rump. He will discuss with you many preventive measures to take for defensive driving. Thank you. Hello, my name is Demetrius Rump, the Director of Safety and Risk Management for the City of Columbia. This is your monthly safety message for the City of Columbia employees and the public. As what Tika Smith stated earlier that I will be covering and discussing defensive driving techniques. It is so very important that you pay attention to some of the defensive driving techniques that will be suggested for you to use. For instance, by circumstance of our choice, how many of you had to take a defensive driving course? Yes, I had. But just think about these words after an accident. I think I didn't see. I wasn't expecting. But what if we have used the defensive driving techniques that you were trained to use? If you haven't been trained, here's just some recommended suggestions that you should use when you operate your personal vehicle, let alone a city vehicle. Number one, prior to getting your vehicle, make sure you walk around your vehicle and check your tires to make sure they're properly inflated. Because when you have to put on your brakes to stop, a deflated tire may be hard to handle or either improper steering. Make sure all your occupants in that vehicle that you're operating have on their seat belt. That's what they're designed to do. Make sure you check all your temperature gauges and all your other gauges and make sure they're working properly prior to you operating that vehicle. When you get ready to pull out, scan the parking lot. Make sure that you've got a straightaway, there's nobody blocking it and also to make sure you scan the parking lot if you're backing up. If you have an occupant in there with you, ask them to get out and help you assist you with backing up. There's no harm in asking for assistance. And when you're out on the road, when you're approaching the intersection and coming up behind a vehicle, make sure you stop properly behind a vehicle. The proper stopping measurement is that when you stop behind that vehicle, you can see their tire as it meets the pavement. Also, before you proceed through an intersection, you should look left, right, and then left again and then proceed through the intersection. One of your most key principles about operating the vehicle as you transition throughout our jurisdiction to cover our system is that you maintain a cushion around your vehicle. Things change very quickly and it's very fluid, very fluid when you're operating your vehicle. So you must pay attention and stay focused. Make sure you look at your outside mirrors before you change lanes because you never know a car may pull up into your blind spot. Also, make sure that you look over your left shoulder when you're going to opposite direction. It is so quickly, things will change and it's up for you to maintain that vehicle in a safe and proper manner. One of the things I want you to pay very close attention to if you leave home early enough, you will arrive to work on time. But if you're running tardy, just remember, no matter how late you are, there's no need to speed. It may potentially worsen your situation because your destination is not going to move because you're being late. And last but not least is as you travel through the city of going to and from home, just make sure that you try to use these recommended defensive driving techniques. And on a personal note, remember, stay safe, stay positive, test negative, roll your sleeves up, get your shot because this is your shot. Remember, safety starts with an S, but it begins with you. Thank you.