Have you gotten your flu shot this year? If you haven’t, your excuse is most likely feeble. Influenza is a deadly infectious disease that returns every year, that can cause serious complications, particularly to young children and older adults. According to the federal Centers for Disease Control, the virus kills on average 36,000 Americans annually, a terrible toll—almost as many as die from auto accidents. Flu shots are considered by experts as the most effective way to prevent influenza and its complications. Here are the answers to common questions about flu shots.

This year’s annual flu shot will offer protection against the pandemic H1N1 (swine flu) virus, in addition to two other influenza viruses that are expected to be in circulation this winter. Last year people had to receive a separate flu shot to obtain protection against pandemic H1N1 influenza.

What sort of flu season is expected this year?

Flu seasons are unpredictable in a number of ways. Although epidemics of flu happen every year, the timing, severity, and length of the epidemic depends on many factors, including what influenza viruses are spreading and whether they match the viruses in the vaccine. Last flu season (2009-2010) saw the emergence of the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus (previously called “novel H1N1″ or “swine flu”). This virus caused the first influenza pandemic (global outbreak of disease caused by a new flu virus) in more than 40 years. While not certain, it is likely that 2009 H1N1 viruses will continue to spread along with seasonal viruses in the U.S.during the 2010-2011 flu season. The timing of flu is very unpredictable and can vary from season to season. Flu activity most commonly peaks in the U.S. in January or February. However, seasonal flu activity can occur as late as May.

Will new strains of flu circulate this season?

Flu viruses are constantly changing so it’s not unusual for new flu virus strains to appear each year. For more information about how flu viruses change, visit “How the Flu Virus Can Change.” While not certain, it is likely that 2009 H1N1 viruses and seasonal viruses will cause illness in the U.S. during the 2010-2011 flu season.

“I’m young and healthy,” you might say, “why do I need the shot?”

True, 90 percent of those who die from the flu are 65 and older, and many—but by no means all —have underlying medical conditions that weaken the lungs or heart. It’s not as though any deaths are acceptable, but these people are not the only ones at risk. In one year, five children aged 6 months to 15 years died suddenly from influenza in Colorado and Oklahoma; two children in England and four in Scotland had already died from the same strain that year. No one knows why some healthy children suddenly succumb to influenza. But as the virus spreads further through this country, there will almost certainly be more deaths.

One of those who died in Colorado was 8-year-old Joseph Williams. He had been perfectly healthy before the sudden onset of a stomach ache and fever. His parents took him to the emergency room, figuring he would get treatment and recover quickly, but a brain inflammation brought on by the influenza killed him in hours. The day after Joseph’s death, they held a tearful news conference and begged everyone in the community to get flu shots. If more people had been vaccinated, their child might have never contracted the infection in this first place.

Of the 92.6 million doses of vaccine, 29 people have died.  The math (which has taken me a half dozen tries to get right) comes out to one’s chances of dying from the vaccine as .00000000313 % — meaning — less than 1 in 3 million.

As of November 14, 2009, the CDC estimate 9,260 people have died from getting the H1N1 flu.  These are people who did not get the vaccine.  They also estimate 47 million people have had the H1N1 swine flu.  That figures to a .000197 % chance of dying from the flu — meaning — 1 in 5,075.

Put another way - my chances of dying from the flu are 591% GREATER than dying from the vaccine.

Even if spending a week violently sick and bedridden doesn’t worry you, by immunizing yourself, you vastly lessen the chances you will spread the virus to some child or older person (family member, friend, or stranger) who might die from it.

Most chain and many local drug stores are offering flu shots several times a week or daily at very reasonable cost. That cost is very nothing when compared to the wages lost and suffering you or your family or friends may have in dealing with the flu this season. So even if you do not care that you might save yourself a lot of misery by getting the shot, please understand that you could save someone else’s life.

The WOW program was set up to demonstrate to all of our employees what superior customer service can be.  Here is a great example set by one of our managers.  Wes Lutes, an Account Manager at one of our hospital locations, often fills in for various positions during peak hours of operation in order for employees to take their meal break.  Little did Wes know that filling in for one of his cashiers for thirty minutes would give him a new perspective on his job, the service he provides, and the value of going the extra mile.

While helping a customer on the exit side of the booth, a middle aged lady on the entrance side of the booth yelled at Wes to help her. He opened the door and offered her assistance. It was clear that she was very upset and on the edge of having an emotional breakdown. With a stern voice she said: “I need to get to the Hospital’s Main Entrance!” Knowing she was in a hurry, he quickly explained to her detailed instructions about where she was going. She stared back with a confused look and said, “This is ridiculous!” Wes decided to physically point her to the street she needed to travel to get to the front of the hospital. When they met in the street, he identified the street she needed to turn on and she drove off towards the street, but missed the correct turn.

About fifteen minutes went by and the lady pulled back up to the booth, now enraged, told Wes she couldn’t find where she needs to go and that he had given her wrong directions. He apologized and tried to explain that she missed the street she needed to turn on, but all she wanted to do was argue. She ended up speeding off and parking in a nearby handicapped parking stall.  The lady climbed out of her vehicle and loaded up her arms with bags full of her belongings as if she was staying somewhere for a while. By the time she walked to the next parking stall she came to a stop, dropped all of her bags, sat on the ground and leaned her back on the vehicle next to where she was parked.

Wes quickly ran over and squatted next to her offering her assistance or a wheelchair. She quietly said she did not want any help and that this has happened before. By that time, she made quite a commotion and some nurses passing by came over to offer help. Before they could offer any help, she interrupted them and shooed them away to avoid further embarrassment.

Again, Wes tried to talk to her to see what was going on and if there was anything he could do. She stated that she has a pace maker and when it goes off it hurts. By sitting and calming herself down, she was able to lower her heart rate and prevent the device from going into defibrillator mode and shocking her heart. Wes was worried for her health, but she reassured him that she would get through it.  He loaded all of her bags back into her vehicle and opened the passenger door for her. She sat down and he shut the door, ran around to the driver side and got in.

He began to drive her vehicle to the main lobby of CHOC and she started explaining to him that it was very important for her to get to the main entrance because her granddaughter was going into emergency surgery and that she might never see her again. He reassured her that he would get her there as quick as possible. She then went on about her faulty pacemaker being recalled and her husband’s five back surgeries that had failed the previous year.

Finally, they arrived at the main lobby valet circle and Wes opened her door and she got out slowly, gathering her bags.  As he tore the ticket in half she grabbed the ticket, placed it in her purse and began to dig for something. Assuming she was looking for the payment or a tip, he told her not to worry about the payment and that the most important thing is that she gets in to see her granddaughter. She looked up and stared at him for a second, setting all her bags on the ground and asked, “Can I at least give you a hug?” In shock and amazement, he said “Sure!” Beginning to cry, she leaned in and gave him a tight hug and said, “Thank you so much!”

This goes to show that you never know whose life you are going to effect on any given day.  What seems like the smallest gesture can brighten someone’s day, put a smile on someone’s face, or even create a lasting friendship.  Let us remember this story each day we work and create an inspiring moment that guests and even you, will remember forever.

Thank you Wes Lutes for WOWing us!

One morning a valet was pulling a vehicle from the valet lot. As he was driving out of the garage he did not stop at the stop sign for pedestrian traffic. As he drove out of the valet lot the vehicle struck a fellow team member who was walking on the sidewalk into the garage to clock in for his shift. The valet who was walking to clock in for work was seriously injured and had to be transported to the emergency room. The valet that was pulling the vehicle knew the purpose for the stop sign being at the exit of the garage was because the sidewalk could not be seen from inside the valet lot. The stop sign was a safety measure to prevent a pedestrian from getting hit by a vehicle leaving the valet lot. This accident could have been prevented if the valet would have stopped at the sign and looked for any pedestrian traffic at this blind corner of this location.

Blind spots are everywhere! It doesn’t matter what job duties you perform, you need to be aware of all blind spots. In the story above, the blind spot was caused by the parking garage. There is a sidewalk that runs along the side of the garage and the valets all know to obey traffic signals, stop before exiting the garage, and look both ways for pedestrians. In other parking garages we have blind spots as you drive in the parking areas. Whether blind spots are due to sharp turns in the garage or the ramps that lead to another level of the parking garage, valets need to remember to use their mirrors because once you are in a vehicle safety should be your number one concern.

Minuteman Parking Company has put in safety measures at your locations to help prevent accidents from happening in areas that have blind spots. We have put stop signs in areas where you may or may not be able to see a guest or patient. We have installed mirrors so that you can see an oncoming vehicle as you are parking or pulling a vehicle. We have also put mirrors on some of our self parking booths so that you can see if a vehicle is approaching the booth so you do not walk out of the booth and get hit.

While the company does want it can with our clients to put safeguards in place to expose the blind spots, we cannot control the HUMAN part, which comes down to YOU.  YOU must obey the stop signs and look so that someone is not hit.  When we have mirrors installed, YOU must take the time to look in the mirror for someone in the way of your vehicle.  Safety and avoiding injuring others still mostly comes down to YOU being alert at all times when in a vehicle doing your jobs.