• Healthy Living: Personal safety should be everyone's goal

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  Since our daughter and her family moved to the San Francisco area years ago, we have traveled to that fascinating city many times to visit them.

  They love the city life and are very savvy when it comes to negotiating public transportation like Bay Area Rapid Transit — known as BART — or the maze of city streets.

  I am not so savvy. Several times my daughter cautioned me not to gaze up at the skyscrapers looking like a distracted wanderer.

  She reminded me there are personal safety ideas that everyone should be aware of, not just city dwellers or visitors.

  When I returned home I decided to ask for some basic personal safety tips from Dave Guiher, the Hartford HealthCare East Region public safety manager. His advice:

  - Be mindful of your surroundings.

  - Stay in well-lighted areas.

  - Walk confidently, projecting an assertive, purposeful image.

  - Keep your purse close to your body, and hold it tight. If it has a long strap it's even better to place it diagonally across your body, with the purse under your arm. Close all zippers and clasps.

  - Keep your cell phone handy in your pocket, but don't walk around using it.

  - Avoid walking alone at night, and walk or travel with a friend during the day, if possible.

  - If you are ever confronted by a person who you fear will attack you, run away, yell for help, scream, “Get away from me!” — do whatever you can to attract attention. If the person is after your purse or other material items, throw them one way while you run the other.

  Be careful and mindful of these tips all the time and it will soon become second nature. Then you can relax and enjoy all of the unique experiences community life has to offer, whether in an urban, suburban or country setting.

  Alice Facente is a community health education nurse at The William W. Backus Hospital in Norwich.