Lyme Disease took a hit on Friday when the Ridgefield Health Department BLASTed its way through The Leir Retreat Center in Branchville with about 40 community-minded people in tow.

BLAST stands for bathe, look, apply, spray and treat. The program was developed here in Ridgefield by a small team of health professionals and scientists thanks to a 2008 state Department of Public Health grant the town won last year. The department has since recognized BLAST as a model marketing program for promoting the most effective ways to avoid tick-borne diseases.

“What we wanted was an effective program on how to prevent Lyme Disease and ways to recognize early symptoms with a simple message that was easy to remember and affordable for communities and town health departments to use,” BLAST program community coordinator Jennifer Reid said.

Friday, BLAST representatives held their second training for a group of community officials and volunteers to learn to be program educators so that they in turn can reach out to their constituents and pass the word.

First Selectman Rudy Marconi welcomed the group, which included health department members, school nurses, veterinarians, elected officials and others who were there for training on how to get the BLAST message out in their corners of Fairfield County.

“Pulling everyone together to share some of the insights on Lyme Disease prevention is a crucial part of health care in Ridgefield,” Marconi said, stressing the importance of getting the BLAST message out across the state and how important it is to involve local legislators in support of Lyme Disease prevention.

In the last 18 months since they were awarded the grant, BLAST has worked to roll out the message—literally. This year they packaged Lyme Disease Prevention into a rolling suitcase that health departments or organizations can purchase for $250 (or Ridgefield has three loaners that groups can borrow). The BLAST IN A BAG consists of all the literature, signage, power point presentations, Centers for Disease Control information and pesticide information ready to be set up and distributed at a school, health fair or community event.

The group has also BLASTed into 10 area CVS stores. BLAST displays can be found near the pharmacy counters and people can get information, buy repellent and ask the BLAST-trained pharmacy staff any Lyme Disease questions they may have.

“The idea was to make it easy for individuals to get information and products in one place,” said Reid, who is working toward placing many more displays in CVS stores throughout Fairfield County in 2010. “We really hope to grow in our own communities,” she said.

The trainees at The Leir Center were challenged to identify additional sectors of the community that they could reach. Schools, religious organizations, businesses, media, government, community and civic organizations have been and continue to be the top of the list. Organizers encouraged being ready for chance encounters and having the knowledge and information to discuss BLAST at a moment's notice in a grocery store or at an event or outing. Reid credited the town's director and deputy director of health, Edward Briggs and Sharon Antunes, department members Karen Gaudian and Sue Perlotto, Yale School of Public Heath research scientist Neeta Connally and State Entomologist Kirby Stafford III with helping grow the program from its early days.

There were 2,700 confirmed cases of Lyme Disease in the state last year, a number which rises to 3,896 when including probable reported cases. The effects of the disease can be debilitating. Teaching more people to look out for early warning signs is something that surely wouldn’t tick anyone off.

BLAST teaches that the best ways to avoid contracting Lyme Disease are:

• Bathing soon after you come in from outdoors; it takes a tick 24 to 36 hours before it can transmit Lyme Disease.

• Looking on your body for ticks and rashes soon after being outdoors, which also gives you an opportunity to remove a tick that may be on you or to notice Lyme Disease early.
• Apply repellent as a preventative measure before you head outdoors. 
• Spray your property, notably the edges of your yard should you have bushes, trees, or walls with leaves. It’s been determined that over 75 percent of ticks attach to humans in their own backyards and that ticks are most prevalent within three yards of the edge of their property. 
• Treat is for treat your pets, as owning a dog or cat can increase one’s exposure to tick bites.