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Summer’s hot weather can lead to serious heat-related illness, especially for older people and those with chronic illnesses. Hot, humid weather causes the body’s temperature to rise, which puts a strain on the heart and blood vessels. Heat stroke or heat exhaustion can result.

Heat stroke is the most serious heat-related illness. It occurs when the body becomes unable to control its temperature: the body's temperature rises rapidly, the body loses its ability to sweat, and it is unable to cool down. Body temperatures rise to 106°F or higher within 10 to 15 minutes. Heat stroke can cause death or permanent disability if emergency treatment is not provided. Warning signs vary but may include the following: An extremely high body temperature (above 103°F); red, hot, and dry skin (no sweating),rapid, strong pulse; throbbing headache, dizziness, or nausea.

Heat exhaustion is a milder form of heat-related illness that can develop after several days of exposure to high temperatures and inadequate or unbalanced replacement of fluids. Warning signs vary but may include the following: Heavy sweating, paleness, muscle cramps, tiredness, weakness, dizziness, headache, nausea or vomiting, fainting, a pulse rate that is fast and weak, or breathing that is fast and shallow.

The Department of Aging and Youth encourages everyone in our community to be aware of seniors in their neighborhoods and look for signs of heat stroke or heat exhaustion, or signs that the person may be in need of assistance. In the case of a medical emergency call 911 directly. If you are concerned about the general well being of an older person contact the Department of Aging and Youth and a staff person will assess the older person’s needs and recommend appropriate services and programs.

Catholic Charities is working with the New York State Homes and Community Renewal Energy Cooling Program to provide air conditioning for people of all ages who are HEAP (Home Energy Assistance Program) eligible and have a verifiable medical need for air conditioning. Help with installation is also available through Project Fix, a program funded by the Department of Aging and Youth. For more information call 424-1810.

During this hot weather it is important for everyone, but especially seniors, to follow the following safety tips:

• Stay indoors or in an air-conditioned place such as a local senior center, mall or library
• Keep draperies and window shades closed
• Try to do household chores early in the morning, before it gets too hot
• Drink plenty of water regularly, even if you’re not feeling thirsty
• Limit intake of alcoholic beverages
• Dress in loose-fitting clothing that covers as much skin as possible
• Protect face and head by wearing a wide-brimmed hat
• Avoid too much sunshine and use a sunscreen lotion with a high SPF rating

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How mature workers, 55 and older, can hone their skills or learn new ones

By The Post-Standard

May 03, 2010, 6:04AM

(To read this story on Syracuse.com, click here)

Help During Hard Times
Central New York experts in career counseling, job placement and family budgeting share their advice on landing a job,

moving up in a career, re-entering the job market or stretching a budget. Find their tips each Monday in MoneyWise in

The Post-Standard and on syracuse.com.

By Lisa Dunn Alford, Contributing writer to the Post Standard

Photo by John Berry / The Post-Standard

Chester Shellman, 62, of Syracuse retired from his job as a data entry specialist in 2009.

He landed a part-time job with help from Onondaga County’s Department of Aging and Youth.

Chester Shellman needed a job, and he asked Onondaga County’s Department of Aging and Youth for help finding one.

Shellman, 62, of Syracuse, had read about the department’s Senior Community Services Employment Program in The Post-Standard.

“I needed a job,” Shellman said. “Not just for the paycheck. I needed my brain to be active. I needed to be busy.”

At the time, Shellman, like many job-seekers, was registered with CNY Works and was using the Department of Labor and the classified ads to find a job.

“Being one of hundreds of people responding to an ad, and having less confidence because of my age, it was very depressing,” Shellman said.

Shellman was placed almost immediately after contacting SCSEP in February 2007. His job working in the county mailroom became a permanent one for him in April 2008.

“It was like having a burden lifted off my shoulders,” Shellman said. “I have a job I love. I work with people I like, doing work I enjoy. And I have so much more confidence now. I’ve really come out of my shell.”

The Department of Aging and Youth has been providing employment and training opportunities to mature workers for more than three decades. Our Senior Community Services Employment Program helps eligible mature workers (those 55 and older) hone their skills, or learn new ones, to find permanent employment outside of the program.

Program participants are assigned to training sites at local non-profit and government agencies. There, they receive structure and guidance while being mentored by staff. While with the SCSEP, participants work 20 hours per week and receive the current state minimum wage.

The result is a win-win: Program participants benefit from on-the-job training and the program’s partners benefit from the knowledge, skills, loyalty and dedication that older workers bring to the workplace.

“We honestly couldn’t provide the services we do in the community without the workers assigned to us through SCSEP and our volunteers,” said Linda McNally, the director of Adult Day Services for the Salvation Army. “Having these valuable workers on our team makes an incredible difference, and we make a difference in the employee’s life,” she said.

“Some participants come to us with a wealth of experience, and in that case, we try to find ways to add to their skills. Some are entering the work force for the first time, and we teach them basic skills and build their confidence so they can realize their potential.”

Onondaga County mirrors the statewide average in unemployment for mature workers, currently around 20 percent of the total unemployed.

Although the SCSEP has income requirements, which means some recently unemployed (or under-employed) workers are not eligible to participate, the department can still offer help. We have staff available to assist mature workers with issues relating to being unemployed, and to help them stretch their fiscal resources as far as possible.

The current employment situation is especially difficult for mature workers. My advice for those who are currently job hunting is to stay positive and remember you are a rich source of information and experience.

Never go into an interview thinking that age is a liability. Every employer is looking for these three things:

1. Will this person by honest and dependable?
   
2. Can this person learn on the job?
   
3. Will this person fit in to my organization?

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Scammers target elderly in Central New York and nationwide

By Douglass Dowty / The Post-Standard

May 02, 2010, 7:32AM

(To read this story on Syracuse.com, click here)

Photo by Mike Greenlar

Dorothy Kayn, 87, lost $2,500 to a scammer who pretended to be her jailed grandson.

Authorities here and nationally are warning against such scams.

North Syracuse, NY - On the day she buried her son, Dorothy Kayn got an urgent call claiming her grandson was jailed in Toronto.

The phone rang just as Kayn, 87, returned to her North Syracuse senior apartment from services in Auburn.

The caller sounded like her grandson, Chris Kayn. He told her the police had unfairly arrested him and booked him in the Toronto City Hall jail. He needed $3,000 to be set free.

“He was crying – he didn’t want to call his mother,” Kayn recalled from the Oct. 26 conversation.

She wired him all she had from her savings account — $2,500.

But the man wasn’t her grandson. He was a scam artist who preys on the elderly. His story was a new version of an old scam that has reared its ugly head in Central New York.

On Tuesday, North Syracuse police were investigating another case in which the scammer called a grandparent, claiming to be the grandson, Chief Tom Connelly said. The man did the right thing: he hung up and called police.

In DeWitt, two elderly residents fell victim recently to the same scam, losing $7,000. Syracuse police have been called in a couple of cases.

In Oswego, an alert Price Chopper employee called police after refusing to wire an elderly woman’s money to Jamaica. And a Liverpool resident called police after telling a scammer that she needed time to think before sending money.

This type of scam is nationwide, spawning warnings from the national AARP and from as far away as the Washington state Attorney General’s Office.

Kayn said she never thought twice about sending the money. A “lawyer” got on the phone and told her how to wire the cash. Kayn sent the money and then called the number the caller had given her. It was dead.

Because the money was sent by Western Union, it could not be traced, police said. As long as the recipient had the confirmation information, they could pick it up anywhere. Whoever got the money left a disconnected cell phone number in Quebec.

The scammer has never been found.

Kayn said it happened so quickly she never had a chance to question the bogus story.

It never crossed her mind that Chris, 32, was working in Florida, which is why he couldn’t attend his uncle’s burial that weekend. Lawrence Kayn, 54, died of cancer Oct. 23.

Police believe the scammer got her name from her son’s obituary.

Foiling a scam

A scam artist also took Elizabeth Palmer by surprise.

The 82-year-old Liverpool resident last month was greeted by a caller: “Hi grandma!”

Palmer answered with her grandson’s name. Then the caller offered his story about crashing a car in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Palmer said that her grandson was a Marine in California. He didn’t have a driver’s license. She asked what happened.

The scam artist explained he had been on a three-day leave and went with a friend to Halifax. His friend was drunk, the caller explained, which is why he was driving.

Then the caller put Palmer on with an “officer,” who explained the car had struck a telephone pole. The damage needed to be repaid before her grandson could be released.

Palmer said she was afraid her grandson could be considered AWOL from the military. But something stopped her from wiring money. She hung up and called her daughter in California. Her grandson was fine, her daughter assured her, and he was not in Halifax.

Palmer called police.

In retrospect, she said the scam was obvious, but it wasn’t so easy to see at the time. “You’re so petrified, they get you out of balance,” she said. “I would love to see these people hung up on a hook.”

Paying to collect a prize

A letter sent to a Manlius grandmother earlier this month was too good to be true.

It claimed Kathy Lowe had won a $40,000 grant, but she needed to pay a 5 percent service fee to receive the money. The scammer sent an authentic-looking Chase check — complete with water mark — in the amount of $2,940.

At first, she was tempted — it sounded like a lot of money. But she waited a few days to seek a second opinion.

A representative at the Onondaga County Department of Aging and Youth told her not to call any numbers on the form letter and not to cash the check, she said.

In these types of scams, the checks bounce because the money doesn’t exist. By calling for “assistance,” the victim could be asked for personal information, such as social security numbers or bank account information.

Department of Aging Commissioner Lisa Alford said scams take advantage of people’s emotions. “What loving grandmother or grandfather wouldn’t try and help out a grandchild?” Alford said.

She offered this advice: “Don’t feel pressured to make some immediate decision. If it’s legitimate, you can call them back later.”

Store manager thwarts scam

Price Chopper manager Brenda Pryor has seen scammers prey on the elderly all too often. As customer service manager for the Oswego store, she handles Western Union transactions.

Two weeks ago, she was called to help an elderly woman in a motorized shopping cart planning to wire a large amount of money to Jamaica.

The 23-year employee was immediately suspicious. Price Chopper employees across five Northeastern states e-mail each other whenever they suspect someone is being scammed.

It happens about once a week in the 119-store chain, she said. But while Pryor has turned away people before, this woman persisted.

The scam artist had convinced her that a “mutual friend” needed emergency surgery in Jamaica, Pryor said. Only after police arrived did the woman decide not to send the money.

Pryor said other elderly scams are popping up. Another scam involves the victim wiring money to a prospective employer on Craigslist.com. Oswego Police said a resident applying for a housekeeping job was recently scammed into wiring money to a fake employer, who had promised to mail the keys for her first job.

“Once something goes Western Union, it’s gone,” Pryor said. “It angers me. I don’t want my grandmother scammed. These are people, and now their hard-earned money is gone.”

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Avoiding telephone scams

• Never give out personal information over the phone when someone else initiates the call.

• Be aware that these kinds of scams are very common. Be suspicious if someone claims to be a relative, but asks for money in a way that involves not seeing this relative in person. For example, "a friend" will pick it up.

• Be suspicious of anyone claiming to be a relative asking for money who also asks you not to tell anyone else, such as their parents.

• Although the most common form of this scam relies on the senior letting the grandchild’s name slip, it is not too difficult to research the names of relatives in advance. Verbal self-identification is not a guarantee.

• Be aware of high-pressure sales tactics. Take time to think before you respond. Ask friends, relatives or an official for a second opinion. Research the company and ask for information in writing.

• Be careful whenever offering personal information. Do not release your social security number, bank account numbers, credit card numbers or other information without knowing for sure the caller is legitimate.

• If you do pay over the phone, use a credit card so you can dispute the charges later.

• If you believe you have been victimized, contact your local authorities or the Attorney General’s Syracuse Regional Office at 1-800-771-7755.

Source: New York State Attorney General’s Office and the Onondaga County Department of Aging and Youth

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Get advice

A lawyer will offer a consumer protection class at the Onondaga County Elder Law Fair, May 18, at the Holiday Inn, 441 Electronics Parkway, in Salina. The event will run from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and includes 20-minute personal meetings with lawyers. For more information, contact the county Department of Aging and Youth at 435-2362.

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