(Editor's note: After publication, the webinar was pushed back by a week. The story has been updated with the new, Nov. 19 date.)

With the holidays just around the corner, AARP, Mountain-Pacific Quality Health, and the Wyoming Department of Health want to help residents keep their guests happy and safe from foodborne illness.

On Friday, Nov. 19 at 1 p.m., Matthew Peterson of the Wyoming Department of Health will offer a free Zoom presentation on the basics of proper food preparation, cooking and food storage. 

The event is free, but AARP asks attendees to register for the event at tinyurl.com/65c5tt7m.

Peterson is an epidemiologist in the Infectious Disease Unit of the Department of Health where his work focus is foodborne and enteric illness. He monitors foodborne illness in Wyoming and coordinates outbreak responses with federal, state, and local partners to intervene and prevent their spread. He began work with Wyoming Department of Health in 2018, honing his skills as an epidemiologist while specializing in communicable disease, then moved to his current position in January 2021.

“Optimizing food preparation, cooking, and storage practices can prevent your kitchen from being the source of an outbreak, and save yourself and guests from a potentially serious illness,” says Peterson. 

To take part in this free webinar, visit https://tinyurl.com/3v9z23jy or dial 253-215-8782 and use the code: 857 7781 2450. The webinar is also available during and after the start of the presentation, on-demand at AARP Wyoming’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/aarpwy.

Mountain-Pacific, AARP and the departments of health in Hawaii and Wyoming have been recording webinars through the Housecalls Series for the past six months. All of the videos are available to be watched for free on AARP Wyoming’s Facebook page.

The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed gaps in infection prevention and control knowledge and practice in healthcare settings nationwide. The Project Firstline program includes room for townhall discussions, and tele-mentoring to ensure all workers in healthcare are empowered with knowledge and reasoning behind today’s infection control practices. 

CDC has teamed up with a coalition of more than a dozen healthcare, public health, and academic partners, as well as 64 state, territorial, and local health departments through the Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity cooperative agreement to support development and dissemination of Project Firstline’s innovative presentations. The series objectives include slowing and stopping the spread of infectious disease, by helping family caregivers understand how to keep their loved ones protected in order to reduce healthcare costs and hospital readmissions.

“We all need to know infection control basics and understand how to prevent infection during day-to-day activities and individual interactions. Infection prevention (IP) processes, procedures and tools can be used to empower all individuals within our communities to take necessary IP precautions,” says Crystal Morse of Mountain-Pacific Quality Health.