Chemicals are a part of the everyday American's diet. They are used - in carefully measured doses, it is hoped - in manufacturing; in the processing of food, beverages, medicines, and numerous other consumables; and in many other ways in almost every country in the world. Because of their relatively low cost and easy availability, moreover, they are particularly well suited for use by terrorists as homemade bombs and roadside ICDs.
The political/budgetary decision to purchase and install GPS devices on EMS ambulances (and sometimes other vehicles) should never be based on cost alone. For three reasons: (1) They save lives. (2) They facilitate closer control and better management of the overall EMS fleet. (3) Thanks to the first two reasons, they improve productivity and reduce agency costs in the long run.
The fifth annual Public Health Preparedness Summit (16-19 February in Atlanta) will focus on the new and emerging problems facing the nation's, and world's, public health preparedness professionals in the dangerous New World of the 21st century. A first-person report from the chairman of the Summit Planning Committee.
The principal focus, understandably, is almost always on the individual and collective safety of a visiting dignitary, high-profile athletes, and other celebrities. But the health and safety of the general public also are involved, and should - must - be included in the advance planning from start to finish (and occasionally long after).
A visit by the president or any other world leader qualifies as a Special Event. So do visits by other celebrities and dignitaries. For security personnel such visits also entail special workloads, the consideration of all potential hazards and dangers, the emphasis on a clear chain of command, and a rare exception to a time-honored EMS lifesaving principle.
A greater focus on NIMS objectives seems likely, as well as some HICS modifications. But the possibility of maintaining recent-year funding levels is already very unlikely, and the final version of the healthcare-reform bill, if enacted, has yet to be determined.
Emergency planners, political and budget decision makers, and the general public are almost always more focused on preparing for last year's hurricane than they are concerned about this year's sudden earthquake, or tsunami, or - much more likely - long-predicted pandemic. Which is why common sense must sometimes take precedence.
Ambulance drivers, EMTs, and other responders may not yet be able to perform brain surgery or heart transplants at the accident scene - but that time might be not too far off, thanks to rapid and continuing advances in medical technology, ultrasound and data-retrieval systems, and other scientific breakthroughs.
The field of medicine has come a long, long way from the early 20th-century tradition of family doctors, homespun remedies, and much lower life expectancies. People are healthier today, and usually live longer lives, but the technology of terror also has grown exponentially, creating a need for a new public-health priority: emergency preparedness.
Recent-year increases in the number of mass-fatality incidents, combined with the increasingly bizarre nature of some of those incidents, have led to the formation of specially trained medico-legal teams to deal with the on-site aftermath. This is their story, which is more complicated, and sophisticated, than anything seen on national television.
