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Who’s In Charge Here? The Incident Command System
The Situation A big winter storm hits. The power is out, roads are inaccessible, and trees are down everywhere – not inconceivable for many winter climates! Well-meaning neighbors jump into action –...
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Why Disasters Need Doctors
Guess what? Most doctors do not plan to help in a major disaster. Isn’t that a sobering thought? Why Don’t Doctors Volunteer? Doctors don’t know what roles we might have, and we are rarely included in...
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Black Friday – The Day The Businesses Died!
In honor of Black Friday and our consumer driven society, let’s imagine life without business. How many businesses do you patronize? How would you function without them? Start with stores. Routinely,...
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Triage – Who Gets Treated?
**Warning – this topic might be disturbing to some people.** It’s time for a medical post (after all, I’m a doctor, and healthcare emergency planning is my first interest). I promise to make medical...
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The Medical Reserve Corps – Not Military, Not Reserve, But Definitely Medical
When I first heard of the Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) a few years ago, I thought it sounded like a branch of the military – something like a medical national guard. In any case, my automatic response...
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I Need A Doctor – Or Do I? Medical Care in Disaster Recovery
I originally wrote a version of this post for our medical society, hoping doctors would consider how practice might change after a disaster. But everyone should look at how they use healthcare now, and...
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We All Get A Little Crazy – Mental Health In Disasters
Can you guess the one health problem experienced by just about everyone involved in a disaster? It’s not cuts and bruises, not colds or flu, and not exposure or unsafe water. Whether victim, bystander,...
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The Strategic National Stockpile – The Parts That Are Not Top Secret!
Raise Your Hand if You’ve Heard of the Strategic National Stockpile Until my involvement in disaster preparedness, I was unaware of the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS). In fact, it wasn’t until my...
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The Aurora Shooting – Hospital Mass Casualty Planning in Action
Between travel, jet lag, networking, and conference attendance 10 hours a day, I’ve been remiss in blogging this week, but promise to make up for it. I am in Atlanta at the Public Health Preparedness...
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Boom, Boom, Pow – Medical Surge May Be The Biggest Disaster of All
Hurricane Sandy introduced the word “surge” into common use to explain the flooding of Manhattan and New Jersey. Storm surge is an offshore rise in water level caused by high winds pushing on the ocean...
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