Hospital Decontamination Operations- Facilities
In my first post on Hospital Decontamination Operations, I mentioned that most facilities have some type of fixed decontamination room in close proximity to the Emergency Department (ED). As they [...]
Hospital Decontamination Programs – Challenges and Solutions
I first began identifying issues hospitals had in common relative to hazardous materials preparedness after I led the development of the course Hospital Emergency Response Training for Mass Casualty Incidents at [...]
Want to reduce the impact of IEDs? Start with training
Improvised Explosive Device (IED) Since first gaining notoriety in 2003 in Iraq, IEDs have been widely used across the world. These devices are easily fabricated with household items and/or chemicals, [...]
Radiological Event Considerations
Radiation tends to be a word that conjures up fear for some so I thought I would offer some basic considerations to keep in mind. The recent concern over North [...]
Chemical Weapons Don’t Need Importing
CIA Director John Brennan has warned that the Daesh may attempt to sell and move chemical weapons they have developed into Western countries. My comment is why bother moving them in [...]
Road to Rio Leads to Zika – How do we prevent illness and spread of disease?
I think it's hard to argue that prevention of disease in the case of the Zika virus does beat a pound of cure. We are unlikely to have a vaccine [...]
Recommendations to enhance your organization’s emergency preparedness in 2016.
It's a challenge to know where to devote planning, training and exercise time with so many competing demands, agendas and requirements. Consider this - people will fall back on two [...]
What was the next target?
Throughout my career I experienced and over time learned how to mitigate a killer called "tunnel vision". One definition is..."the tendency to focus exclusively on a single or limited goal [...]
On The Advice of Experts You Should Exercise Your ____________ Plan in 2016
Over the years I had posts which ask the question what type of disaster would we see in the coming year. This time I want to know specific annexes that [...]
Chemical Weapons Only Effective Against the Unprepared
An article looks at a recent Daesh use of chemical weapons in Iraq. That anyone thinks this is a new revelation or surprise is what I find most disturbing. [...]