Tag Archives: emergency preparedness
An Array of Emergency Projects
With summer having come and gone, some projects in which I have been engaged are heating up again. Here’s a sample: In British Columbia, the provincial legislation requires all local governments, large or small, to have emergency plans. Admittedly, some are very robust, and others might simply be captured in an 8 by 11 ½ […]
Musings while on a Dog Walk
My daughter, Rachel, is on a trip in Europe. She has two loves, each with four legs – a golden retriever and a border collie. Guess who is called upon to exercise the dogs daily – actually, twice daily — especially that energetic border collie. Over the course of these three weeks, I have lots of time […]
Lessons from the Titanic
Much has been written about the century-old Titanic disaster, which caused 1,514 deaths on April 14-15, 1912. It is an interesting case study of a series of events that sent this ‘unsinkable’ ship to a watery grave. No single factor caused the tragedy, but rather what we call an ‘event cascade’. I recently gave a […]
The Nepal Earthquake
Many of you have heard about the worst earthquake in 80 years to hit Nepal last week on April 25. At this writing, the death toll is >4000 and climbing. Incredible to see the sudden awesome power of human nature, especially in a setting like the Himalayas. We deal with tragedies in our lives, but […]
Our Fragile Food Chain
How easy it is to forget what was involved in getting that bagel or slice of toast on your plate this morning! Ok, for most of us, we never have really known its complexity. Surely this is true of my 14 and 16 year old teenagers. If they could get their noses out of their ‘screens’! At least long […]
2014: The Year in Review
A popular media segment at the end of every year is ‘most important news’, especially on radio, which is my favorite means of receiving news clips. I thought I’d look back at some of worthwhile stories (i.e., those beyond the local politics and teapot tempests of Vancouver Island, BC) Although I am a huge advocate […]
Ebola!
Ebola is back in the news, and rightly so. The name hits our emotions hard: Death. Fear. Doom. No cure; no escape. To date in late July, the mortality rate is pushing 800. The great relief for us in North America is that these deaths are in isolated, distant countries – Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea. This […]
The New Terrorism
As I try to follow some of the trends in the world, especially in the context of emergencies, I see a disturbing, slowly-heating trend. There’s a growing group of people that want to see the earth’s population reduced. Various reasons: It may be environmental – the planet can’t support or sustain this large a number […]
Radiation Disasters (Part 3)
The past two blogs have addressed the possibility of both unintentional and intentional releases of radiation. The situation may appear bleak, but you are not helpless! This blog will speak to what you can do to prevent, prepare, and respond. First, response: Response: A large radiation disaster would be followed by a massive government response. However, even […]
Radiation Disasters (Part 2)
This is a continuing discussion on radiation disasters. In the 1st blog, I wrote of “unintentional” releases of radiation (i.e. accident, human error) This blog discussed “intentional” (i.e., deliberate) releases of radiation, intent on harming you. Intentional threats are usually associated with military conflict or terrorism — a nuclear weapon, attack on a nuclear facility, or […]
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