Saturday, September 03, 2005

Be prepared - it's not just for Boy Scouts anymore

Here is the story of how West Jefferson Medical Center, just outside New Orleans, stayed up and running over the past week. The Reader's Digest version is this:

(D)espite the hardships, the 463-bed hospital hasn’t yet lost a single patient in the harsh conditions. The staff managed to get water trucked in and served regular meals throughout the crisis by cobbling together a supply system of donations from local businesses to compensate for a debilitating lack of government help. In the end, West Jeff wove a private safety net in the midst of a public disaster.

Comfortably ensconced in my safe, dry home, thousands of miles away from Louisiana, it is not my place to criticize anyone involved in the rescue efforts. It is abundantly clear to me, however, that we cannot and should not rely primarily on FEMA or any other bureaucratic behemoth to preserve us on an individual level. It is our civic duty to be cognizant of the potential environmental risks that are native to our own ecospheres, and to prepare accordingly. For my family, I believe the big risks looming are a blizzard or ice storm, and a flu pandemic.

It is National Preparedness month. Here is a printable Emergency Supply Kit checklist. We will be adding N95 masks to our kit.

And a Kanye West CD.

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