Category Archives: Disasters. Katrina, tsunami, pandemic
I read something like the report from Africa where the rape epidemic in the Congo war worsens. Eastern Congo is going through another one of its convulsions of violence, and this time it seems that women are being systematically attacked on a scale never before seen here. According to the United Nations, 27,000 sexual assaults [...]
Using biotechnology, scientists have genetically modified goats to produce milk containing chemicals that protect against deadly nerve agents such as sarin and VX. Goats make milk to protect from nerve gas. If the work is successful the drug could be used to protect troops against exposure to nerve agents on battlefields, or stockpiled for use [...]
Many Lessons in Disaster Drill The Army National Guard has only half the equipment it needs, there were communications gaps, and response times were slow…. What you don’t know is that you will probably survive a nuclear bomb in a major city if you are several miles away from impact.
The Bundle of Warm Clothing by the Door Skirmante was telling me that, during the Russian times, her parents kept a bundle of warm clothing next to the door so that they could grab it if they were arrested in the night and deported to Siberia…. Then asks why classroom doors aren’t equipped with dead-bolt locks on the inside that could be used to prevent another school massacre.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released guidelines on Use of Face Masks in Flu Outbreak If a flu pandemic ever emerges, surgical masks “should be considered” by anyone entering a crowd, and thicker industrial masks “should be considered” for anyone taking care of the sick, federal health officials said yesterday as they finally released guidelines for mask use. The guidelines released yesterday re-emphasized earlier suggestions that in a pandemic, people should shun crowds, avoid close contact with anyone at work or school, and stay home if they are sick, or anyone in their household is sick.
With administrators at Virginia Tech facing hard questions about how long it took them to notify students after the first killings in Monday’s shooting rampage there, emergency communication is sure to become a pressing issue nationwide…. In the aftermath of several recent disasters — including the tsunami in South Asia, Hurricane Katrina on the Gulf Coast, and the terrorist attacks in New York, London and Madrid — a growing number of governments, communities, school systems and universities have begun using automated electronic-alert systems that can send voice, email or text messages to residents and students, in addition to traditional broadcast emergency messages.
Back from being way all day and far from the Internet, I just learned about the horrific killings at Virginia Tech…. Why after bomb scares last week and a double murder at about 7:15, did it take 2 hours for school officials to warn students to “be cautious”.
A flu vaccine grown in caterpillar cells instead of the usual risky and uncertain method based on chicken eggs is not only safe but effective in people, US researchers reported…. Cell-culture methods can slice one or two months off the production process, Dr Treanor said.
They are, however, not only resigned to tragedy but inured to it in a way that to many raises alarms about the country’s future…. — Disasters, natural and man-made, occur everywhere, but unnatural death occurs in Russia with unnatural frequency and in unnatural quantity.
Too few body bags, an overwhelmed plumbing system, long delays in picking up bodies at scenes of crimes and too little space with some bodies being stored in refrigerated trucks parked behind the building is causing a “review of the situation” in Boston…. Now on administrative leave while the office processes his complaint, he emails the Herald that: • Bodies stacked three high on shelves and gurneys in the main cooler, many decomposing and dripping fluids onto others through leaky body bags.
