Showing posts with label Emergency Preparedness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Emergency Preparedness. Show all posts

July 30, 2023

We're Not Prepared

Please see my new article in The Times of Israel called "We're Not Prepared."

Whether it is our inability to imagine what can happen, our disbelief in it actually occurring, or our ineffectiveness or corruption to really prepare, we may be in serious peril from future threats that invariably await us. When that earthquake that we know is overdue hits the west coast hard, or a nuclear ICBM from North Korea or Iran hits somewhere in our mainland, or the next bio-weapon from China strikes our masses, or Russia cripples our satellites and Internet with one of their hidden Trojans or a zero-day cyber-attack, we can all shake our heads in utter disbelief again at how unprepared we are for the "next one."

Certainly, no one is invulnerable to tragedy, no preparation will ever be perfect, and we can never get everything right in responding to and recovering when disaster strikes, but if we don't stop the endless denial and infighting, allocate our limited resources with foresight and good cause, and make a determined and continued effort to get ready for what we know with virtual certainty looms large and threatens us, then we are unfortunately complicit in the tragic downfall that awaits.

(Credit Photo: Hitesh Choudhary via https://www.pexels.com/photo/man-pouring-water-from-dipper-on-blue-and-grey-house-1739855/)
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December 17, 2019

Eyewash Smiley

Had to take a second look at this eyewash station with the bright yellow caps.

I suppose this is good if you get something in your eye(s) and need to flush it out. 

Are the yellow caps supposed to be for keeping the faucets clean and unobstructed. 

Whole thing looks a little like a face:  the yellow caps are the eyes, the big center faucet is the nose, and the sink basic the big mouth. 

Maybe just my imagination, but I think it's saying "there are too many cooks in this kitchen, get the h*ll out!" :-)

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
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September 19, 2019

Prepare to Survive!

Picture from active shooter training today. 

Saw a great (and scary) video on RUN, HIDE, FIGHT (from http://www.readyhoustontx.gov) -- link to video is here.

Other take-a-ways:
  • Always have a plan A, B, and C. 
  • If you can't run or hide, fight with everything at your disposal--engage and neutralize the shooter!
  • Survive, you're not done until your done!

Please G-d, we should never have to deal with the horror of this, but it's good to learn to be always ready. ;-)

(Credit Photo: U.S. Marshal Service)
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September 11, 2017

Always Be Prepared

It was nice going to a local festival yesterday and seeing a table set up with brochures for the kids and families on Emergency Preparedness. 

Even when we're having a good time, we need to have in mind the possibility that things can go very wrong.

These last couples of weeks with Hurricane Harvey and Irma, we saw again the destructive forces that Mother Nature can bring. 

And today being the 16th Anniversary since the terror attacks on 9/11 and the almost 3,000 murdered at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, we are reminded of the necessity to always be ready for man-made/inflicted disasters as well. 

Now with Axis of Evil nations, North Korea and Iran, continuing to pose alarming threats to the West, the need for preparation and readiness to dangerous WMD--whether from an ICBM or a suitcase bomb--is ever present

Let's just say until the final redemption when peace will reign on earth, we can never just rest securely on our laurels. 

Even on a sunny day, the clouds may be gathering to threaten us.  

So have a plan.  Be prepared.  You and your families lives across our beautiful and free nation depend on it. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
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March 2, 2017

Culture Intersects With Preparedness

Just really loved this emergency preparedness poster by the Center for Disease Control (CDC).

It builds off of the #1, hit TV show, The Walking Dead that films in Atlanta where the CDC is. 

The show is about a zombie apocalypse and the story of how people survive (or not) amidst a global pandemic and the murderous awakened dead that feast off of the living. 

Here's a link with what the CDC recommends you have in an emergency preparedness kit. 

The CDC also has a comic book with a zombie outbreak theme that further drives home the importance of a preparedness kit and what to have in it. 

I think it's great when government thinks outside-the-box in ways that appeal to everyday citizens to serve them, help them, and especially keep them safe from disasters. 

(Source Photo: here with attribution to CDC)
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February 23, 2017

No Smartphone, No Life

So we are utterly and helplessly dependent on our smartphones and mobile communications.

If our enemies strike our communications networks, we are as good as dead. 

Can you imagine the panic and chaos that would ensue?

Cut off from family, friends, and colleagues.

Unable to get unto the Internet!

No eCommerce. 

No online Banking. 

No social networking.

No easily and readily available information.

No online music, videos, or gaming.


No online (fake) news. 

As you see in the photo, under the smashed smartphone...it says, "Disaster"!

We wouldn't know what to do with ourselves. 

And we wouldn't know how to conduct ourselves by ourself. 

We are completely dependent on mobile communications and connectivity to each other.

Without, we wither and die. 

And G-d created the marvels of the Heaven and Earth in 6 days. 

But we have become so tethered and dependent on our technology, we are toast in just a split second. 

If we don't get serious about cybersecurity, and fast, there is going to be hell on Earth to pay. 

And not a single shot needs to be fired. ;-)

(Source Photo: Rebecca Blumenthal)
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