Home Front: Injury and Illness

Being sick sucks. Being injured sucks. I've been both often enough just in the last year to make me strongly consider what options and risks would be apparent in the event of a disaster both for those with chronic illness or injuries, and those with incidental illnesses and injuries. One of my partners has some fairly hefty pharmaceutical requirements for the condition she has. The other has torn cartilage in her knee and a history of respiratory problems. The idea of loss of access to the medical facilities and the pharmacopeia that modern industrial society provides us is chilling. Even the idea of long trips "off-grid" would require significant stockpiling, and preparation, and this is not a bad thing, but costly and difficult to arrange.

Even taking stock of our little bathroom medicine cabinet at home, just to take stock, made me realise how dependent we are on the infrastructure both to have such things produced and also distributed. I recently watched the disease-thriller "Contagion" which really impressed me with its sensible and pretty accurate portrayal of both lab-science and disease epidemiology. It reminded me that in the event of a wide-spread disease, resources will become scare not only due to demand, but also as the infrastructure required to produce and disseminate it is affected by the disease. Not only medical supplies, but later on, all supplies and services, depending on the severity of the outbreak could be unavailable. Healthcare workers are often on the front lines, as the very sick are brought to hospitals and from there, it can spread. That not only means my workplace, but also the people who would care for and supply treatments to my loved ones, and children.

Fortunately, there are several sources for being kept aware of these kinds of events, both sickness, and natural.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC)
The World Health Organization (WHO)

both of which I follow via Twitter on:
https://twitter.com/CDCemergency
https://twitter.com/WHO

I'm also fortunate enough to be sent bulletins like these through work, from the Bureau of Meteorology

 
Sent: Tuesday, 4 September 2012 3:15 PM
To: undisclosed-recipients
Subject: ** State Health Command Advisory - damaging and destructive winds **


Good afternoon all,

The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe weather warning for damaging winds in the following forecast districts:

Mallee
Wimmera
Northern Country
North Central
North East
South West
Central
West and South Gippsland
East Gippsland

Damaging winds around 60 to 80 km/h with peak gusts of 100 to 120km/h are forecast to develop over the Southwest and Wimmera districts this evening, and will extend to remaining districts overnight and early Wednesday morning.

Over Alpine areas, winds are expected to average 80 to 100 km/h Wednesday with peak gusts of 140 km/h

The Victorian health sector should:

Maintain situational awareness via the Bureau of Meteorology website: http://www.bom.gov.au/vic/warnings/
Consider the dissemination of this advisory


Being aware is part of the battle, looking after my family and loved ones in the event of such an event, short or long term, is another. I have first-aid kits, but when it comes down to it, do we have enough medical supplies laid in? No.

Do I know where to go to get some, and what to get? Mostly. More work required.

It also occurred to me that improving my First-Aid training is always a good thing.

Home Front: Foreign cities

I'm very well traveled, I grew up being a lifestyle expatriate, having lived in 8 different cities across the world before I was 18, and visited many more on holidays. These days I travel mostly for work, and on occasion find myself in cities not-my-own.

For some people this might actually be a daunting task, for me it was how I grew up. Strange cities bring several challenges to first timers and seasoned travelers alike. I tend to go everywhere on foot when I am staying in the CBD Street signage and road rules is different from city to city, and can be jarring when you are trying to navigate, but with a decent street map that almost every hotel offers. One way to help get your bearings is to pinpoint tall well signed buildings and use them as landmarks. Something with 4 story high logos are usually works well.

Something that new cities present a traveler with is not knowing which neighborhoods are good, which ones are bad, where is fun and where is either trouble or boring. Simply having good situational awareness (something that is good to develop no matter where you are) and being able to present a confident demeanor has always gone a long way for me, and I've never had any trouble. Being bright and cheerful, polite and having an accent always helps too. It's in fact something that I have played up at times. I don't have a proper Aussie accent, by a long shot. Too many years in North America, an American parent and "the media" have graced me with what I call a "Generican" accent, even with 6 years of English schools, in the UK and the UAE, and living in Australia for the last 20 years. I can, however, "put it on" or at least say a few things to put me more in the "Aussie" bracket. In the event that that doesn't cut it and someone twigs that I'm "Gererican", and might want to cause trouble based on some poor foreign policy decisions in the last 30 years, my fall back plan is "I lived in Canada, eh!" cheating, perhaps, but true. Being a dual citizen has many advantages, but not being a target has more.

Knowing a bit about where you are going is key however. The geography, seasonal weather, local events and current affairs, and customs are all things that can be researched before arriving, and can for the most part be planned for. Knowing what you'll need to wear, both for weather and to fit in, or at least not ruffle any feathers is an easy challenge to meet. It's March, and cool and wet here in Wellington where I am right now. It was hot and damp when I left Melbourne. I've packed layers and it's working just fine for me. Wellington isn't prone to earthquake, but no one thought Christchurch was going to be hit as hard as it was last year either. It's not a high risk, but one I made sure I was aware of, so as not to be caught unawares.

If in doubt, I use some wilderness observation skills to make sure I have a good time. Go where the locals go, do what the locals do, eat were the locals eat. Getting a local guide can help a lot, but they're best when you know them already, even if it's a friend of a friend. Getting in touch with your network when going away, seeing who knows who and what there is there to see, do, eat, or on the otherside, what to avoid.

I love the chance to visit foreign cities, to see the sites and add those experiences to my repertoire.