Archive for April, 2009

The World Health Organization has raised the pandemic alert level for H1N1 (Swine) Influenza to a Level 5 – Pandemic. A pandemic is defined as a worldwide outbreak of disease in numbers clearly in excess of normal.

First Responders

What Am I Looking For?

Patients exhibiting symptoms of Influenza including high grade fever (over 101), cough, body aches, sore throat, nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea

What Should I Do?

- Use Universal Precautions
- Wear N95 respirators or surgical masks, gloves, and goggles/face shield when providing direct patient care
- H1N1 Influenza is especially harmful to the respiratory system, so be on the look out for hypoxia and acute respiratory distress
- Suctioning, nebulization, or intubation Responders should also don gowns
- Offer surgical masks to all patients with symptoms of a respiratory illness who are refusing oxygen mask therapy
- Make a reasonable effort to advise the facility you are transporting to that you are bringing in a patient with these symptoms
- All cases are suspect until confirmed through lab results
- BE SURE TO WASH YOUR HANDS WITH SOAP AND WATER OR HAND SANITIZER AFTER REMOVING GLOVES AND ANY USED PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT
- Disregard all used protective equipment in accordance with your medical waste disposal policies
- Report any potential exposures in accordance with your agency’s Exposure Plan

Average Citizen

What should I do if I am exhibiting symptoms of Influenza including fever, cough, body aches, sore throat, nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea?

-Do not panic! Fear and panic are your enemy!
-Consult with your private physician
-Call 911 if you are unable to get to the hospital safely yourself

How can I limit my chances of being exposed?

- Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. When soap and water aren’t available use alcohol-based hand cleaners
- Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue or sleeve when you cough or sneeze
- Try to avoid close contact with people who are sick
- Influenza is thought to spread mainly person-to-person through coughing or sneezing
- If you get sick, stay home from work or school and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them

Influenza A virus subtype H1N1 is a new strain that is an apparent assortment of several strains of influenza, which analysis at the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) identified as a strain endemic in humans, a strain endemic in birds, and two strains endemic in American and Eurasian pigs (swine).

Related articles by Zemanta

• Masks keep you from spreading illness (cnn.com)
• Mexico City at epicenter of swine flu fears (cnn.com)
• World battles swine flu as death toll rises (cnn.com)
• Mexico swine flu has ‘pandemic potential’ (cbc.ca)
• Track the Swine Flu Outbreak on Google Maps (geeksugar.com)
• Facts on an Unusual Swine Flu Mix (grantlawrence.blogspot.com)

Monday afternoon I was stuck in a holding pattern above LaGuardia Airport on a return flight from Denver after a weekend with friends in Santa Fe. Once I finally found myself on the ground I noticed there was a heightened level of security in the airport, but for once I can agree it was for a good reason.

Someone thought it would be a okay to fly one of President Obama’s Boeing 747 that gets used as Air Force One and two F-16 Fighters over the Statue of Liberty at a low altitude. The planes reportedly flew past the Statue a total of three times giving Air Force photographers an opportunity to take an iconic photo of the plane similar to the one above.

The flyover caused nothing but sheer panic in a city that has watched as not one, but two jetliners were purposely flown into its skyline. It was a mission approved by Louis E. Caldera, the Director of the White House Military Office. He did issue a statement of apology and accepted responsibility for his severe lack of common sense and good judgement.

You want to know what amazes me?

CBS News reports that the flyover of the three planes cost somewhere in the range of $328,000. This very same photo could have been achieved using Photoshop, as the Daily News points out, and it would have both cost a lot less and not caused such an uproar. So how many more of these frivolous missions do we taxpayers foot the bill for and not know it?

We are quick to jump on the auto industry for flying their private jets which by the way helps fuel the actual economy since they don’t use Air Force Bases. We are quick to jump on banks and insurance companies who have longstanding plans to spend money in Las Vegas. We are quick to jump on people who get raises we are promised. So why aren’t we jumping up and down all over not just the ambient stupidity of this decision, but also its expense?

Oh right, because now pigs are flying too.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Feds’ Photo Op With Low-Flying Jets Scares NYers (laist.com)
• Air Force One is one ’spiffy ride,’ Obama says (cnn.com)
• Low-level flight panics New York (news.bbc.co.uk)
• Pentagon Seeks Air Force One Replacement (cbsnews.com)
• Obama’s first flight on Air Force One (gadling.com)

Ten years ago today two Columbine High School students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, entered the school and went on a shooting rampage. The two shooters critically injured 24 people and killed another 13 before taking their own lives.

The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department was the first responding law enforcement agency on the scene. In the days after the event they came under severe scrutiny for allowing the two gunmen to have free reign of the school for almost an hour until the Denver SWAT Team arrived. The Denver SWAT Team also received criticism for their long response and what seemed an inordinate amount of time to enter and secure the building, approximately 2.5 hours after their arrival on scene.

In the years since Columbine, law enforcement have re-evaluated their protocols and procedures when dealing with an “active shooter” scenario. They have, hopefully, instituted revised procedures on how to better handle these situations. More importantly though is to provide adequate training in these tactical changes. Without the proper training all we are doing is placing our Law Enforcement Responders in greater danger.

As the post investigation of Columbine indicated, both Harris and Klebold had four propane tank bombs in their vehicles that failed to detonate with the sole intent of harming the first responders. Whether they be Law Enforcement, Emergency Medical Services, or Fire Services a First Responder can only assist the victim if they make it to them safely.

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• A Columbine Victim’s Spirit of Hope Grows (nytimes.com)
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• School Shooters: ‘Like Every Adolescent’? (abcnews.go.com)
• The four most useful lessons of Columbine. (slate.com)
• 10 Years After: Trauma Haunts Columbine (abcnews.go.com)
• As the Columbine assault raged, students barricaded a classroom and fought to keep a wounded teacher alive. (slate.com)

EXIF Data

camera	Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XSi
focal_length	18
iso	400
aperture	4
shutter_speed	0.0166666666667

This was just something I did in photoshop for kicks. I took the two shots using a wireless remote with a 2 second timer, and then just merged the photos by erasing myself on the couch through to the one of me standing.

It’s all for shits and giggles.