Just to add some more fun stuff to this topic, a couple of updates. We know a number of people in “emergency services” in California. Over the years, I’ve asked that they report any unusual trends, espeically as it might relate to war or some type of civil “event” in the U.S. In particular, would like to know about hazardous material drills, changes in crowd control, big shifts in standard operating procedures as it relates to how emergency service workers handle certain types of situations, etc. Recently, there are some interesting developments that might be worth sharing here:
1. They have been ramping up the “mass casualty incident” drills; having them maybe 3-5 times more often than usual this past year. These are the drills where they enact a scene from various accidents, often dealing with hazardous materials, containment, crowd control, patient triage, etc. In addition to having more of these, they seem to be focusing on contamination issues.
2. The “triage tags” have been changed, and now there is a default for “contaminated” that needs to be ripped off the tag if someone is NOT contaminated. IOW, the tags assume all patients are “contaminated” until they are cleared.
3. They are having the largest-ever, statewide “earthquake” drill in November. This may be totally benign and truly related to earthquakes; then again, it may not. They emphasize what things will be like **after** the quake, and how emergency service workers will be stretched thin, and people will be “on their own”. They are stressing earthquake preparedness, including adequate supply of water, food, medical supplies, etc.
