Strengthen Your Business Through Disaster/Business Continuity Planning and Mutual Aid

Strengthen Your Business Through Disaster/Business Continuity Planning and Mutual Aid

In prior articles in this series, we explored the first two steps of the High Alert Institute’s four-step approach to disaster/business continuity risk assessment, planning, mitigation, training, and evaluation: Step 1: Collate an All-Hazards list of planning...
The Best Gift of the Evening

The Best Gift of the Evening

My daughter is one of those kids for whom it is always difficult to buy a gift. I say “kid,” but she is 23 years old, a Flair Bartender (think Tom Cruise in “Cocktail”), and a Paramedic. She has been self-supporting for years and as a single working woman, has the...
Our Fate is in the Hands of Healthcare (and they’re not prepared)

Our Fate is in the Hands of Healthcare (and they’re not prepared)

The most ominous words ever uttered by a disaster preparedness expert were voiced during a deep background interview. This expert stated simply that given the current state of hospital preparedness and the current rate at which facilities are becoming disaster ready,...
Of Nightingales, Canaries, BATS and Avian Flu

Of Nightingales, Canaries, BATS and Avian Flu

At the turn of the 19th century, miners carried canaries into the caves not as pets, but as sentinels. The canary’s song was an angelic chorus to reassure the miners of their safety. It was not a klaxon alarm, but the silence of death that warned of toxic air. The...
Can Your Business Withstand a Natural Disaster?

Can Your Business Withstand a Natural Disaster?

Disasters can strike at any time, anywhere. So whether it’s a natural disaster, like an earthquake or hurricane, or a man-made one, like an Anthrax attack, your health care facility needs to be prepared. You can’t wait until the actual event. You need an all-hazards...