For several years I have toured the country and spoken at conferences on the need for us to begin a new way of thinking. Ahead of my time, I guess, as last year my speech entitled "Navigating the New Normal" given at the International Association of Emergency Managers EMEX show was for the most part ignored by a sparse group attempting to have personal discussions during my presentation. Funny because this year's theme at the IAEM Conference is "Navigating the New Normal".
Well folks, that navigation has begun and the ships are crashing into the breakers without a lighthouse. Don't believe me? Watch CNN for 5 minutes.
Over the course of many years I have been blessed to partner with several innovative developers of solutions for the disaster market. I do not use the word “solution” lightly. There are many products on the market, many are good, more are not. It is unfortunate that as I prepare to head off to another expo that I already know I will see many products that work well in a controlled environment or a lab but rarely function in the real world of disaster and chaos.
Well folks, that navigation has begun and the ships are crashing into the breakers without a lighthouse. Don't believe me? Watch CNN for 5 minutes.
Over the course of many years I have been blessed to partner with several innovative developers of solutions for the disaster market. I do not use the word “solution” lightly. There are many products on the market, many are good, more are not. It is unfortunate that as I prepare to head off to another expo that I already know I will see many products that work well in a controlled environment or a lab but rarely function in the real world of disaster and chaos.
An example of the real solutions might be the FoxFury lights used by our
team. Sure, we could go and spend one
third of the money but would we have a light that does its job in the heat of
the moment? We have found that these lights surpass anything else on the market
when you take into account reliability, ease of mobility, durability and
performance all around. This is why we
use them, why we depend on them and why we recommend them… they have proven
themselves to be SOLUTIONS.
Now, as I sit here at my desk putting pen to my thoughts, I am looking at my FoxFury 450nm 470nm forensic light source and kit on the shelf behind me wondering if we are really going to stop the spread of Ebola in the United States without utilizing the tools and solutions that exist...
Now, as I sit here at my desk putting pen to my thoughts, I am looking at my FoxFury 450nm 470nm forensic light source and kit on the shelf behind me wondering if we are really going to stop the spread of Ebola in the United States without utilizing the tools and solutions that exist...
With that explained, let’s move on to the situation at hand.
Anyone with access to cable has seen the stories regarding
the need for protocols regarding the screening, admission and care of Ebola
patients and potential Ebola patients.
It has pained me to see the lack of protocols and the failure of EMS and
hospitals highlighted on the news when I feel that these failures are not at
all the fault of those being blamed! How
can we justify attacking entities for poor handling when the proper tools were
never presented to them?
Ebola is a very real threat, not just to Africa, but to the
world. It has been estimated that
thousands more will contract the deadly virus before the year’s end and we can
bet there will be some of those right here in the United States; after all, it
was only 5 weeks ago that we were told it would NEVER be here, then when it
arrived we were told it would stop with one Liberian National…
While Ebola is a real threat, as usual, ignorance is already
at a pandemic level here in the States.
According to the dictionary, “ignorant” is an adjective used
to describe someone with a “lack of training”, “unlearned”, “lacking knowledge
or information as to a particular subject or fact” and “unaware”.
Sad that we have used the word to mean “stupid” but that
is not at all its meaning. The folks at
the CDC are not stupid. The folks at the
Dallas hospital are not stupid. Dallas
Emergency Management is not stupid.
Unfortunately, they may be ignorant. Unaware. Lacking information.
Why do I bring this up? Because as I watch the theft of
dignity in airports, emergency rooms and even at an apartment complex in
Dallas, I wonder why there has been no privacy barriers used like the
SRN1000. Why have patients and even
suspected patients been subjected to hundreds of cameras and cell phones; why
are there pictures inundating social media of people in the midst of their own
personal hells? I ask the question, at
what point is the failure to provide some sort of privacy going to become a
liability issue costing millions? If my
family was being transported from our apartment in the midst of a media circus,
I would expect law enforcement or EMS to provide some sort of protection from
the thousands of lenses and film crews.
Why is it
that a serial-killer being transported to jail is allowed a
coat over his head yet we parade Ebola patients and suspected patients through
what appears to be the new “disease paparazzi”?
Carl Connova and his son Phillip have a solution that has
been on the market for some time. A
family owned business with a real SOLUTION.
So why are they not being used?
For over a year now, I know the reason.
Smaller companies, homegrown companies and the true innovators are being
ignored or overlooked and it is time we start to pay attention to these companies more than
fancy marketing campaigns and major corporate entities looking to make a
million on products without any knowledge of how to offer a SOLUTION.
Let’s take this another step further…
Why wait nearly 5 days to move the family from the Dallas
apartment so a private sector team can come in and clean the unit when a small
company (not too far from the SRN offices in Florida) has created a broad
spectrum disinfectant fogger that could have been deployed in under 20 minutes
at the apartment complex? Can the powers
that be honestly now stand in a press conference and say they did “all they
could”? Of course not…they were acting
in ignorance. They were unaware that
that Eco-Evolutions Halo Fogger even existed as far as I can tell.
If that was YOUR ambulance…you know, the one that
transferred the first U.S. Ebola patient… wouldn’t it have been nice to know
that a machine had been deployed inside and outside of it that dispersed a
broad spectrum disinfectant known to kill a massive amount of complex virus’? The day that ambulance was used a representative
from a health department was featured on CNN stating that, and I quote, “wiping
with bleach is the best weapon”.
To be honest, if that ambulance was in MY fire hall, I would
have stopped going to work that week.
And one more thought… for over 36 hours we heard about the
need for protocols on moving infected or possibly infected materials, bedding
and even the body of Eric Duncan. One of
our partners, Bio-Seal, offers the very real (and possibly the only) solution to this dilemma. This containment
system can handle not only the body, but waste, bedding, personal belongings
and more; and the system is mobile.
Bio-Seal has a SOLUTION that allows a facility, a responder, an
EMS group, a health Department or ANY agency or personnel to create the highest
level of containment for all dangerous gases and fluids associated with the
transport, handling and storage of biohazardous materials in the health or
death care industry. It was the Bio-Seal product that allowed the body of Duncan to be transferred safely following his death.
Again, a real SOLUTION.
So where are the challenges?
Everywhere. How are planes being
disinfected? Are travelers being screened publicly? Are patients being
transported with their own press entourage? Are hospitals and EMS services
doing all they can using all that is available to protect the public and
responders alike? We have just been notified that yet another Ebola patient, Amber Vinson, boarded a commercial flight from Cleveland after showing the first symptom of being infectious. According to reports, the CDC is looking for the 132 passengers from that flight at the moment of this blog's creation.
What concerns me is that also according to the report, and I quote: "The October 13 flight was cleaned thoroughly after it landed, per our normal procedures which is consistent with CDC guidelines. After the airline was informed of the Ebola patient, the plane was removed from service."
As I am preparing to fly several times in the next month, could we be informed as to WHO cleaned that plane and HOW?
What concerns me is that also according to the report, and I quote: "The October 13 flight was cleaned thoroughly after it landed, per our normal procedures which is consistent with CDC guidelines. After the airline was informed of the Ebola patient, the plane was removed from service."
As I am preparing to fly several times in the next month, could we be informed as to WHO cleaned that plane and HOW?
There are
real SOLUTIONS out there. These are just
a few, but I felt it was worth the time to write about them and put things into
perspective. Many of my readers work in
health care, in response and in government… maybe, just maybe this blog reaches
someone that is more afraid of ignorance than Ebola.
For more information about these solutions, please contact
me directly through our website at www.C4LAssociates.com
