Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Disaster Preparedness: Muhlenberg area written off?

How unprepared are we for a mass disaster?

With the closure of Muhlenberg, the emergency preparedness plan for Plainfield and the surrounding communities needs a radical update. Will it be done, or is the state just willing to write off 135,000 people without batting an eye?

The current issues of Emergency Management magazine looks at hospital preparedness --
With 9/11 seven years past, hospitals still aren't ready to handle the surge of patients that would come during another mass casualty event, despite billions of dollars spent, according to experts in the field.

Since September 2001, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has distributed nearly $4 billion to state and local hospital preparedness efforts.

Nevertheless, officials say hospital emergency departments and emergency medical services (EMS) would be unable to handle a mass casualty event... CONTINUE reading.

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