(Ft. Worth, TX, USA)

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Preparedness

Monday, September 15, 2008

Ike at T+24Hours

I was watching a report this morning given by a reporter from the Dallas Fox station currently in Houston.  I couldn’t help but be somewhat annoyed by the tone of the people he interviewed about the availability of supplies.  There seemed to be a lot of frustration along the lines of, “Where is FEMA?” 

Instead of wondering where FEMA was, my first question to these people would have been, “Where is your 72-hour kit?” 

If you look at the Ready.gov page on preparing a disaster kit, you will notice several references to three days (or 72 hours):  (highlights added by me)

They didn’t just pull this number out of their asses.  It takes time for local government to organize a response to a disaster, which is why it is each and every person’s responsibility to take care of themselves for the first three days after a disaster.

Further, FEMA’s mission is not to provide direct service to disaster victims, but instead to provide assistance to local government in obtaining supplies and funding to make it through the disaster.  Or at least that was the case until the wailing and moaning of those who were woefully unprepared for Katrina.  So those who are asking, “Where is FEMA?” might ought to instead be asking “Where will the City of Houston be on Wednesday morning?”

Friday, January 04, 2008

Are You Lit?

Do you consistently carry a flashlight on or about your person?  If not, why not?

Like most people, I hadn’t given much thought to being prepared for unexpected situations until 9/11.  At the time I was still working in an office building (albeit only a 5-story one), but I started giving some thought to what I’d do if I had to evacuate from a damaged building. One of the first things to occur to me was that it’d probably be dark, since the power would probably be out and most stairwells are on the inside of the building.  So I made it a priority to keep a flashlight on my person.

Since late 2001, I haven’t gone anywhere without my trusty old SureFire E2E Executive in my pocket:

Back when I bought it the HA E2E cost around $85.00 (current price is $96.00), and people looked at me like I was nuts for buying such an expensive light.  Some even thought I was nuts for just having a flashlight at all.  But regardless of a little wear-and-tear (which you can see in the picture), this thing is still going strong after six years despite having been dropped on concrete, dunked in water, soaked in (acid) rain storms, banged into doorways, and stepped on a few times.

And aside from being prepared for something big, you don’t realize how many times on a day-to-day basis you can use a flashlight until you’ve got one.  I’ve used it to open locks in the dark, when walking the dog, and when crawling around under desks fiddling with computer wires.  Also, a light as bright as the SureFire can be used for defensive purposes.  If someone approaches you unexpectedly at night, the light can momentarily disorient the other person.  I suspect that in at least one case, flashing the light at someone skulking near my truck in a dark parking lot discouraged him from staying and hassling me.

LED technology has advanced enough in recent years that there are some stunningly bright LED lights available at very decent prices.  I’ve got a $22 CREE-based LED light that is twice as bright as the SureFire.  Although to be perfectly fair, I wouldn’t expect the cheaper LED light to survive half of what my SureFire has been through (there’s more to a light than its brightness).  The other advantage to LEDs is that they give more light, run longer, and generate less heat (I’ve burned myself with the E2E because it gets mega hot after 10-15 minutes).  This has all got me contemplating an upgrade.  If I retire the E2E, it’ll probably be for another SureFire, perhaps the L4 LumaMax.  It is similar in size to the E2E, is available in Hard Anodized finish, has a pocket clip, and uses the same batteries (123A’s).  But the LED lamp gives 100 lumens for 2.5 hours compared to 60 lumens for 1.25 hours with the E2E.

But regardless of my choice of light, you don’t have to spend a ton of money to be prepared.  Just having a light on your key chain or in your pocket is half the battle.  I even keep a few of these little key chain lights around to hand out to the “unenlightened.”    I get them in packs of 10 for $4.68 (shipped) and they’re surprisingly bright (enough to light up a small room or to navigate down stairs).  I also keep some hooked to the zipper pulls of backpacks and bags to make it easier to find things in them in the dark (and just generally to have them around).

Anyhow, I’m putting all this out there for your consideration.  If you already carry a light, you’re probably nodding violently in agreement to this post.  If you don’t, then what are you waiting for?

Friday, November 09, 2007

Surprised It Hasn’t Already Happened

While these “new” terrorism warnings might be the usual chatter, it’s probably prudent to take them seriously.

The FBI is warning that al Qaeda may be preparing a series of holiday attacks on U.S. shopping malls in Los Angeles and Chicago, according to an intelligence report distributed to law enforcement authorities across the country this morning. (Click here for full text.)

The alert said al Qaeda “hoped to disrupt the U.S. economy and has been planning the attack for the past two years.”

Law enforcement officials tell ABCNews.com that the FBI received the information in late September and declassified it yesterday for wide distribution. 

While the moonbat contingent is out in force in the comments claiming this is the usual spin, I’m a bit surprised it hasn’t happened yet.  It doesn’t require a great deal of sophistication, nor does it require lots of resources or planning.  Heck, Tom Clancy even wrote a novel (not exactly his best work) that included mall attacks as part of the plot.  And while Mr. Clancy isn’t a national security asset, he’s oddly prescient when it comes to ways to attack America (viz. Debt of Honor, with its 747-attack on the U.S. Capitol, written in 1994).

Anyhow, malls are soft targets, and malls in places like Chicago and Los Angeles are especially soft, given their silly but draconian (and likely unconstitutional) gun laws.  It’s been nearly four years now, but my opinion has not changed (see Sterilization vs Immunization).  The best defense is one that is distributed among the people.  Relying on a centralized “authority” to respond and keep you safe is a recipe for heartbreak, disappointment, and likely death. 

So maintain Condition Yellow, and if you’ve got ‘em, carry ‘em.

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Katrina Symbology

It’s kind of strange, but some people have adopted the big search-and-rescue X as some sort of symbol for Katrina.

When Freddy Yoder returned to his flooded Lakeview home after Hurricane Katrina, he was taken aback by the big orange “X” spray-painted on the plywood covering his front door. There was a notation in each quadrant, indicating the date searched, by which agency, whether the house was entered, and whether any corpses were found.

It was the first thing to go into the debris pile.

“I want to get rid of everything that reminds me of the storm,” he said recently as he stood in front of his restored Victorian-style home. “I’ve seen enough of that to last me a lifetime. ... It’s permanently embedded in my mind, and I’ll take it to the grave with me.”

To most, the crude, neon-colored X’s are too-vivid symbols of death and destruction. The sooner they’re erased, painted over or discarded, the better.

But to some, like Bywater glass artist Mitchell Gaudet, the disaster graffiti is part of the city’s historical landscape. And preserving it has become an act of defiance.

“It was like a stigmata,” says the third-generation New Orleanian, whose girlfriend has re-created the fading yellow glyphs beside the front door of his antebellum home in raised, black, torch-cut plate steel. “Like a little badge of your survival.”

I think maybe people are thinking too much, but there’s no accounting for the strange things people do.

For those that are curious, here’s the definition of what goes in each quadrant:

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Early Storm Warning

For those in the Keller area who might be interested, I’d like to let you know that the Keller Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) will be hosting a SKYWARN class on Saturday, September 15, 2007.  The class will feature Mr. Gary Woodall of the National Weather Service Forecast Office - Fort Worth. 

It will be held from 9:00am to noon at the Keller Police community room (located at 330 Rufe Snow Drive). 

So just what is SKYWARN and why would you be interested? 

SKYWARN is a volunteer program established by NOAA’s National Weather Service (NWS) in partnership with other organizations.  According to NOAA, “SKYWARN has nearly 280,000 trained severe weather spotters,” and “these volunteers help keep their local communities safe by providing timely and accurate reports of severe weather to the National Weather Service.”

While that might sound kind of intimidating, SKYWARN training is valuable for anyone who lives in North Texas whether they wish to participate in storm spotting activities or not.  The basic SKYWARN class covers:

• Basics of thunderstorm development
• Fundamentals of storm structure
• Identifying potential severe weather features
• Information to report
• How to report information
• Basic severe weather safety

I’ve been to both the basic and advanced SKYWARN training, and while I don’t go chase storms, it’s helped me quite a bit in understanding when I should worry about a particular storm and which areas are most dangerous in such a storm. 

Thursday, April 19, 2007

Proper Paranoia

I guess I do have more to say about the subject of mass shootings that I realized when I wrote my last entry.

When I wrote the original item that I referenced I still worked in a traditional office environment.  These days I work for the same company, but I work from home.  Given that my company is run by GFW’s, I’d actually given the scenario of a mass shooter some thought.

Their policy is that guns, knives, pepper-spray, or anything else that can be used as a weapon is forbidden from the premises, as well as the parking lot (which is a topic of interest these days in the Texas legislature).  After taking a look at our security, I quickly came to the conclusion that we were a soft target.  Security was unarmed and unable to handle an armed intruder.  Further, most people didn’t seem to take the badge-in requirements seriously, so it’d be easy for someone to tailgate their way into the building.

I decided that I would do whatever possible in my power to avoid being just another victim.  Now I wasn’t about to go chasing around the building playing ninja hoping to catch the bad guy.  But if the shooter made it into my area, I was prepared to try to take him by surprise as best as I could, using whatever I happened to have nearby.  This plan was necessarily loose, as you don’t always know where you’ll be, but at least it’s something to start from. 

I’m sure there are some people out there who will think this line of thought unnecessarily paranoid.  But I think it’s only prudent to at least have given it some thought.  I work for a fairly large multi-national corporation.  There has been at least one such event in the company’s history.  So it’s not exactly something that’s completely out of the realm of possibility.  And it’s something that the management was concerned about (especially in today’s environment of the disposable resource/employee), although it’s obvious that they weren’t willing to take the steps to let us defend ourselves.

Anyhow, I don’t have to worry so much about that particular problem these days, since I don’t go into the office very often.  But on those occasions that I do, I keep it in mind.  Sometimes a bit of paranoia is a good thing.

Wednesday, March 07, 2007

Tired…

In my spare time I’m a volunteer with our local Community Emergency Response Team (Citizen Corps CERT information; Keller CERT site).  While CERT is sponsored by the local fire department, we formed the Keller CERT Association to organize ourselves as a separate entity.  In the last election I was elected to the post of Training Director.  A couple of years ago I took the CERT “Train the Trainer” class along with one of our other members and participated in teaching our last class, so it seemed like a natural fit.

This past week has been pretty busy, as we had our regular monthly meeting last Thursday, a team-wide disaster exercise on Saturday, and we started a new class last night.  Additionally, I attended a training session yesterday afternoon to learn how to use the fire department’s fancy new fire extinguisher trainer (just in time for our new class, which will be using this device in next week’s session).

Organizing a disaster turns out to be a fair amount of work.  You have to think up a scenario, find a location, recruit victims, make sure the team knows where to be and when to be there, prepare the location, and then prepare the victims (moulage, fake wounds, etc).  Once the exercise begins you have to monitor the progress of the teams and make sure that everyone stays safe.  Afterwards, there’s cleanup and teardown, as well as the debriefing. 

Teaching classes is also fairly involved.  You can’t just read from the instructor manual and expect everyone to come back for the next class.  You have to know the material well enough to move through it smoothly, referring back to the book only for quick guidance.  In the case of last night’s class, I reviewed the material and correlated it to the Powerpoint slides, and came up with a time/sequence chart for the topics, so that we didn’t get too far off course.  I’m coming to the conclusion that proper time management is one of the keys to a good class presentation. 

At last night’s class I wasn’t the only instructor, but I was still up there for about two hours.  It takes a lot of concentration, and after the class I was pretty much wiped (these classes run until 9:30pm).

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

What’s That In The Sky?

Friday, October 06, 2006

Compatibility, Standardization, and Cost

I’m about to do something not often done on this website.  I’m about to argue that KISD should spend more money than originally planned on something.  It’s not turf or stadiums, though.

One of the interesting things I learned last night when I took my CPR/AED renewal was that KISD is in the process of purchasing 55 AEDs for use on all of their campuses.  They are evaluating various models and comparing costs before making the purchase, which is of course the right thing to do.  In the absence of other factors, I’d suggest using cost to feature analysis and picking the one with the most features for the lowest cost. 

However, there are other factors to consider.  Specifically, the City of Keller has standardized on the LIFEPAK 500 AED from Medtronic.  While the LIFEPAK 500 isn’t the lowest cost model, it had the advantage of being directly compatible with the LIFEPAK 12 Defibrillator/Monitor that Keller Fire-Rescue carries on its trucks and medic units.  This means that the electrical pads that were applied to the patient for the AED can be plugged directly into the LIFEPAK 12 and the LIFEPAK 12 can use those pads for both defibrillation and pacing.  The 500 is also compatible with the Medtronic LIFEPAK defibrillator/monitors carried by the majority of EMS agencies in the KISD area (i.e. Medstar for Ft. Worth, Watagua DPS, Southlake Fire, etc). 

So why is this compatibility so important?  Can’t any AED save a life?  Certainly having an AED is better than not having one, so should KISD choose another one it’s not like their brand will cause people to die that wouldn’t have otherwise died (hopefully   ).  Still, though, there are some good reasons for compatibility:

• As noted above, the electrode pads used by the LIFEPAK 500 are directly compatible with the LIFEPAK 12 and can be used for defibrillation and pacing as well as reading electrical activity (ECG) on the monitor.  Other brands would likely require removing the pads and replacing them with compatible ones.
• Once a pad is used for defibrillation it will cause a burn (first degree) on the patient’s skin.  This is an acceptable side-effect, given that the alternative is dying.  However, it also means that if you have to change the pads you have to find a different position, which may require putting the new ones in a suboptimal location, as well as causing new burns.  The ideal locations are on the upper right chest and on the left side, towards the bottom of the ribcage, such that you’re making a diagonal through the heart.
• When a pad is used the first time it breaks down some of the electrical resistance and will be more effective afterwards.  Replacing the pads means having to start over.
• Changing pads takes additional time over just plugging the pads into the LIFEPAK 12.

While all AEDs are designed to be easy to use (per FDA/US Gov requirements), it should also be noted that Keller Fire-Rescue trains quite a few people in town on CPR and AEDs and the training is done with the 500T (the “inert” trainer for the 500; it simulates AED operation pretty realistically, but can’t actually shock anyone).  It certainly can’t hurt to have the same model of AED available that Keller Fire-Rescue trains with (although I do acknowledge that many KISD schools are outside Keller itself). 

This is one situation where I think spending a bit extra to insure compatibility and continuity of care is worth it. 

Simpler, Yet Harder…

I took a CPR/AED class last night to refresh my training since my certificate expires in February.  The new rules are interesting, in that they’ve made things a little simpler by making the compression/breaths/repeats cycle the same for children and adults.  They also increased the number of compressions that are given so that it’s now 30 compressions followed by two breaths and the whole cycle is repeated 5 times.

However, the new rules result in CPR being more tiring.  I suspect that someone who doesn’t do CPR a lot (i.e. the majority of us) would be pretty tired if he or she had to do CPR for more than two or three minutes.

Also of interest is the change in AED guidelines.  Previously, AED’s would analyze the heart rhythm and then advise whether to shock or not.  After the shock it would reanalyze and advise to give another shock or not.  The rules no longer call for these “stacked shocks.”  Now you’re supposed to give one shock if advised and then evaluate the patient and continue CPR for another cycle (30/2x5) and then analyze with the AED again.  The older AED’s that are out there don’t do this, so you just have to know it.  Newer AED’s have the newer programming and will guide you correctly.

I’m told that all of the ones in Keller city buildings will eventually be reprogrammed with the new rules as soon as Medtronics sends the software and cable for the Lifepak 500 models that we have.

Sunday, June 04, 2006

Burning My Ass Off Here, Boss

I was out at the yearly KellerFEST this weekend as part of our local CERT.  We were there to staff the aid station, which involved (very) minor first aid, answering a lot of questions, and providing water for the firemen, police, and police explorers.

I was there on Friday afternoon and into the night, most of the day Saturday, and this afternoon.  After all that sun exposure I’m now a crispy critter.  So much for “sweatproof” sunscreen…  Or I guess it isn’t sweatproof for me.  It certainly didn’t stick, as my red nose can attest.  But then I probably drank about 5 liters of water, almost all of which came back out as sweat (or so it seems).  When we finally packed up and left this afternoon at 5:45pm, it was 101°F according to the thermometer in my truck.  I’m surprised that no one came down with heatstroke during the event (including me!).

It certainly helped that we had some misters for the aid station.  They proved to be very popular with all of the people passing through, and they certainly helped us. 

However, I think these two were our most interesting “customers” of the day:

Thursday, February 02, 2006

Typical Government Operation

Our local CERT has refresher training as part of each monthly meeting.  We’re going over one chapter from the class in each meeting.  Tonight, being the second meeting of the year, is Chapter 2 (fire supression), and I’m the instructor.  I decided I’d check the FEMA CERT page, which has been hosting the training materials just to see if any changes had been made.  Instead of the usual page, I got the following:

Important Notice For CERT Program

CERT and Citizen Corps were transferred to the Office of Domestic Preparedness (now the Office of Grants and Training) in August 2004. FEMA continued to maintained the CERT website in support of our DHS partner. As of January 31st, 2006, FEMA will transfer the CERT website content to a new CERT/Citizen Corps site. We expect that Citizen Corps will have the new website available by February 15th. When it is, we will post the address here. CERT information, CERT questions and team registration will be handled at the new address.

EMI will continue to offer IS-317 Introduction to Community Emergency Response Teams.

I know it’s a fairly short interval (at least in government terms), but it means that none of the CERT training materials are available during the transition.  Anyhow, it boggles the mind a bit that they’d just leave it down like this.  They’ve had 17 months to perpare, and they still can’t coordinate handing off the site.

I’ve had customers for web work that would be ticked off if you had 15 minutes of downtime, much less 15 days.

(Edited last sentence to make more sense…)

Tuesday, September 13, 2005

Heavy Load

After Katrina hit, Kim du Toit reposted his summary of SHTF items (guns and supplies).  The following comment caught my eye and set off a dangerous cascade of mental activity on my part:

Following on to my previous rant, here’s a challenge for everyone…

Once you have your SHTF/BOB gear together, pick a “come-as-you-are-camping weekend.”

On arising that day, allow yourself and your family 10 minutes to load up before leaving - no more.  Head for an unprepared site away from town; no stop-offs at 7-11 to fill the ice chest or pick up any goodies.  Spend the night at the site with only what you brought along in the 10 minute loadout.

I promise it will be most instructive.  If you have to return home early, don’t despair.  At least your first time out won’t be when you’re cold, scared, hungry and tired and gambling with you and your family’s lives instead of the chance of having bored kids, a grumpy spouse and a backache from a night of camping.  What you’ll learn from this might someday spell the difference between being a live evacuee or a dead refugee.

It seemed like a good idea and also got me to thinking about two scenarios.  The first is covered, in that I could shove a bunch of crap into the Avalanche and bug the hell out.  But what if you had to carry everything on your back?  It also seemed fun to me to try backpacking.  So I’m thinking of trying to put together a set of gear that would be useful for backpacking and as a subset of the bug-out kit.

I’m still evaluating the right kind of load-bearing-equipment, though.  That stuff is damn expensive.  However, if you’re in a situation where you have to carry three day’s worth of food, water, clothing and shelter, you’re going to want something that works well.  I’m also looking for canine packs, since I have no intention of bugging out without my dog*.  I’ve found a few possibilities on REI.com (like this one).  But it looks like I’m going to have to take her into the store with me and try them out on her.  She’s a mixed breed, and her measurements (54lbs, girth 30”, and length 23”) make her a bit of a strange fit.

Despite the cost, my enthusiasm factor is still fairly high.  Although last night I started to question how wise this endevour would be, since my back is giving me problems again.

* I think the situation in New Orleans with people and their pets is a good lesson.  If you can get out, then do it.  Otherwise you’re at the mercy of whomever finds you and gets you out of the city, and that often means leaving your animals behind.  If you leave before the storm, on your own, then you can do it your way and not have to leave the dog behind.

Thursday, July 28, 2005

Disasters Must Confine Themselves To Regular Business Hours

Ever since I completed CERT training I’ve gotten periodic invitations to participate in various mock disaster drills (such as the one at Texas Motor Speedway, the one at DFW airport, etc).  Usually they want us to act as casualties, although an upcoming one in Ft. Worth would allow us to practice in more active roles.

The main thing I’ve noticed about all of these drills is that they occur on weekdays during (or close to) regular business hours.  I imagine that part of this is cost driven, since having first-responders out on nights or weekends would likely involve bringing in people from first-shift who would incur overtime.  But it hampers participation by volunteers to those who don’t work during the day. 

Aside from the volunteer pool issue, though, wouldn’t a real disaster likely occur at any time?  Shouldn’t second and third shift responders be in on these?  Wouldn’t a good disaster drill test the system during the later shifts to see how well the system responds at times of lower staffing (i.e. it would stress their emergency callout capability)?

Somehow I don’t think bad weather, plane crashes, or terrorists will confine themselves to regular business hours on weekdays…

Saturday, October 16, 2004

Smoked

A while back I wrote about my experience in the Keller Citizen’s Fire Academy and CERT class when we were given a chance to suit up in full bunker gear and go into a darkened room.  This morning we went to an old house here in town and did the exercise in a more realistic environment.  Before we entered they filled the house with smoke (theatrical smoke, rather than the real thing) and then took in a “baby” that we had to go find (it was actually a rope bag). 

They sent us in in groups of four with a hose line.  I was the first one in, so in addition to carrying the nozzle I had to feel out the obstacles in the environment and relay that information back to the people behind me.  We followed a left-hand search pattern, which means we stayed to the left and always took left turns.  I have to say that crawling on your hands and knees, carrying the hose line, and feeling your way around is a pretty tough thing to do.  You almost need a third hand to do it all.  As for actually being able to find anything, I’m amazed that we did it.  The third person in our line was the one who found the baby.  It was fortunate that he did so when he did, because just after that I heard the low air warning bells coming from someone else’s pack.  At that point we all turned around and followed the hose line outside.

One thing that I found amazing is that more firefighters aren’t injured doing search and rescue.  Something you don’t think about, but that poses a real hazard, is a drop-off.  Since they’re feeling their way around, they can’t easily tell that there’s a drop-off in front of them.  An example of this would be a sunken living room or a garage.  In some houses, the garage may be several feet below the floor level of the rest of the house.  We had one that was only a few inches and it felt like a mile when I stumbled across it with my knees.

It was definitely an eye-opening experience.  In a real fire you won’t be able to see your hand in front of your face because of the smoke, and it’s imperative that you stay low as the smoke above you is extremely hot.  Not only would you not be able to breathe, you would be burned.

Here’s a good shot of how thick the smoke was as one of our class members was entering: