Officials in Houston are just beginning to grapple with the health and environmental risks that lurk in the waters dumped by Hurricane Harvey, a stew of toxic chemicals, sewage, debris and waste that still floods much of the city. Flooded sewers are stoking fears of cholera, typhoid and other infectious diseases. Runoff from the city’s
“In the immediate emergency there’s concern around drowning, and especially for folks who are in motor vehicles where there is severe flooding, blunt trauma, fire-related injuries,” said Marisa Raphael, deputy commissioner of the Office of Emergency Preparedness and Response at the New York City Health Department. Vulnerable populations, like the homeless, the elderly and the
“Water poured into hospitals. Ambulances were caught up in roiling floodwaters. Medical transport helicopters were grounded by high winds. Houston’s world-renowned health care infrastructure found itself battered by Hurricane Harvey, struggling to treat storm victims while becoming a victim itself…. The response to Harvey, now a tropical storm but still wreaking havoc over the state,
When I was growing up in Queens in the late mid-1950s the two “go-to” hospitals were Long Island Jewish and Booth Memorial. In the early 1970’s the hospital system in the NYC metropolitan area was anchored and dominated by internationally renowned academic medical centers (then defined as a medical school and its primary teaching hospital
The OPIOD CRISIS developed under-the-radar into a large scale national epidemic. This calamity was created, not by a virus, but by the over-production of very profitable prescription pain medication, and over-prescribing due in part to “pain management” goals and patient demand. And in the recent past ZIKA spread on an unpredictable trajectory followed by a
She was triaged and escorted to a treatment room. Then sat there for 45 minutes because the desk never told the doctor she was waiting, even though the ER had a computerized patient tracking system. A COMMUNICATIONS FAILURE. While standing at the treatment room door, trying to remind the staff she was there, she overheard
Doing that required being a risk taker, not being risk averse. So here are vignettes about some risks taken over 17 years, some with success, some with failure, and some with mixed results. These examples are from my experience. Recognizing the new health care industry algorithm is more complicated, being a risk-taker is still essential