One Flu Over the EMS

Y'ever notice how many things are described as having "flu-like symptoms"? WrongDiagnosis.com lists 129 medications that can have flu-like side-effects, and (once I filtered out the duplicates and minor variations), 58 different maladies, including:

Anthrax
Bowel Bypass Syndrome
Cat Scratch Fever
Chickenpox
Fire ant bite
Food poisoning
HIV/AIDS
Hodgkin's Disease
Legionnaires' Disease
Leukemia
Lyme Disease
Metal Fume Fever
Sandfly Fever
SARS
Slap-Cheek Syndrome
Smallpox
Syphilis
Systemic Capillary Leak Syndrome
Tuberculosis
Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis

So don't worry if you get swine or bird flu symptoms: it might be something totally different.

In any case, that's background for the following news story from the Journal of Emergency Medical Services (JEMS):

LOWELL, MA, Dec. 7 - Expect discussion by the City Council Tuesday night regarding a policy ... under [which] dispatchers have stopped sending firefighters to medical calls where flu might be present ... [Fire Chief Edward] Pitta said he does not want firefighters compromising their health by responding to 911 medical calls for flu-like symptoms, including fever, cough, sore throat, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, shortness of breath associated with flu, and sore chest associated with cough."

But what if it's Slap-Cheek Syndrome?

Live-blogging from the H1N1 Clinic

11:00 AM
"So, what is DisasterMan doing today? Saving sturdy buildings from fire-breathing kittens? Rescuing the homeless from homes? Searching for 'Lost' DVDs for the homebound?"

"Putting baby powder in his super-tight spandex suit, in a vain attempt to grow babies?"

Why, yes! All those things -- and more! I'm also sitting on my butt in some bleachers at a high school, waving the occasional family in a direction that's already obvious, to go get their H1N1 flu shots.

Cracking the Codes

Under the National Incident Management System (NIMS), people are supposed to avoid use of acronyms and 10 codes on the radio, such as 10-4. (Though that one is probably OK). They vary too much from department to department, which inhibits communication in joint operations.

They also can vary a wee bit in severity. For example, 10-89 can mean a bomb threat, but for the Salt Lake County Sheriff, it means stolen bicycle. Other examples:

Alphabet Soup

Under the National Incident Management System (NIMS), use of acronyms is supposed to be avoided, because they vary between agencies and can be unclear. Instead, people are told to just speak plainly.

FEMA still has a ways to go on that. These are from FEMA documents:

"... After-Action Report (AAR) for the Top Officials (TOPOFF) 4 Full-Scale Exercise (FSE) ... composed at the After-Action Conference (AAC) ...

"TOPOFF 4 (T4) - The T4 FSE used a radiological dispersal device (RDD) scenario based on National Planning Scenario (NPS) ... As observed in T3 ... departments and agencies (D/As) ...

Live-blogging Gatekeeper

8:00 a.m.
Got up at about 5:30 to go in for this emergency exercise. Had to to get here by 7 am.

Police command post RV, flashing signs say exercise... looks like the right place, but I don't see our contact yet. He's no doubt part of an elite, highly-trained, can-kill-you-27-ways-with-their-bare-hands, emergency, anti-terrorism strike force at the ... let's see... DC Dept of Transportation. Hmm... Maybe no M16s this time, but I might get to use one of those stop/go traffic direction signs. Watch out bin Laden; no going 30 in a 20 mph zone while I'm here!

9:30 a.m.
Two of us volunteers showed up, but the other one bailed, because we weren't going to get to do traffic control; we're being assigned to the Police Dept. instead. Yeah, that really sux; traffic control sounds so much more exciting.

Celebrating The Big Rumble

TheBigRumble.org: "This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Loma Prieta earthquake. The Big Rumble commemorates the anniversary with a week-long series of special events designed to connect our communities with preparedness resources."

Wikipedia: "The Loma Prieta earthquake killed 63 people ... injured 3,757, and left some 3,000, 8,000, 10,000, or 12,000 people homeless. ... During the earthquake, the [Cyprus Viaduct] freeway buckled and twisted ... and sent the upper deck crashing to the lower deck. In an instant, 41 people were crushed to death in their cars."

TheBigRumble.org: "... folks all over the City of San Francisco will be rolling out their barbeques and world famous potato salads and throwing their own 'Where Were You in '89' Neighborhood Block Party -- and so should you! ...we have a Block Party Host Toolkit with tons of great tips on how to throw the perfect bash..."

Woo hoo! How about a Jello "cake" with a house of cards and little figurines on top? And games like, "Stomp on the Hot Wheels track!"

BTW, what's the deal with those homeless numbers? "7,500, margin of error: 60%"?

Tornado Warning

It was raining cats and dogs this afternoon. (Now we have dead pets everywhere.) It occurred to me, as I looked out the window, that I am, after all, a SKYWARN storm spotter for the National Weather Service. Maybe I ought to call in, so the people in Building 2 know what it's like over at Building 4.

But I didn't. And maybe I should have, so they'd get the news earlier. See this warning below? It says it was sent at 7:07, and I received it at 7:18.

------ Original Message ------
Received: 07:07 PM EDT, 08/21/2009
From: "Alert Montgomery"
Subject: SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING

The National Weather Service has issued a SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING for Montgomery County until 7:15. Doppler radar indicated a thunderstorm approaching the County which has intensified well past severe limits.

Ebola Follies, Part 2

[Click here to read Ebola Follies, Part 1.]

I finally took the time to finish "The Hot Zone," the book about the Ebola outbreak in Reston, VA in 1989-'90. I'll relate it with some snippets:

"...USAMRIID [U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases] concluded Ebola can spread through the air."

"When he talked to the Washington Post reporters... he was careful not to use scary military terms like 'amplification,' 'lethal chain of transmission,' 'crash and bleed,' or 'major pucker factor.'"