首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
The Next Disaster: Are We Ready? Are We Really Prepared? After the attacks on September 11 and the hurricanes that slammed t
The Next Disaster: Are We Ready? Are We Really Prepared? After the attacks on September 11 and the hurricanes that slammed t
admin
2010-08-21
57
问题
The Next Disaster: Are We Ready?
Are We Really Prepared?
After the attacks on September 11 and the hurricanes that slammed the Gulf Coast last year, you’d expect our major cities to be ready with disaster plans that will save lives and property. There’s no doubt we’ll be hit again—maybe even harder—because the list of possible calamities (灾难) is long: from a bird flu pandemic to a massive California earthquake, to more monster storms, to another terrorist attack.
But are we really prepared to protect people, as well as their homes and businesses? Every major urban area has received federal funding, much of it from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in order to make their cities more secure. But there are no set criteria for measuring preparedness (the feds are working on that), and the quality of disaster plans varies widely throughout the country.
So we decided to do an independent assessment of 10 high-risk urban areas, focusing on key security indicators. We analyzed public data, consulted with federal and local emergency workers, and contacted the mayors’ offices to gauge (测量) the readiness of these cities to meet both natural and man-made disasters.
Our criteria fell under three main categories: Emergency Readiness, Crisis Communications, and Medical Response.
Emergency Readiness
Are there at least 1,000 first responders (such as police, fire and EMTs) per 100,000 residents? They’re our first line of protection in almost any disaster situation—professionals who are trained to handle everything from rescuing victims to providing first aid, to enforcing quarantines (封锁), to directing traffic for evacuations (疏散).
Are there federal search-and-rescue teams based within 50 miles? Large cities often have specialized teams to deal with such things as high-rise-building rescues or hazardous chemical spills. But these squads are sometimes small, ill-equipped, or run on a shoestring. This is not true of federal urban search-and-rescue task forces that the DHS supports across the country. Each task force is made of 62 members and 4 canines, as well as a "comprehensive cache" of equipment. DHS task forces are not automatically assigned; a city needs to apply and present its case.
Has the city or state earned "green status" from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention? Suppose that in the midst of a flu pandemic or bio terror attack, your city ran low on critical medicines. The CDC stands ready to help by distributing drugs and medical equipment from its Strategic National Stockpile. But the agency wants to know that a city or state is able to quickly mobilize hundreds of health workers and volunteers trained to handle the logistics, and has space set aside for storage and refrigeration. You’re best off if your city has earned the CDC’s "green status"—even if the state itself has not—because it means local health teams can handle the supplies on their own.
Does the city website explain clearly what to do in case of evacuation? Who can forget the images of stranded New Orleans residents, or the 5-mph crawl out of Houston? It turned out that New Orleans’s evacuation plans were both inadequate and poorly communicated. One way cities can avoid a similar nightmare is to put clear and easy-to-find evacuation information on their websites. Some cities, such as Boston and Washington, post the preferred street routes. Others, like Las Vegas, won’t disclose details due to security fears, but their websites may provide ways to quickly get evacuation details when you need them (such as numbers to call or alert services you can sign up for). Among the more important things to address are people without vehicles of their own (a huge failing in New Orleans) and instructions for pet owners.
Does the website include details for residents with special needs? In July 1995, a vicious heat wave killed nearly 500 people in Chicago; a disproportionate number of them were older residents who lived alone. In any crisis, the elderly and disabled can be uniquely vulnerable. That’s why cities such as Houston are creating registries of residents who would need special help. Such lists would indicate, for instance, that a certain person in a certain apartment building is wheel-chair-bound. Other cities are instructing people with disabilities to call 911 for assistance—though this relies on phone systems that could be overloaded or go dead. If a city’s disaster planning shows no awareness of special-needs people, it isn’t complete.
Crisis Communications
Can first responders—police, fire and medical—talk to one another? On September 11, firefighters died inside the World Trade Center because they could not make contact with police helicopters trying to radio warnings. Incompatible communications is a country-wide problem, and converting or replacing decades-old radio systems can be a long, expensive process. Cities have gotten a big boost if they’ve taken part in RapidCom, a DHS program providing technical assistance and training that speeds up the transition.
Has the city adopted E911? Many cities have upgraded their 911 call centers in recent years, but they’re even better prepared if they’ve incorporated "E911" (or "enhanced 911"). This technology enables emergency operators to identify the precise location of cell-phone callers through GPS systems. If you wind up stranded in floodwaters, E911 could save your life.
Does the city provide 24-bout emergency alerts? What if an evacuation order goes out, but it’s 3 a.m. and you’re sound asleep? Not a problem if your city has a way of alerting you at any time of day. Some rely on street sirens (警报器) to do the trick. Others have used their websites to invite residents to sign up for e-mail notifications or automated phone calls in an emergency.
Medical Response
Are there at least 500 hospital beds for every 100,000 residents? Getting to victims quickly is a critical first step. But you’d better have a place to take them for treatment. A reasonable standard, according to preparedness experts, is 500 hospital beds for every 100,000 people—a ratio that would likely mean a city could find enough spare beds in an emergency. Of course, beds alone won’t help a massive number of burn victims or people suffering from chemical exposure unless the hospital is prepared to treat them. But all the cities in our survey have specialty units in their hospitals that can handle such cases.
Are local teams trained to respond quickly and work together? If an urban area was targeted by weapons of mass destruction, city health officials couldn’t just wait for federal help to arrive. First responders and hospitals would need to react fight away. They could also need medical volunteers—say, to help vaccinate people or distribute medicines and supplies. How to ensure that all these professionals and volunteers work together as seamlessly as possible? If a city is part of DHS’s Metropolitan Medical Response System, it has obtained federal assistance in developing plans, and has received critical training and equipment.
Are there labs nearby that specialize in biological and chemical threats? The CDC is on the cutting edge with its Laboratory Response Network—integrated labs nationwide that have the equipment and expertise to quickly identify pathogens and toxic chemicals. An LRN lab in Florida was the first to detect anthrax (炭疽热) in terrorist mailings in 2001. Laboratories can be members only if they have highly trained staff and exceptional facilities, as well as a track record of testing accuracy. A handful of LRN labs qualify as "Level 1", meaning they can test for chemical poisons such as mustard and nerve agents.
Incompatible communications is a country-wide problem in the U.S. because of the ______ which should be converted or replaced.
选项
答案
decades-old radio systems
解析
根据题干中的信息词incompatible communications和converted定位到第三个小标题下的第一段,可知通信不畅是全国(美国)性的问题,而修整或更换已使用数十年的无线电系统既费时又费钱,由此推断,通信不畅的原因是无线电系统年久失修,因此可得答案。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/TR7K777K
0
大学英语六级
相关试题推荐
Afewmonthsago,millionsofpeopleinLondonheard【B1】______alloverthetown.TheEmergencyservices,theFireDepartments,
A、Shedoesn’tunderstandhowJudygotherjob.B、She’ssurprisedJudyisworkinginmanagement.C、ShethinksJudynevershould
Wearerapidlyneartheendofthiscourseinthehistoryofclassicalmusic.Wehavecoveredseveral【B1】______.inaveryshor
A、Hisprojectprovedtobeunsuccessful.B、Hewasunabletogetsufficientmoney.C、Lackoflandpreventedhissuccess.D、Hewas
ChildrenbornintoaBushmansocietyofSouthAfricaarecompletelydependentlyontheirfamilyforfood.Whiletheyareveryyo
A、Theirparentscutbackloan.B、Thewomandoesn’twantFranktotakeanotherEnglishcourse.C、Theycan’tpaytherentthismon
Sometimewhenyoutakeacommondrug,youmayhaveasideeffect.Thatis,thedrugmaycausesomeeffectotherthanitsintende
A、Food.B、Theh’car.C、Money.D、Jack’seducation.C关键词理解题。男士说:“一年我们共赚5万美元,你都花到什么地方了?你不想给杰克攒大学学费了吗?”女士说:“我都花到什么地方了?难道你一天不吃三顿饭吗?”所
PresidentClintonlatertodayjoins【B1】______presidentFord,CarterandBushat"thepresident’ssummitforAmerica’sfuture"【B
StevenWeinbergisthatkindofpersonwhonotonlywouldliketohelpothers,butreallyenjoyingdoingso.Thatis【C1】______h
随机试题
老年性阴道炎的基本病因是
患者,男,21岁。患急性淋巴细胞白血病,壮热口渴,头痛面赤,咽喉肿痛,时有鼻衄,便秘,舌红绛,苔黄,脉洪大,其证型是()
下列关于五脏所藏的叙述,错误的是
甲公司向乙公司购买机器设备一套,甲公司向乙公司签发了一张银行承兑汇票,银行拒绝承兑,乙公司要求甲公司向自己支付汇票金额及利息,甲公司发现汇票上自己的签章不符合法律规定,甲公司仍然向乙公司支付了汇票金额及其利息,以下说法不正确的是:
某工程项目施工采用《水利水电工程标准施工招标文件》(2009年版),招标文件工期为15个月。承包方投标所报工期为13个月。合同总价确定为8000万元。合同约定:实际完成工程量超过估计工程量25%以上时允许调整单价;拖延工期每天赔偿金为合同总价的1‰,最高拖
下列车船中,可享受免征车船税政策的有()。(2008年考题改编)
下列在自觉控制下实现的有()。
商品等价交换是指()
论述陈鹤琴的“活教育"思想。
在考生文件夹下打开Excel.xlsx文件:选取“季度”行(A2:E2)和“同比增长”行(A5:E5)数据区域的内容建立“簇状柱形图”,图表标题在图表上方,图表标题为“销售同比增长统计图”,清除图例;将图表移动到工作表A7:F17单元格区域,将工作表命
最新回复
(
0
)