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
41
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.
If a city has earned the CDC’s "green status", it means that its local health teams can ______ on their own.
选项
答案
handle the supplies
解析
根据题干中的信息词CDC’s “green status”和local health teams定位到第二个小标题下第三段的最后,可知如果你所在的城市获得了green status那是最好不过了,因为那意味着地方医疗队可以自己应对补给问题,由此可得答案。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/XR7K777K
0
大学英语六级
相关试题推荐
TheSeattleTimesCompanyisonenewspaperfirmthathasrecognizedtheneedforchangeanddonesomethingaboutit.Inthenews
A、He’snotsosuretobuythecar.B、He’sreadytobuythatcar.C、He’scertaintobuythecar.D、He’safraidtobuythatcar.A
A、Aball.B、Afacultyreception.C、Aclassreunion.D、Abirthdayparty.D选项中A项的ball和D项的birthdayparty是同义词,考生就特别注意这两个选项。对话中男士询问
ChildrenbornintoaBushmansocietyofSouthAfricaarecompletelydependentlyontheirfamilyforfood.Whiletheyareveryyo
A、Howtohandlespiders.B、SpidersintheUnitedStates.C、People’sfearofspiders.D、Aspecialkindofspider.B
A、Hewasadoctor.B、Hewasawriter.C、Hewasanactor.D、Hewasateacher.C细节明示题。主要考查同位语的用法。4个选项说明职业的词在短文中都出现过,但TheWesternm
A、Becauseshehasn’tgotreadyyet.B、BecausesheiswaitingforDavid.C、Becausesheiswaitingforataxitopickherup.D、Be
Untilabout30yearsago,languageresearchersfocusedtheirstudiesoninfantswhohadalreadybeguntobabble,accordingtoJu
Sincethedawnofhumaningenuity,peoplehavedevisedevermorecunningtoolstocopewithworkthatisdangerous,boring,burd
TheUnitedNationsConferenceonDragAbusethattookplaceearlierthisyearinViennawasaveryproductivemeeting.Asnerve
随机试题
发生于妊娠末期或产后的心力衰竭,类似扩张型心肌病改变见于不对称的室间隔肥厚见于
牛皮下注射的部位一般宜选择在
制备维生素C注射液时,应通入气体驱逐氧气,最佳气体为
下列说法不正确的有:()
2000版ISO9000族标准是面向21世纪的质量管理标准,目前仅有()个标准。
下列选项中关于贴现因子,可能的值有()。
甲公司是一家制造业上市公司,目前公司股票每股38元,预计股价未来增长率7%;长期借款合同中保护性条款约定甲公司长期资本负债率不可高于50%、利息保障倍数不可低于5倍。为占领市场并优化资本结构,公司拟于2019年年末发行可转换债券筹资20000万元。为确定筹
患儿,女性,8岁,第一恒磨牙窝沟着色且能卡住探针,疑有龋坏。该儿童应选用的预防治疗措施是()。
捐助希望工程的动机,大多是社会责任,但也有的是个人功利,当然,出于社会责任的行为,并不一定都不考虑个人功利。对希望工程的每一项捐款,都是利国利民的善举。如果以上陈述为真,则以下哪项不可能为真?
结合材料,回答问题:材料1国民党虽然有许多缺点与错误,然终为中国唯一革命的民主派,自然算是民主的联合战线中的重要分子。反对帝国主又的联合战线:以工人、农民及小资产阶级革命的党派或分子为主力军,向一切帝国主义者加以攻击;同时亦可联合半民族运动的党
最新回复
(
0
)