Archive for October, 2017
Today’s FEMA SitRep on Puerto Rico and USVI after the hurricanes
Sunday, October 22nd, 2017Puerto Rico
WHO’s Tedros starts storm of controversy over Mugabe as “goodwill ambassador”
Sunday, October 22nd, 2017“…..Mugabe has long been criticized for corruption and abuse of power, and the decision to name him a goodwill ambassador for WHO stunned health experts and rights activists……
10 Minutes & 12 Gunfire Bursts: The Las Vegas Massacre Video from the NY Times
Sunday, October 22nd, 2017
https://static01.nyt.com/video/players/offsite/index.html?videoId=100000005473328
10 Minutes. 12 Gunfire Bursts. 30 Videos. Mapping the Las Vegas Massacre.
By MALACHY BROWNE, DREW JORDAN, NICOLE FINEMAN and CHRIS CIRILLO | Oct. 21, 2017 | 11:00
The shots began at 10:05. Twelve bursts of gunfire later, police broke down Stephen Paddock’s door at the Mandalay Bay. The Times mapped 30 videos to draw perhaps the most complete picture to date of what happened
10/21/1910: A massive explosion destroys the Los Angeles Times building in the city’s downtown area, killing 21 and injuring many more.
Saturday, October 21st, 2017Paramedics, Stress & the Las Vegas Mass Shooting
Saturday, October 21st, 2017“…..Weber said the green-tagged patients had minor injuries, the yellow-tagged patients had non-life-threatening injuries, and those with red tags needed to be transported to the hospital immediately. The black-tagged individuals were expected to die.
“We had to take the red-tagged patients first,” Weber said. “But it’s not always that easy. People were begging me to take them because they were in so much pain. One woman grabbed at my ankle and we locked eyes. All she could say was ‘please.’ She had tears all over her face. But she was tagged in yellow, and there were people in red. So I had to say, ‘I’m so sorry. Someone will be back for you soon.’”
Weber said patients were growing more desperate on their second round of pickups.
“They’d been waiting for maybe 20-30 minutes at that point, and they’re hurt and they’re bleeding,” Weber said. “So as you walked past them, they’d be like, ‘Help me, please. Help me.’ There was a man tagged yellow who said, ‘I have a new baby. Please save me.’”
“There were officers helping us triage, but there was still some discretion,” Weber added. “Do I pick up this red tag or that red tag? Which patient do we take? What if we choose the wrong one? It can be agonizing.”
Weber said that patients with green tags suffered injuries such as broken limbs and waited for hours to be transported to the hospital. He added that some of the green patients were with people who had already been transported to the hospital and had no idea if their loved ones were alive or dead…..”
Ebola’s survivors: Cataracts
Saturday, October 21st, 2017“….Cataracts usually afflict the old, not the young, but doctors have been shocked to find them in Ebola survivors as young as 5. And for reasons that no one understands, some of those children have the toughest, thickest cataracts that eye surgeons have encountered, along with scarring deep inside the eye….”
Under a magnification of 25,000X, this scanning electron microscopic (SEM) image depicts numerous filamentous Ebola virus particles budding from a chronically-infected VERO E6 cell.
10/20/1944: Two liquid gas tanks explode in Cleveland, Ohio, killing 130 people
Friday, October 20th, 2017Puerto Rico: The USNS Comfort, a 70,000-metric-ton ship staffed with roughly 800 medical and support personnel and 250 beds, has treated only about 150 people since it arrived on Oct. 3
Friday, October 20th, 2017- “….Hurricane Maria, a Category 4 storm, slammed into the U.S. Commonwealth of 3.4 million people on Sept. 20 with sustained winds of 155 miles an hour, killing nearly 50 residents and leaving 250,000 without homes…..”
- “….Patients who show up at the Comfort aren’t turned away. But the normal path is through San Juan’s Centro Medico hospital, where doctors evaluate requests for transfer from other hospitals, contact a medical-operation center which in turn dials the ship. Patients are flown to the vessel via helicopter from other hospitals. …”
- “……officials recently changed the protocol to allow regional hospitals to contact the operation center directly….”
- “….The DoD…stationed personnel outside of hospitals around the island with satellite phones to relay information about hospitals’ power, water and patient count, in case there was need to evacuate or transfer patients…..”
- “…..Four U.S. Army crews were recently certified to land on the ship during daytime…”
- “…..Ryder Memorial Hospital….The Oct. 4 power failure prompted the evacuation of 29 patients by helicopter to San Juan, where five were transferred to the Comfort…..”
- “….Two days later, the Comfort took in four patients after generators failed at Hospital Menonita in Caguas….”
- “….As it has moved along Puerto Rico’s north coast, the ship has also supplied hospitals with more than 10 tons of food and water, plus 29,100 liters of oxygen…….”
Uganda has confirmed 2 deaths from Marburg virus
Friday, October 20th, 2017“UVRI (Uganda Virus Research Institute) confirms cases of the deadly Marburg virus in Kween District in Eastern Uganda.
Uganda Virus Research Institute has confirmed cases of the deadly Marburg virus in Kween District on the western slopes of Mt. Elgon in Eastern Uganda. Two people have died from the deadly hemorrhagic fever.
The Ministry of health is sending an emergency response team to the district.
The public is urged to be vigilant and report suspected cases.
Symptoms of the Marburg virus include Nausea and vomiting, Diarrhea (may be bloody), Red eyes, Raised rash, Chest pain and cough, Sore throat, Stomach pain, Severe weight loss among others.”
CDC/ Frederick Murphy
Madagascar: Between 1 August and 15 October 2017, a total of 849 plague cases (suspected, probable and confirmed) including 67 deaths (case fatality rate 7.9%)
Friday, October 20th, 2017“Madagascar is experiencing a large outbreak of plague affecting major cities and other non-endemic areas since August 2017.
Between 1 August and 15 October 2017, a total of 849 cases (suspected, probable and confirmed) including 67 deaths (case fatality rate 7.9%) have been reported from 37 (32.5%) out of 114 districts in the country. Of these, 568 cases (67%) were clinically classified as pneumonic plague, 155 (18.3%) were bubonic plague, one case was septicaemic plague, and 125 cases were unspecified. At least 39 healthcare workers have contracted plague since the beginning of the outbreak.
Of the 849 reported cases, 78 (9.2%) were confirmed, 304 (35.8%) were classified as probable after testing positive on rapid diagnostic tests (RDT) and 467 (55%) remain suspected. Eleven strains of Yersinia pestis have been isolated and were sensitive to antibiotics recommended by the National Program for the Control of Plague.
Eighteen (81.2%) out of 22 regions in the country, including traditionally non-endemic areas, have been affected. The district of Antananarivo Renivohitra has been the most affected, accounting for 57.1% of the reported cases. As of 16 October 2017, a total of 3745 contacts were identified, 79.2% (2 967) of them were followed up on the day of reporting…..”