MJ# 188: Chemical Accident at Hotel, Assignment Terror, ED wait times posted on billboards

This week on Mitigation Journal Podcast - First things first; oops. I posted this episode (#188) early. Matt and I had a small window to get the recording done so we pre-recorded a bit earlier then normal with the intent of posting on 9/12/10. Well, as went to post the file to the rss feed I forgot to change the availability date. Bottom line is that edition #188 was available early.

Okay, on to this week...Matt and I discuss how a simple accident caused phosgene to be created in one hotel. Certainly, this was a situation that could have been much worse. It's not a terrorist attack...its an accident. But phosgene is phosgene...no matter who made it or let it out. Tune in to hear the details.

How long would you wait to be seen in an emergency department? A number health care systems have begun posting wait times on highway billboards. The hope is that people will go to an emergency department (one within the same health system, of course) that is less busy. These billboards are aimed at the non-urgent or less acute medical need. My question is, why not just stay out of the ED altogether and just go to a walk-in care center?

Assignment terror...that's right. How about a school assignment that has kids (high school) thinking like a terrorist. An Australian teacher gets bounced because he encourages students to find vulnerabilities in their communities.