Disaster Due Diligence February 26,2010
Communicable illness
HEADLINE: Hospital-acquired infections lead to substantial loss in life, and waste billions
SUMMARY: In a study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, researchers estimate that in 2006 there were 290,000 cases of hospital-acquired sepsis and 200,000 cases of hospital-acquired pneumonia. According to the study, 48,000 deaths could have been prevented and $8.1 billion dollars could have been saved in the United States if patients hadn't gotten infections after being admitted to a hospital.
STORY LINK: http://pagingdrgupta.blogs.cnn.com/2010/02/23/hospital-acquired-infections-lead-to-substantial-loss-in-life-and-waste-billions/?hpt=Sbin
ANALYSIS: It is sad reality that hospitals are often sources of opportunistic infections. Despite aggressive infection control measures employed in healthcare institutions, the fact is that these facilities are gathering places for sick people. Workers, patients, and visitors are potentially exposed to diseases not normally faced in daily activity, often at a time when defenses are compromised.
This story holds applicability across the spectrum of health delivery and human services enterprises as well as to industries beyond healthcare. While the issue at hand is hospital-acquired infections, it could as easily be employee safety, operational continuity planning or disaster recovery. This broad relevance points to the practicality of the Predict. Plan. Perform.™ model. Rigorous risk analysis reveals vulnerabilities – for hospitals this lies in matters such as hand washing among staff, patients and visitors, establishment and adherence to effective procedures and protocols, and continuous review and process improvement. Identification and analysis of susceptibilities allows development of countermeasures or contingency plans. Practice and execution of those strategies increases performance and offers opportunities for subsequent predictions, planning and enhanced performance.
Every environment holds hidden threats, albeit not necessarily as dramatic as the risk of mortality. An effective assessment and action plan can save and preserve money, lives and the organization’s future.
HEADLINE: WHO to assess whether H1N1 has peaked within weeks
SUMMARY: The WHO's emergency committee decided on Tuesday that it was premature to declare that the H1N1 pandemic was past its worst. The WHO's top influenza expert said rising levels of infection in West Africa and the risk posed by the winter months in the Southern Hemisphere were the dominating concerns of the committee and urged people and governments not to let their guard down.
STORY LINK: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20100224/tts-uk-flu-who-ca02f96.html
ANALYSIS: Although the current H1N1 pandemic appears to be subsiding, it would be premature to draw conclusions as to the future course of this outbreak. The most recent CDC status update reflects visits to physicians and deaths from influenza-like illness (ILI) have increased slightly over prior weeks, but the overall rates remain lower than could be expected for this time of year. At the same time, warmer weather in the Northern Hemisphere marks the beginning of colder days – and the flu season – in the Southern Hemisphere. It is also illustrative to observe that the 1918-19 pandemic lasted a total of 18 months. The current H1N1 outbreak is recorded as beginning in April 2009, only 10 months ago.
In essence, this replicates the situation from then, only with better options. It is still impossible to predict how the virus will behave: undergo resurgence or die out. Unlike last year, there is an effective and widely available vaccine. It is also likely that H1N1 will continue to be prevalent in the 2010-11 flu season. There is little reason not to remain aware of this lingering threat or to plan accordingly, including getting immunized.
Travel safety
HEADLINE: U.S. renews travel alert to Mexico
SUMMARY: Citing recent attacks, the State Department and U.S. Embassy have renewed the travel alert for certain areas in Mexico until Aug. 20. U.S. citizens are urged to “delay unnecessary travel to parts of Michoacan, Durango, Coahuila and Chihuahua. More than 16,000 people have died in Mexico since President Felipe Calderon declared war on the drug cartels shortly after assuming office in December 2006. Some areas along the border continue to experience a rapid growth in crime, with robberies, homicides, petty thefts and carjackings increasing during the past year.
STORY LINK: http://www.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/02/23/mexico.travel.warning/index.html?hpt=T2
ANALYSIS: Travel to Mexico creates a vision of excitement, beaches, history and fun. It also generates pictures of violence, drug cartels, shootouts and death. The pattern of violence has not changed to one of safety. The violence is real and has moved across the border to parts of the United States. Violence is a regular part of everyday life on both sides of the border.
We are all familiar with our hometowns. We know the good and bad areas of town. Unfortunately when we travel we do not know these areas in the travel locale. Even that knowledge alone may not be sufficient, as the robberies, violence, killings and kidnappings continue.
We check the weather every day before deciding what to wear when we go out. Unfortunately, we cannot easily check the violence level whether drug cartels on travel or workplace violence at home. Do you know what to look for? Can you recognize the signs? Do you know what to do? Predict. Plan. Perform.™
Supply chain
HEADLINE: Massive recalls: where is your supply chain vulnerable?
SUMMARY: The Toyota recall debacle ensures that manufacturers large and small will be scrutinizing supplier relationships like never before. With the possibility of key providers reporting misleading information about quality tests that could cause millions in damages, the trust between companies can be quickly eroded.
STORY LINK: http://www.industryweek.com/articles/massive_recalls_where_is_your_supply_chain_vulnerable_21112.aspx?SectionID=1
ANALYSIS: Do you know the fastest way to become a company worth a billion dollars? Start with a $100-billion company and mishandle a crisis. If we were to write a Hollywood script for a company and have the executives do as much wrong as quickly as possible, the Oscar would go to Toyota.
In a crisis, tell the truth. In a crisis, tell the truth early. If you are explaining why you didn’t, you are losing. If you made a mistake, admit it and announce your plan. Focus on the plan. Identify your three key messages to customers, employees and stakeholders.
What’s the truth for Toyota? What is their plan? What are the key messages? Unfortunately, none of us knows. Toyota is a global brand. The brand is impaired. There does not appear to be a cohesive plan to move forward.
What are the three key messages for your company now? What if you had a product recall, a loss of customer identity information, a workplace violence episode, fraud, stock manipulation, strike, labor unrest, scandal, regulatory investigation, insider trading, bankruptcy, fire, or another catastrophe? What are the messages for each of these crises? What are the internal and external communication methods? Who are your spokespeople? Have they been trained? Waiting until there is a crisis to start the planning, training, and exercises is a mistake from which a company may never recover. Are you ready? The threats are real. What are your vulnerabilities? What is your plan?
Cyber security
HEADLINE: Former DNI: If U.S. went to war today in a cyberwar, it would lose
SUMMARY: At a Senate hearing on cyber security, former Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell warned that a cyberattack would be a “catastrophic event” to the U.S. “We’re the most vulnerable, we’re the most connected, we have the most to lose,’’ he said. Another expert called cyber espionage and cyber crime, “a major source of harm to national security.”
STORY LINK: http://homelandsecuritynewswire.com/former-dni-if-us-went-war-today-cyberwar-it-would-lose?page=0,0
ANALYSIS: Despite the Internet’s origins as a project sponsored by the Department of Defense, the way in which it has developed and grown has not always included the engineering of security and defenses into its operations. In fact, the entire freewheeling nature and openness of the Internet and the World Wide Web are major reasons for its incredible success.
As a longtime banker, I remember how concerned banks were with the startling explosion of technology which prompted Bill Gates to declare in 1994 that banks were dinosaurs. When the Internet became the next new delivery channel for banking services, everyone bolted on their 1970s and ‘80s era banking systems in order to compete. Then the teenagers started hacking into them.
The pervasiveness, technological capabilities and relative ease of access to the Internet prompted more and more core business systems to use its infrastructure. We deliver banking services but we also deliver medical services, control facilities and processes within those facilities, communicate voice and data, in short, everything that might have been on a proprietary system is now on the Internet and the potentially dangerous implications of that are finally being appreciated.
After the teenage hackers started cracking these systems primarily for bragging rights, the resulting embarrassing publicity spawned an entire industry of data and information security. Up went the walls, but the enemy kept building taller ladders.
Now we are engaged in a technological arms race, with the teenagers being replaced by organized crime, terrorists, and governments who wish us harm. So much of what we call our critical infrastructure is tied into the Internet and the bad guys go after us every hour of every day for profit, for harm, or for information to further their beliefs or political agenda.
McConnell and Borg are only highlighting the obvious, and providing the call to arms against the enemy. Firestorm talks about disaster denial all the time – it is our largest competitor. For the U.S. government and equally important, for the private sector at all levels, to believe we will not be subject to a threatening interruption of Internet services and the consequences is equivalent to thinking you will not have to deal with a hurricane while living in Louisiana.
Preparedness groups
Join Firestorm’s LinkedIn groups and help build a Culture of Preparedness for your family and organization:
DISASTER READY PEOPLE: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1914314&trk=myg_ugrp_ovr
WORKPLACE VIOLENCE: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1898572&trk=myg_ugrp_ovr
COMMUNICABLE ILLNESS: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1899278&trk=myg_ugrp_ovr
SWINE FLU: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1921222&trk=myg_ugrp_ovr
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