Sub_Umbra
Flashlight Enthusiast
All right, it's evacuation season again. There is something odd that I've been rolling around in my head since researching last year's evacuation for Hurricane Gustav and now there is medical research in the news that has brought it back to the front of my mind. (No easy task, that.)
Clot risk jumps on long flights
TEDS are the white elastic compression stockings that people recovering from heart and other surgeries wear for some time after their procedure. Many, many people should have a pair in their BOB, if not for themselves perhaps for someone else in their family: father, mother, grandfather, etc. I know that many here have Get Out Of Dodge plans that may involve members of their extended family.
I've been reading about the threat posed by Venous thromboembolism (VTE) on long airline flights for some time now and it is interesting that none of the 'Pros from Dover' in our massive emergency industry can seem to put two and two together on this. In a nutshell,
Evacuations are by their very nature chaotic and unpredictable. Traffic jams may stop all movement for hours and hours as happened in Rita (Houston '05) and Gustav (New Orleans '08.) Getting back into town may even be more time consuming than getting out was. Once you leave town for a storm you will have no control over when the city officials decide to let you back in even though it may already be days after the storm has passed by. After Gustav many evacuees eventually ran out of money for hotels and food for their famlies and drove back to the city only to be refused entry. They were held in their cars often at gunpoint and not even allowed out to periodically stretch their legs. If you read the article I linked to above flags should be going up in your mind right now.
Don't wait for the Red Cross to figure this out for you. Get the right sized TEDS for anyone in your family who may need them and may end up bugging out with you and include them in your BOB.
They're good on long jet flights, too.
Clot risk jumps on long flights
TEDS are the white elastic compression stockings that people recovering from heart and other surgeries wear for some time after their procedure. Many, many people should have a pair in their BOB, if not for themselves perhaps for someone else in their family: father, mother, grandfather, etc. I know that many here have Get Out Of Dodge plans that may involve members of their extended family.
I've been reading about the threat posed by Venous thromboembolism (VTE) on long airline flights for some time now and it is interesting that none of the 'Pros from Dover' in our massive emergency industry can seem to put two and two together on this. In a nutshell,
anyone at risk for VTE on an eight or nine hour jet flight will certainly be in much greater danger sitting in a car in a fourteen hour traffic jam while running from a hurricane, or any other threat, for that matter.
At least on a plane if anything goes wrong for you they may land or at least radio ahead and perhaps have some help waiting for you when you reach your destination. On a plane you may nearly always get up and walk a bit.Evacuations are by their very nature chaotic and unpredictable. Traffic jams may stop all movement for hours and hours as happened in Rita (Houston '05) and Gustav (New Orleans '08.) Getting back into town may even be more time consuming than getting out was. Once you leave town for a storm you will have no control over when the city officials decide to let you back in even though it may already be days after the storm has passed by. After Gustav many evacuees eventually ran out of money for hotels and food for their famlies and drove back to the city only to be refused entry. They were held in their cars often at gunpoint and not even allowed out to periodically stretch their legs. If you read the article I linked to above flags should be going up in your mind right now.
Don't wait for the Red Cross to figure this out for you. Get the right sized TEDS for anyone in your family who may need them and may end up bugging out with you and include them in your BOB.
They're good on long jet flights, too.
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