America Still Unprepared, America Still in Danger

It couldn’t happen here.

Before 9/11, that’s what we used to think.

We’ve known better for two years.

Yet America remains unprepared to deal with disaster, experts say.

A big part of the problem is that hospital emergency departments already run at — and over — full capacity. Even a relatively modest disaster would overwhelm most cities’ public health systems. This problem started before 9/11 — and is getting worse, not better.

Why aren’t things going according to plan? Because there is no plan, says Irwin Redlener, MD, director of the newly-created National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health.

“This is a national crisis,” Redlener tells WebMD. “I am very dismayed about where things stand at this time. We are telling the health-care system to get ready for bioterror, for example. But we are not telling them exactly what that means. And we are not giving them sufficient money or guidance. … It is absurd to the point of lunacy.”