Please click on the link below to register for this complimentary webinar.

We live in an increasingly mobile world. Think about it. How often are you at your desk when a crisis occurs? Where are your other team members? Do they work in different offices and do they also support your business continuity and incident management efforts? Disasters occur at all hours of the day and night. Everyone may not be able to get to a physical location in a timely manner – or get there at all – to manage the incident. What would you do?  Please come and hear me speak on this topic on Wednesday, May 22, 2013, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM EDT.

https://www.drj.com/webinars/schedule/why-you-need-a-mobile-strategy-for-business-continuity-52213.html

Moore tornado forming outside of town

The tornado threat remains high today in a region devastated yesterday by one-mile wide F4 twister. As the search for survivors continues, I find myself wondering (knowing well I live in EQ country, not tornado country) what procedures do they have in place in schools for tornado safety? I have always assumed there were shelters and/or basements that kids were quickly shuttled to when funnel clouds were eminent.  What building codes or planning processes might change after this horrific event?

The radar image tells the story very clearly.

Cars pushed up and into the entrance of Moore Medical Center.

The path of the tornado – two schools and a medical center in the direct route.

Children’s toys found .25 miles away from the school.

Near Oklahoma City, a half-mile wide tornado was reported, prompting a stark alert from the Weather Service: “You could be killed if not underground or in a tornado shelter,” the advisory said.

People in Kansas and Oklahoma found themselves taking shelter amid wailing warning sirens Sunday as tornadoes were confirmed to have touched down as part of an extreme weather system plowing through the nation’s midsection.

The system, which stretched from North Texas to Minnesota, also heaved hail — dime to softball sized — as well as heavy rainfall.

Tomorrow is not expected to be any better – if you live in the midwest – stay alert!

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/05/19/18355926-tornadoes-tear-through-kansas-oklahoma?lite

Name, name, name…what’s in a name?!?!?!  Well, it is important AND to keep us all straight there are some really smart folks who have been ruminating about this for the past few months.  The group, the Coronavirus Study Group (CSG) of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) took the lead on making sure we were all straight and this new virus was properly named! After careful consideration and broad consultation, the CSG has decided to call the new coronavirus “Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus” (MERS-CoV).

Kinda catchy, no?!?!?  

This name is endorsed by the discoverers of the virus and other researchers that pioneered MERS-CoV studies, by the WHO and by the Saudi Ministry of Health. The use of this new and official name is being recommended in all scientific and other communications so we will adopt it as well.  New MERS-CoV isolates or variants detected by RT-PCR may be provided with an affix, analogous to convention in influenza virus nomenclature (host/country of origin + strain identification number/year; such as, MERS-CoV Hu/Jordan-N3/2012).

As of 14 May 2013, 38 cases of MERS-CoV have been reported worldwide, including 20 deaths. All cases remain associated with transmission in the Arabian Peninsula and Jordan. This includes indirect association following secondary person-to-person transmission in the UK and France.

The report of 19 new infections in Saudi Arabia in the past two weeks – including one infection with the novel coronavirus acquired in the United Arab Emirates and later imported to Europe – indicate that there is an ongoing source of infection and risk of transmission to humans in the Arabian Peninsula and Jordan.

The confirmed infection in France of a patient who shared a hospital room with a patient returning from the United Arab Emirates indicates the risk of nosocomial transmission. This is the second nosocomial transmission in Europe. The first one took place when an imported case in the UK visited a relative in the hospital in February 2013.

http://jvi.asm.org/content/early/2013/05/08/JVI.01244-13.abstract

http://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/press/news/Lists/News/ECDC_DispForm.aspx?List=32e43ee8-e230-4424-a783-85742124029a&ID=916&RootFolder=%2Fen%2Fpress%2Fnews%2FLists%2FNews

www.moh.gov.sa