After Natural Disasters there can be a lot of debris in the air and that can get into our lungs. Imagine a building with asbestos insulation torn apart and exposing all that insulation, well now you can see the problem.
One other issue which is happening right now is called the; 911 Death Cough, were first responders are getting sick and they are dying and coughing. Currently some 19,000 folks have the cough and so far less than 100 have died but they expect that the number may reach up into the 20,000 range in the next 10-years?
Well that is very unfortunate to see so many people who were only doing their jobs or trying to help, who are now dying due to breathing in airborne debris.
This very same thing can happen after Earthquakes, Tornadoes or of course large catastrophic Category Hurricanes like we saw during the 2005 Atlantic Tropical Hurricane Season. So there needs to be better protocols and consideration of wearing breathing apparatus, while emergency response is taking place, during clean up and demolition.
Even in the rebuilding stages we need to very much consider these things and watch the health of workers, first responders and construction personal. So, let us consider all of this in 2006.
Lance Winslow
