American Trauma Society maps out your chances of survival

The American Trauma Society has created an interactive map to give U.S. citizens a sense of how far away they are from top-notch hospitals from any point in the country.

Time Health published an interesting story on the subject with a link to the map. Writer Zachary F. Meisel lists some key danger spots or locations a fair distance from trauma hospitals, including "Maui, Yellowstone National Park, California's Yosemite and Arizona's Grand Canyon."

Also included on his list of places that Americans love to visit but may not have access to quick medical care are "Massachusetts' Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket; New York's Lake George and Montauk; Myrtle Beach, S.C.; and Florida's Key West."

Keep your feet away from the fire during those clambakes, kids.

I am heading to Twinsburg, Ohio, next month with my identical twin sister Katie for the world's largest festival of multiples. Naturally I am concerned about the chance of being caught up in some kind of potentially catestropic event.

Organizers estimate up to 2,000 sets of twins, triplets and quadruplets will attend. If there was a stampede or riot, imagine the confusion. (I promise to try to take pictures.)

I would like to be able to say the trauma map eased my fears, but after 20 minutes of waiting for it to load and search, I gave up and turned to Mapquest. It turns out that Twinsburg is roughly 30 minutes away from a major trauma centre in Cleveland.

I would really enjoy seeing a Canadian version of this map. If someone finds one, please let me know. Until then I think this might be a good time to upgrade my first-aid training.

 

 

Comments

[W. Chabun]

Herewith an interesting article from Britain's The Guardian newspaper that argues that for as much effort as we survival buffs put into wilderness survival, the odds are far, far higher that we'll actually be in an urban setting when big problems arrive.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/aug/04/what-it-will-take-to-survive