Falling towers, crumbling levees, and viral mutations.docVIP

Available online /content/10/1/106 Editorial Falling towers, crumbling levees, and viral mutations Donald B Chalfin Director, Critical Care Consult Service, Critical Care Outcomes Research, Division of Critical Care Medicine, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, New York, Associate Professor of Medicine, Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Population Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, and Chief Scientific Officer, Analytica International, Inc., New York, New York, USA Corresponding author: Donald B Chalfin, dchalfin@ Published: 14 December 2005 Critical Care 2006, 10:106 (doi:10.1186/cc3738) This article is online at /content/10/1/106 ? 2005 BioMed Central Ltd Abstract afterward, and I still cannot – nor will I ever be able to – shake the image and the sound of the second plane crashing into the second tower and the ghastly fireball that erupted. At several points over the years since 9/11, I recall wondering how the events of the day will ultimately fall into my synaptic place and how they will eventually influence and shape both my personal and professional beings. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita destroyed an entire beloved city and shattered a large part of the US Gulf Coast. Unlike the destruction of 9/11, it is difficult to say at the time of this writing whether or not this region will ever be fully restored. In light of these and other man-made and natural disasters, the world needs to revisit its approach to disaster planning and preparedness to insure that we can best meet the needs of those likely to be affected by future calamities. In the immediate aftermath of the attacks, I vividly recall how both the press and the lay public endlessly pontificated how the world had ‘changed’ since 9/11. America, so it was oft said, was now vulnerable to both attack and calamity, and thus had to mobilize its seemingly vast resources to prepare for