Tornadoes, which are known for
destroying things, pose an imminent threat to civilizations because they disrupt
life, yet these events are treated as insignificant on a daily basis despite the
“warning signs.” Most people believe that they will not be affected because
they have a plan for these events; however, many people tend to panic and
forget most of their routines during perilous times. Although fictional, the
pop culture film Into the Storm provides viewers with an overwhelming
sense of shock as a single tornado devastates numerous groups of people. This
film includes scenes of professionals and ordinary people trying to survive a
disastrous, large scale tornado. Another popular fictional film The Day After Tomorrow shows the
citizens of Hollywood and Los Angeles reacting to an imminent tornado. This
film features several scenes in which people are watching the tornado on live
television and those people who are living in the middle of the tornado. I
believe that these films do an excellent job at replicating the chaotic yet
genuine reactions of people during perilous times.
In
this paper, I will be discussing a few key terms that may not be well-known. The
Fujita scale, which is commonly known as the F-Scale, is a scale used to rate
the intensity of tornadoes; the scale is only used to measure the damage created
by tornadoes. The scale has six levels ranging from F0 to F5. The lowest level
F0 has winds ranging from 65 to 85 miles per hour while F1 has winds from 86 to
110 miles per hour. Stepping up brings the third level F1 which has winds
reaching 111 to 135 miles per hour, and the median level F3 ranges from 136 to
165 miles per hour. The last two levels F4 and F5 are the most violent because
their winds reach 166 to 200 miles per hour or anything over 200 miles per
hour. Another term that I will mention frequently is safe room. According to
the Federal Emergency Management Agency, a safe room should have at least five
square meters of room per occupant and should be made of concrete walling.
Lastly, a standard medical record room has three hundred square feet; however,
some of this room might be occupied by files.
Although administrative leaders
suggest an already arranged plan for safety during a tornado, I argue that these
procedures be revised for accuracy. I believe that a more intricate, detailed
plan should be made for large facilities such as hospitals. My solution to this
problem involves finding the safest area to gather patients during an event
like a tornado. I personally believe that the safest place for the hospital
occupants would be the lowest floor such as the basement; however, because not
all hospitals have basements, a problem occurs. A different approach to this main
problem is to divide all of the occupants into individual spaces like closets
or bathrooms. Finally, I believe that all hospital staff should be trained for
events like these because untrained staff could lead to unexpected injuries and
fatalities.
Throughout
the southern United States, tornadoes occur quite frequently. The warm, moist
air from the southern states and the winds from the western states create
severe thunderstorms which lead to tornadoes. In the spring of 2011, the
southern United States faced a record-breaking series of tornadoes. (Smith, et
al. 53) States such as Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, and Georgia were
affected by these disastrous events. Two cities in particular- Tuscaloosa,
Alabama and Joplin, Missouri- faced the most severe damage.
On
a peaceful evening in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, one perilous tornado created a
disastrous event. With winds blowing 190 miles per hour, the tornado that
landed in Tuscaloosa reached a high rating of F4 on the Fujita scale. Over one
thousand people were injured and sixty-four people were killed on April 27,
2011, from this tornado alone. Sadly, lives were not the only thing taken by
this tornado; the tornado created a damage cost of over two billion dollars for
the citizens of Tuscaloosa.
On
May 22, 2011, the city of Joplin was hit by a tornado with winds exceeding 200 miles
per hour. The tornado from Joplin reached a rating of F5 on the Fujita scale. Not
only did this tornado impact the citizens of Joplin emotionally, but it also
affected their economy. The tornado injured more than seven hundred and fifty people
while another one hundred and forty-one people were killed. Additionally, the tornado
caused three billion dollars in damage. The tornado from Joplin was said to be
“the deadliest single tornado since modern record keeping began in 1950.”
(Smith, et al. 53)
According
to the National Weather service, forty-two tornadoes occurred in Alabama during
1984. This article discusses the basic information of all of these tornadoes in
this year; most importantly, this article gives the exact location for the
events. The Montgomery area in Alabama was only affected twice; however, the
most severe storm of 1984 was in this county. On May 3, 1984, citizens of Montgomery
and Elmore counties were faced with a turbulent tornado, reaching a level three
on the Fujita scale. (“Alabama Tornadoes 1984”) To put this into perspective,
the Fujita scale only begins at a level zero and rises to a level five; this
later level is the most severe type of tornado. From this one tornado, five
citizens in this area lost their lives while thirty-seven other people were
injured. (“Alabama Tornadoes 1984”) The data from this article really shows how
damaging tornadoes can be.
As
of right now, several hospitals have a general process of keeping their
patients safe. Some of these safety measures include protecting all windows and
high-risk areas, securing items, moving patients away from windows, obtaining essential
items, and activating operators. These are the basic, ordinary safety routines
for hospitals; only if time allows are they able to transfer patients to a designated
safety room. Another safety routine common among hospitals is protecting the
windows, lowering all beds to the lowest position, closing all doors, and not
using the elevators.
In
this hypothetical scenario, an imminent tornado is entering the Montgomery area,
specifically near the Baptist South hospital. I will be using a hospital as my
basis because it has the largest concentration of people under one building; I
will be using Baptist South as my setting because it houses the largest number
of people in this area. As for my tornado, it will reach a rating of F4 on the
Fujita scale; therefore, the winds of the tornado will range from 207 to 260 miles
per hour. Several hospital staff and patients are faced with the problem of
relocating to a safe area during this event.
As
expected, this scenario will have a few complications. The hospital staff nor
patients cannot leave the hospital because the tornado is a F4 tornado, meaning
they must all stay inside the building. Not only are they not able to go
outside, but they are also unable to use the elevators. This means that the
only way of gathering all patients is by using the stairs, and the only floors of
the hospital available are the basement floor and the first floor. Another
complication of this scenario is windows, which are usually found on all floors
beginning with the first one.
My
research and solution matters for two main reasons- effects on a large scale
and methods regarding ethics. A single hospital concentrates a large number of
people; meaning if one problem occurs, hundreds of people are put at risk. What
would happen if a hospital made one tiny mistake? This mistake which may seem
insignificant at the time could create a larger problem, endangering the
patients and even staff. These effects would be on a large scale because of the
number of people found in hospitals. Fatalities from tornadoes are usually
somewhat small numbers because they happen in different areas, but what would
happen to those numbers if a hospital was severely affected? The answer to that
question is that those numbers could double or even triple. If a hospital makes
a mistake, this raises concern regarding ethics. Not only will it ruin a
hospital’s reputation, but this will also make people question whether they are
really safe.
The Bleak Blog: Apocalypse 1020 