Yesterday I took part in a hospital emergency drill.

Nobody told me ahead of time that it would involve a 'vertical evacuation' meaning: they needed to test some equipment going down flights of steps. I got to try out (as a 'patient') a chair with some kind of slide mechanism on the back and something called a chute. The chair was not too bad but a little 'heads up!' about flipping me backward and bumping on the stairs would have been nice. The chute was corrugated plastic that I was strapped into and dragged down 2 flights of stairs in. It was really pretty funny - bumpity, bump, bump. Glad I bundled my coat under my head.

The two teams I worked with were interested in learning how to use this equipment but one team told their 'patient' volunteer that they didn't have time to do the drill.

The things I do to keep from getting bored...

View Larger Map
Google's Map's Street View has come to New Orleans. A lot of the area looks like normal Deep South to me but if you browse around the lower 9th Ward, some of the houses still look like Katrina just went through. I have to wonder if this is a FEMA trailer in this driveway.
Time for another reminder to gather your preparedness kit for emergencies.