Dr. Jorge Valenzuela, Internist at Clinica las Condes, and also a Regional Physician Advisor for HTH Worldwide, reports that today no hospitals in Southern Chile (Curico, Talca, Concepcion) are in operation. Everyone is being transported to Santiago for medical treatment where the 2 main private hospitals, Clinica las Condes and Clinica Alemana, are in operation. Condes sustained minor damage but is fully operational. Alemana is fully operational, save some lab tests. As long as those affected by yesterday’s devastating earthquake can get to Santiago, they should be able to get the care they need.
Author Archive
About Mike Hartung:
Michael Hartung, editor of Healthy Travel Blog, serves as head of Product Development at HTH Worldwide. Mike is responsible for all product strategy and development for the company. Mike has over twenty years of successful product innovation to his credit. He has played a senior management role in three start-up companies and has built complex organizations in rapid growth environments. Prior to joining HTH in 2000, he served as President of U.S. Healthcare’s Workers Comp Advantage subsidiary, which he co-founded with Angelo Masciantonio. Mike has also served in senior roles at Aon Consulting, Vantage Health Partners and Managed Health Care Services. Mike earned an M.B.A. from New York University, an M.A. from Duke University and a B.A. from Carleton College.
Quake knocks out hospitals in southern Chile: Santiago facilities receiving patients
Monday, March 1st, 2010 by Mike Hartung
Understanding Seismic Events: Chile Quake Rocks Richter Scale But Is Less Lethal than Haiti’s
Monday, March 1st, 2010 by Mike Hartung
Sadly, our recent post on earthquake-threatened cities was a timely introduction to the risks residents and visitors run when inhabiting destinations situated above enormous seismic stress. Now scientists reviewing the reports from Chile are drawing comparisons to Haiti that give further insight into the variables that affect whether quake fatalities reach the hundreds, thousands or hundreds of thousands.
Santiago, Chile did not make the list of most threatened cities because of its distance from the primary fault line and the building codes that have been enforced in recent years. Chilean President Michelle Bachelet said things could have been a lot worse than the present catastrophe if not for the country’s building standards.
At 8.8 on the Richter scale, the Chile quake released 500 times more energy at the epicenter than the Haiti event, but energy dissipates rapidly as distance from the epicenter grows. Saturday’s quake was centered an estimated 21 miles underground in a relatively unpopulated area, while Haiti’s struck about 8 miles down and right on the edge of Port-au-Prince. Furthermore, the ground beneath Port-au-Prince is less stable and “shakes like jelly,” says University of Miami geologist Tim Dixon. The U.S. Geological Survey reports that Port au Prince experienced “violent” to “extreme” shaking, while Chileans experience no more than “severe” shaking. Nevertheless, the latest news reports indicate 500,000 homes have been damaged and two million people displaced.
Plate tectonics is a dismal science when millions of lives are literally shaken.
Photo info: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bjornmeansbear/ / CC BY-SA 2.0
Quake-threatened Cities: Explosive Growth, Shoddy Construction Along Major Fault Lines Portend Disaster
Friday, February 26th, 2010 by Mike Hartung
New York Times reporter Andrew Revkin filed a story this week from Istanbul tracing the scientific analysis and sociological realities that are leading to predictions of disaster in fifteen world capitals that could dwarf the tragedy that is still unfolding in Haiti. The poster child is Istanbul, where the population has grown from 1 million to 10 million in the past 50 years and where a billionaire real estate developer confessed to Revkin that most structures have been built with substandard materials, saying “If an earthquake occurs in Istanbul, not even the army will be able to get in.”
Seismologists have mapped the regions where there is a one in ten chance of a quake in the next 40 years. Many world capitals are encompassed by serious threats:
Catastrophic: Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan; Almaty, Kazakhstan and Katmandu, Nepal
Destructive: Istanbul, Turkey; Tehran, Iran; Jakarta, Indonesia; Quito, Ecuador; Guatemala City, Guatemala and San Salvador, El Salvador
Very Strong: Bangkok, Thailand; Delhi, India; Lahore and Karachi, Pakistan; Cairo, Egypt and La Paz, Bolivia
Engineering and building structures to withstand the enormous energy unleashed along fault lines is beyond the means of any but the most affluent societies. University of Colorado seismologist Roger Bilham estimates that an engineer is involved in only 3% of the construction that is currently going on around the world. With Turkey spending $800 million dollars simply to reinforce hundreds of schools, hospitals and other public buildings in Istanbul, imagine the price tag of making a whole city safe.
Humbling, daunting, scary and a problem in need of a solution to say the least.
Photo info:
Health, Happiness and the Velocity of Life: Connecting the Dots Around the World
Friday, January 29th, 2010 by Mike Hartung
Our admittedly desultory investigation of comparative health and happiness around the world (Destination Happiness, Healthy Planet Index, and More Happiness Data) has been joined recently by New York Times columnist Nick Kristoff, Freakonomics columnist Justin Wolfers and the staff at Glimpse magazine.
I don’t want to suggest that this line of inquiry is gaining urgency; on the contrary, I think the evidence is mounting that a key component of the health and happiness formula is a more leisurely pace of life. While Kristof and Wolfers highlight education and economic development, respectively, as “drivers” of happiness, the simpler, more fundamental factor may have been captured by Glimpse. Reporters polled their readership (students on international programs) to cull the Top 5 Health Tips From Abroad. Four of these tips clearly put the brakes on the American way of life: 1) Get out of the car, 2) Leave more time to eat, 3) Work less, 4) Nap more. And the examples of this lifestyle come from developed countries such as the Netherlands, Greece, Turkey and Spain.
Kristof taps two other important lines of inquiry we will pursue at our own pace: “environmental performance” and the “gender gap”. When we take the time to soak up our surroundings, it would be nice to find clean air, safe water and an abundance of tolerance. We think we’re starting to connect the dots. Do you think we are on the right track?
Photo info: http://www.flickr.com/photos/48089670@N00/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
H1N1 Update: 2010 Baseline Data Are Encouraging
Friday, January 8th, 2010 by Mike Hartung
The flu season in the northern hemisphere has reached its midpoint, and the latest news suggests that the H1N1 outbreak has peaked in most if not all countries. Among the 208 countries where H1N1 has appeared, peak intensity persists in Poland, Serbia, Georgia and Ukraine. H1N1 vaccine is now widely available in the U.S., and many countries in western Europe are cancelling orders for additional vaccine because a single dose has been found to be effective. It’s likely there are continuing vaccine shortages in many developing countries, so travelers to these destinations should not expect to have access to the vaccine while abroad. It’s no surprise that manufacturing and distributing vaccine on a global scale at “break-neck speed” has produced widespread delays and surpluses and shortages.
If you haven’t had a shot, it’s still worth considering (especially if you are under age 30) as world health authorities warn that another wave of H1N1 remains a possibility. Plus, immunizing today is likely to give you some level of protection against related strains in years to come. Of course, everyone always needs to weigh the risks of side effects. Our species may weather this season’s attack without enormous social disruption and loss of life, but we’ve certainly been reminded that luck often outweighs all our furious efforts to protect ourselves.
More Happiness Data by Destination: Study Ranks States
Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009 by Mike Hartung
The latest investigation into happiness by destination comes from Andrew Oswald of the University of Warwick (UK) and Stephen Wu of Hamilton College (NY) who have ranked all fifty states and DC using two data sets. One from the Centers for Disease Control compiles responses from 1.3 million Americans who were asked this: “How satisfied are you with your life?” The other is research conducted at the University of Southern California on indicators of quality of life such as sunshine, crime and environmental health. Surprisingly, Louisiana came out on top even in the aftermath of the Katrina disaster. And Mississippi is in the top six. At the bottom of the list? New York and Connecticut. There’s clearly little or no correlation with income per capita. The authors found a high degree of correlation between the subjective survey responses and the more objective indices. They speculate that “liberal angst” might be playing a role.
I’ve spent time in both New York City and New Orleans, and if we could measure the velocity of life, I think it would go a long way toward explaining these findings.
Discover the Developing World’s Ten Best Ethical Destinations
Monday, December 21st, 2009 by Mike HartungThe Earth Island Institute has published its 2010 Ethical Destinations Report at ethicaltraveler.org, shedding some light on the developing countries that have demonstrated the strongest commitment to environmental protection, social welfare and human rights. The report is a serious research effort to promote ethical travel: gaining an awareness of our impact and responsibilities as we explore the world. By all accounts it’s worth the trip. According to the authors, the countries cited represent “opportunities to experience nature at its most pristine, and to interact with local people and cultures in a meaningful, mutually enlightening way.”
The authors have mined some of the best published data available to come up with this year’s Top Ten (see chart below). It’s interesting to find four South American countries, four African countries and two eastern European countries. Developing Asian nations did not make the list because of irresponsible development policies, human rights abuses and weak environmental policies. The comments we included in the chart are research findings measured against all countries of the world. These achievements are particularly impressive for nations without a long history of democracy. Though fledglings, these countries are ready to take flight as destinations for responsible travelers.
A handful of countries fell out of last year’s Top Ten: Costa Rica, Bolivia and Bulgaria have a growing reputation for child trafficking, and Nicaragua’s human rights record took a major step backward.
Do you have first-hand experience as an ethical traveler? The Healthy Travel Blog would like you contribute to this conversation.
Destination Happiness: Which Places Point the Way to a Happy Planet?
Friday, October 2nd, 2009 by Mike HartungWhy do we travel? Are we trying to find a better path forward for ourselves and our children? There are many ways to pursue happiness, and close encounters with new cultures often lead us to reconsider what happiness means. When we hear fellow travelers asking, “What is the best way to live?” and “Where does this path lead?” their answers often swing between the material and the spiritual. How do we balance the two?
Now there’s an interesting new perspective emanating from respected economists that weighs factors such as health, a positive experience of life and the natural resource requirements to attain them. It’s all rolled up into something called the “Happy Planet Index,” measuring “the ecological efficiency with which healthy and happy lives are supported”. The New Economics Foundation devised this measure for 143 countries around the world (covering 99% of the population). The results, displayed online via an interactive map of the world, show that less wealthy countries with significantly smaller ecological footprints have high levels of life expectancy and satisfaction. In fact, nine of the top ten countries are in Latin America or the Caribbean (see our chart of the top twenty). The 64-page downloadable report describes the methodology and shows index scores in full.
Where does the U.S.come in? At 114th sandwiched between Madagascar and Nigeria. The planet’s richest nation is dragged down by its voracious and unsustainable appetite for natural resources. According to the HPI data, if all the peoples of the world were American, it would take more than four planets to support them.
A world traveler’s perspective and habits may dovetail with the values on which the HPI is based. You can calculate your personal HPI using an online questionnaire. I answered the series of questions fairly honestly and scored a 66.8-that’s about halfway between the world average of 46 and the target score of 83. The results are accompanied by tips for improving your performance. Maybe I’ll start by moving to Costa Rica.
Of course, it may take generations for the human species to arrive at the destination known as a Happy Planet. For the immediate future, I take comfort that simply pursuing happiness is often enough. To paraphrase Robert Louis Stevenson, “It is sometimes better to travel hopefully than to arrive.”
Traveling Responsibly Part Two: If You Plan to Drive, Beware of Taking Your Drinking Habits with You
Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009 by Mike HartungSo you’ve just enjoyed an exotic dinner including a liberal sampling of the local alcoholic libations (some of which are quite potent), and now it’s time to drive home. Be honest, do you have any idea what your blood alcohol level might be? Nearly 90% of the world’s countries have a national drunk-driving law on the books. Of course enforcement varies, but worrying about whether you’ll be stopped and booked is only part of the story. Think of the risk you pose to the local populace and yourself when you get behind the wheel. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that the legal Breath Alcohol Concentration (or BAC) for driving be less than or equal to 0.05 g/dl, and 50% of countries have implemented these rules. In the U.S., the legal limit is 0.08.
Unfortunately, this disparity seems to predict the likelihood of road deaths attributable to alcohol. The WHO’s recent report on road safety around the world places the U.S. among the top twenty countries where you are most likely to die on the road (or cause the death of someone else) if you’ve been drinking.
From this limited data set (not all countries are reporting), we can begin to conclude that American drinking habits generally pose significantly more risk than the locals’ do. Add this American propensity to drink and drive to the need to negotiate unfamiliar or substandard roads as well as signs in foreign languages, and Americans clearly represent a significant threat behind the wheel when far from home, unless they act responsibly.
It may be best to always let someone else drive if you plan to drink at all. In Brazil, the legal limit is just 0.02, and violators are hit with a $600 fine. For many people, just one drink puts you over this limit.
Have you had a drinking and driving incident abroad?
Looking Abroad to Begin the Healing of America
Tuesday, September 15th, 2009 by Mike Hartung
An important new contribution to the health care reform debate adds some much needed global perspective to the pervasive political rancor. Author T.R. Reid’s newly published book, The Healing of America, has been cited by reviewers as a series of serious and lucid insights into how medicine is practiced around the world and how different countries have crafted a mix of private and public resources to achieve broad if not universal coverage.
Reid sought treatment for a chronic shoulder ailment in ten different countries with ten different medical cultures and healthcare financing systems. The resulting medical advice spans a spectrum of treatment plans and personal choices. T.R. Reid has also begun fielding questions in the blogosphere. We think this global view is vital to surfacing policy alternatives that should be debated in Congress, and we hope our elected representatives can rise above the fray by taking the time to learn what Mr. Reid is reporting based on his worldwide experience with comparative healthcare.
