Issue: Volume XXII
IDENTIFYING POTENTIALLY VIOLENT INDIVIDUALS [Top Of Page]
Have you ever known someone, worked with someone, encountered someone while traveling who seems “a little off?” Someone people joke about as likely to "go postal?"
Details from the Virginia Tech tragedy make it seem quite evident that the shooter had potential to be a danger to himself and others. Red flags were raised by numerous people around him, yet tragically any action taken was not enough.
As Dan Childs writes from the ABC News Medical Unit, “unfortunately, psychiatrists say there is no way to definitively predict the kind of horrific behavior seen at Virginia Tech.” Millions of people are depressed, but not violent, and millions of people are lonely or write unusual things and are not violent. Even violent people rarely commit mass murder.
So how do you know, how can you protect yourself? There may be certain indicators that can help predict when an individual is contemplating violence -- as well as ways to protect yourself if the worst occurs. From the experts at ABC News:
Warning Signs of Psychotic Violence
Past history of violence
The most important predictor of future violent behavior is past violent behavior. If someone is known to have a past of violence (include being the victim of abuse, or a history of abusing others) that alone is important.
Display of violence in writing or art
Disturbing writings could be considered a warning, indicating deep rage and a capacity for violence. A person’s writing and art are often reflective of their state of mind.
Talking about violence or suicide
Individuals who seem to be "simmering" -- or even making overt threats of violence -- may also be more likely to commit violent acts. Verbal expressions of violent tendencies are also among the most ignored warning signs.
Loneliness and social isolation
Individuals who stay in profound isolation and are “extreme loners” show they are unable to communicate with others about things that distress them. Without an outlet for their bottled-up frustrations or problems, their reactions are likely to manifest in other, potentially violent, ways.
Stalking and other antisocial or criminal behavior
Stalking should not be taken lightly and should always be reported to legal authorities. Such incidents might provide an early chance to intervene before a person goes out of control.
Hallmark behaviors of paranoia and severe mental illness
It is impossible to list all the potential signs of severe mental illness, but often you can get a “feeling” from someone’s accumulated bizarre behaviors. Flagrant disregard for basic social norms, such as wearing sunglasses indoors, whispering, being non-responsive to questions, or ranting about conspiracies are a few hallmark signs.
What to Do to Protect Yourself
There is no foolproof way to ensure you don’t encounter a sociopathic individual. Use these guidelines to help keep safe.
Report all incidences of psychotic or criminal behavior
Don’t wait for a person to commit a crime to report their strange behavior to authorities.
Trust your gut
Usually when you have a gut feeling, you are right, and if you feel afraid of a person or situation, chances are it is for good reason. Don’t hesitate to leave any situation if you feel it is dangerous or uncomfortable.
Do not confront or provoke a violent individual
Avoidance may be the best policy when dealing with someone who shows signs of committing a violent act. Do not make any interpersonal situation more personal. Keep body language non-threatening and keep your distance as much as possible.
For information about contingency planning, site vulnerability, emergency communication plans and more, contact SecurAssist at info@securassist.com.
KIDNAPPING STATISTICS GROW IN INDIA [Top Of Page]
World Kidnapping Statistics—Regional Breakdown
73% Latin America (Colombia, Mexico, Ecuador, Venezuela and Brazil)
15% Asia Pacific (India and The Philippines)
5% Europe
4% Africa (Nigeria, South Africa)
3% North America
World Kidnapping Statistics—Most Common Victims
27% Dependents
23% Business Personnel
15% Other
14% Non-professional Employees
8% Government officials & Security Forces
6% Professionals including journalists
4% Ranchers
3% Project workers including engineers
The number of kidnappings in India is increasing, the largest percentage being in poor, caste-ridden, rural states where organized crime gangs operate - Bihar State being a prime example. Most of the kidnappings involve family disputes, personal feuds, prostitution, etc., and the number of cases for ransom is 20% with the fees demanded being relatively small. As an example, in Eastern Bihar State, between 1992 and 2004, there were 32,085 kidnapping cases, about 20% for ransom. The Bihar police reported 5,000 kidnapping convictions in 2006.
Because Indian police forces—particularly in rural areas—are poorly paid and susceptible to bribery, most local kidnapping incidents are either not reported to the police or not actively pursued by them. As a general rule, the police are reluctant to register First Information Reports (FIR) for kidnapping until a ransom is paid, so many events go unreported.
After Bihar State, Delhi has the most kidnappings, followed by Uttar Pradesh. The recent kidnapping and release of the son of the Chief Executive of Adobe India, from his home in Noida (suburbs of New Delhi), suggests a possible growing trend of well-to-do individuals/families being targeted. In cities like Hyderabad in Andrah Pradesh State, the growing number of high tech firms and their well paid employees will likely result in an increase in the number of kidnappings.
As a general statement, Assist America members operating in India need to develop crisis management plans that cover a wide variety of unexpected circumstances including kidnap and ransom. Security procedures should be reviewed and regularly updated. Assist America clients should be aware of their security environment and know who to call locally should a problem arise. Finally, Assist America members in India should avoid ostentatious displays of wealth that could attract unwanted attention.
Sources include: The Straits Times, March 17, 2007; India Daily, November 2006; Xinhua General News Service, February 5, 2007; Schinnerer & Co., 2002-2004.
Contact SecurAssist at info@securassist.com for additional information and resources
ROLE OF THE QUARANTINE SYSTEM IN WORLD HEALTH [Top Of Page]
Quarantine stations around the world exist to limit the spread of infectious disease and to safeguard the native ecosystem; regulations differ from region to region. The United States has one of the most comprehensive quarantine systems in the world, with stations at 20 ports of entry and land-border crossings. These stations are staffed with medical and public health officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), who decide whether ill travelers, pets, plants etc. are allowed to enter the country, and what measures should be taken to prevent the spread of disease. The current list of afflictions that would result in a person being denied by the CDC for entry into the U.S. include: cholera, diphtheria, infectious tuberculosis, plague, smallpox, yellow fever, viral hemorrhagic fevers, SARS and new strains of influenza.
Brief Timeline of U.S. Quarantine System
1793 Outbreak of yellow fever in Philadelphia
1799 First U.S. quarantine station and hospital built in Philadelphia
1878 National Quarantine Act passed, shifting powers from state to federal government
1944 Public Health Service Act forms federal government’s quarantine authority
1967 CDC takes over federal quarantine functions
1970 Quarantine stations reduced from 55 to 8 in response to decrease in infectious disease
2004 In response to terrorist attacks of 2001 and SARS outbreak of 2003, CDC increases
number of quarantine stations from 8 to 29
The role of the U.S. Quarantine System in modern day is to:
• Respond to reports of illnesses on airplanes, maritime vessels, and at land-border crossings
• Inspect animals, animal products, and human remains that pose a potential threat to human health
• Screen cargo and hand-carried items for potential vectors of human infectious diseases
• Distribute immunobiologics and investigational drugs
• Provide travelers with essential health information
• Monitor health and collect any medical information of new immigrants, refugees, asylees, and parolees
• Alert local health departments in the areas where refugees and immigrants resettle about any health
issues that need follow-up
• Respond to mass migration emergencies
• Plan and prepare for emergency response
• Build partnerships for disease surveillance and control
Future Goals of the U.S. Quarantine System
The U.S. Quarantine System is currently working with federal and industry partners to increase the country’s ability to respond to public health threats by:
• Developing plans for rapid deployment of local and regional public health staff for support at borders
and ports of entry to help prevent the spread of infectious diseases during a public health
emergency
• Conducting exercises with partners to ensure port and community preparedness to mitigate any new, evolving infectious disease that could become a pandemic
• Planning community emergency public health and bioterrorism responses that cross jurisdictions
• Assessing training and communication needs among key Quarantine
System partners
• Developing training, education and communication materials for key Quarantine System partners to support preparedness and response to public health threats
More information about the U.S Quarantine System is located at the CDC website: www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dq
FROM THE ASSIST AMERICA CASE FILES: MALARIA MISSION [Top Of Page]
Brent*, a missionary stationed with his family in Dakar, Senegal, called Assist America for help with a terrible turn of events: his daughters, aged 11 and 12, had been hospitalized with malaria, and were progressively deteriorating in the intensive care unit. Both were gravely ill, and the older daughter had slipped into a coma.
Knowing that healthcare conditions in that region of the world are sub-standard, Assist America immediately began putting a plan into motion to evacuate the girls to a high level of care, securing space for both to be admitted to a top medical facility in Paris, France. Brent*, feeling acutely sensitive to local culture, hesitated to evacuate, fearing that he would insult his Senegalese hosts.
Assist America’s Clinical Director spoke directly with Brent, stressing the urgency of moving his daughters immediately and explaining both passionately and compassionately the dire outcome that could result from another moment’s delay. Brent acquiesced, and Assist America had both daughters transported to Paris on an air ambulance with a full medical team. Because of the size of the aircraft required for this mission, Brent and his wife were both able to accompany them on the voyage. Brent’s two other children, who would have been left without supervision in Senegal, were sent by Assist America back to the U.S. into the care of their aunt.
The girls arrived safely in stable condition and were admitted without impediment to their reserved rooms in pediatric intensive care. Assist America consulted with their treating medical team, who reported that the older girl was near death, and had she not been brought in so quickly, she probably would not have survived. The girls received excellent care and thankfully, both recovered from their illnesses.
When the girls were discharged from the hospital in France, they were repatriated safely back to the U.S. Another happy ending, thanks to Assist America.
*name has been changed for privacy
DOMESTIC AIRLINE RATING REPORT [Top Of Page]
The domestic Airline Quality Rating report for 2006 has been released. This ranking, which uses U.S. Transportation Department statistics, has been compiled annually since 1991 by the Aviation Institute at University of Nebraska at Omaha and Wichita State University. The research reflects monthly airline quality rating scores based on 15 elements in four major areas of importance to air travel consumers, including ontime performance, mishandled baggage, customer complaints, denied boardings, flight problems, fares/refunds, service, handling of animals and more. In all, 18 domestic airlines were evaluated.
The Airline Quality Rating industry score shows an industry that has declined in quality relative to customer performance criteria over the course of 2006. Of the 15 carriers rated in both 2005 and 2006, only Northwest (from #7 to #5) and US Air (from #15 to #13) show improvement in their overall score for 2006.
Overall Domestic Airline Rankings
(Last year’s ranking shown in parentheses)
1 Hawaiian (n/a)
2 Jet Blue (1)
3 Air Tran (2)
4 Frontier (n/a)
5 Northwest (7)
6 Southwest (4)
7 Continental (8)
8 United (5)
9 Alaska (9)
10 American (10)
Other notable results were:
- Southwest had the lowest number of complaints in 2006, 0.18 per 100,000 passengers. United and US Airways tied for the most, 1.36 per 100,000 passenger.
- Hawaiian Airlines had the best on-time performance (93.8 percent) for 2006, followed by Frontier Airlines (80.7 percent) and Southwest (80.2 percent). Atlantic Southeast Airlines had the worst on-time performance (66 percent). On-time was defined as within 15 minutes of the scheduled arrival time. Canceled and diverted flights counted as late.
- On-time performance, the report said, worsened last year, with 75.5 percent of flights arriving on time, compared with 77.3 percent in 2005.
- Overall, complaints about the airlines last year held steady at about 0.88 complaints for every 100,000 passengers. Nearly half the complaints were about flight problems or baggage. United and US Air received the most complaints; Southwest the least.
- The study found an increase in the number of passengers bumped or denied boarding because of oversold flights — 1.01 denied boardings per 10,000 passengers last year, compared with 0.89 per 10,000 in 2005. JetBlue had the lowest rate of bumped passengers; Atlantic Southeast the highest.
- Last year, for every 1,000 passengers, 6.50 bags were lost, stolen or damaged, compared with 6.06 in 2005. Hawaiian had the best baggage handling performance; Atlantic Southeast the worst.
- Notably, Spirit Airlines plans a new fee for passengers who check their bags. Starting in June, Spirit will charge $5 each for one or two checked bags if the ticket was booked online and $10 each for passengers who do not book online.
The complete report is available online at http://www.aqr.aero/.
GLOBAL ROAD SAFETY [Top Of Page]
Data released recently as part of the first United Nations Global Road Safety Week highlights the perils of traffic safety for U.S. travelers abroad. Traffic crashes are the most common cause of non-natural deaths for American tourists, according to State Department data, more prominent than homicides, acts of terrorism or natural disasters.
Motor vehicle accidents accounted for the deaths of 741 U.S. citizens traveling overseas from 2004-2006, or about one-third of the 2,364 deaths, according to an analysis of State Department data by the Make Roads Safe Campaign, an independent, nonprofit group funded by a charitable foundation in the United Kingdom dedicated to reducing global traffic deaths and injuries.
The figures may even be understated due to underreporting of deaths to the State Department, and/or travelers returning home for medical treatment and dying in the United States. Automobile use has expanded rapidly in many parts of the world where transportation was once confined to bicycles. China, for example, is now the second-largest vehicle market in the world and passenger car sales grew 37 percent there last year.
Global road traffic injuries claim the lives of more than 1.2 million people and injure around 50 million annually. Young adults can be particularly vulnerable. The World Health Organization reported last week that nearly 400,000 young people under 25 are killed in traffic crashes annually and car crashes are the leading cause of death worldwide for people ages 10 to 24. Study abroad students often receive safety information about traveling on the roads of the world, but they often take it for granted that conditions will not differ from home.
Traffic safety experts say travelers from the U.S. sometimes overlook the dangers of road safety during their vacations. It is important to show caution when driving abroad. Some tips:Familiarize yourself with a country's driving laws and road conditions before getting behind the wheel
- If you are going on a bus or other road tour, investigate the travel company's safety record and accreditation process for drivers
- If renting a car, opt for a model that has the best possible crash test rating
- Observe posted speed limits; when in doubt, slow down. Speeding contributes to 30% of road traffic accidents.
- Use daytime running lights if the vehicle is equipped with them; avoid traveling at night if possible
- Wear safety belts and buckle up children; seat belts can reduce fatality and serious injury by 40-65% in adults, 54% in children, and 71% in infants
- Never drink and drive
- Do not drive when fatigued or using medication that causes drowsiness
- Wear a helmet if traveling by motorcycle or bike
- Be vigilant about your surroundings as a pedestrian
- If you are injured in a traffic accident, do not wait to seek medical care; many debilitating, even fatal injuries, can be prevented by timely medical intervention
For the latest, up-to-date information regarding key regions, click on the links below:
AFRICA
For detailed information on the region or country specific data, please follow the link to Africa.
EAST ASIA & PACIFIC
For detailed information on the region or country specific data, please follow the link to East Asia & Pacific.
EUROPE & EURASIA
For detailed information on the region or country specific data, please follow the link to Europe & Eurasia.
NEAR EAST
For detailed information on the region or country specific data, please follow the link to Near East.
SOUTH ASIA
For detailed information on the region or country specific data, please follow the link to South Asia.
WESTERN HEMISPHERE
For detailed information on the region or country specific data, please follow the link to Western Hemisphere.
Sources for this document include, but are not limited to: CNN, ABC News, AP, Airline Quality Rating, The CDC, The U.S. State Department.
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