Prometheus Unleashed

As we remember from Greek mythology Prometheus was chained to a rock while having his liver eaten as a punishment for giving mortals fire. Why does that happen? Too often the introduction of a new technology is viewed as the magic potion to solve all ills but in reality the hopeful Prometheus is often faced with introducing that technology in an environment similar to the cartoon Prometheus and Bob.

Please view the cartoon before proceeding and after you stop howling with laughter. Technology is one of three types of capabilities that affect change in an organization. Technology is often a game changer, but the introduction of a technical capability without the appropriate supporting skill and processes often means limited impact, limiting the ROI and hampering key objectives. This is the essence of sustainable IT maturity.

The diagram below is a simple example. Notice how basic technology capabilities are combined with skills and process capabilities to provide higher value, higher impact compound capabilities. Previously I addressed this dilemma focusing on what must be done, starting with culture.

Prometheus Unleashed | SIGNAL Magazine

We need a way to think about how we as humans interact with data, information and knowledge to make decisions that matter. In a previous blog I examined the killer app. The one I primarily focused on was the spread sheet for its simple modeling style, the resulting ubiquity of use and the significant unintended consequences of its massive proliferation.

Tracing a calculation in such a sheet can be a nightmare, debugging even worse. Too often the answer is to convert this treasure trove of knowledge to a programing paradigm where the programmers have no understanding of the problem domain. What if the decision making we need to make better IT designs requires knowledge from 6 different domains, such as business analysis, application portfolio analysis, enterprise architecture, application forensics, engineering compatibility, operational feasibility?

What if the knowledge we need to leverage is not just bottom up data e.

What if that knowledge is locked up in configuration guides, engineering checklists, and the heads of our consultants? In data science that knowledge is considered a priori, hard won knowledge that we already have assimilated and use and is of vital interest when applied to machine learning. These knowledge sets need to be maintained by experts who will take care of their relevance cycle. But even more important than that is how the knowledge from different experts can be used systematically together to make informative decisions about application portfolio investment, application rationalization, cloud deployment, and infrastructure design.

How do they enter knowledge that can be leveraged by other experts in any sequence they deem fit? How do we make knowledge trapped in configuration sheets and best practices documents come to life?

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Support columns in the main dining area were made to look like palm trees, with light fixtures resembling cocoanuts. A combination of highly flammable decorative materials and a flaunting of fire regulations and laws, which included avenues of escape being bolted shut, led to the deadly events and unprecedented tragedy.

Patrons and workers alike succumbed to toxic combustion by-products present in smoke and flame induced burns. This tragic event shocked the nation and even briefly replaced the events of WW II in the newspaper headlines. It led to a reform of safety standards and codes across the U. Victims were taken to both Massachusetts General Hospital and Boston City Hospital which accepted a multitude of burn and smoke inhalation victims,and borne out of this tragic event, were new methods and techniques for burn care.

This event also spurred one of the first human uses of the then newly developed antibiotic, penicillin, administered to the Cocoanut Grove burn victims to stave off Staphylococcus aureus infections of skin grafts. Decades later, The Station nightclub fire occured on February 20, at approximately The Station fire resulted in deaths 96 on site,4 subsequent to hospitalization and non-fatal injuries. In addition, panic and a resulting stampede further hindered escape and injured occupants attempting to escape. The mechanisms of injury included thermal trauma and burns, toxic smoke inhalation, crush and trampling related injuries.

Because it was a high -casualty fire caused by illegal indoor usage of outdoor fireworks, the Station Fire disaster shares similarities with other fires occuring in diverse areas of the globe, such as the Colectiv nightclub fire in Bucharest, Romania. The scope and magnitude of the disaster resulted in Fire, EMS, and Police first responders on scene and the system -wide overtaxing of local and regional emergency medical and burn capacity ,as well as mass fatality capabilities, ie medical examiners office.

Each specified the main cause of death listing any significant factors the medical examiner felt were contributory, noting the victim possibly could have expired without suffering the contributing factor.

Prometheus Unbound – Knowledge Unleashed

All 86 listed significant thermal burns as a significant factor. The medical examiner also testified 20 deceased had significant levels of hydrogen cyanide, a toxic combustion by-product and systemic asphyxiant associated with synthethics fueled fires, eg polyurethane. Accidental fires account for thousands of deaths per year in the U. In the realm of terrorism and asymmetric threats, much can be extrapolated from conventional fires and fire related disasters and mass casualty incidents that can apply to emergency and crisis management of incendiary attacks. Explosive events involving either accidental e,g.

The Bali nightclub bombing in resulted in over injured, most with severe burns, with 62 burn patients transferred to Australia and all its burn beds were filled Australia has 12 burn centers with beds. Smoke quickly accumulated obliterating visibility and creating a toxic atmosphere. On July 7, , the London Underground transit system was attacked using three bombs and one bomb on a double-decker bus leaving 52 dead at the scene and over injured.

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4. Prometheus Unleashed: Addressing Fire-Related Disasters and Incendiary Terrorism?

All mass casualty burn disasters pose potential challenges to first responders, emergency, crisis and disaster managers and health care providers. Let us imagine and consider one scenario which this author has proposed to emergency planning committees in the past. The scenario involves the hijacking or theft of fuel trucks in several locations with the intent of either crashing them into crowded public venues or possibly detonating the tankers loaded with fuel.

A carefully laid out tactical plan by a band of determined operatives would create a multifocal disaster that could generate scores of burn casualties requiring emergent and on-going burn care and rehabilitation. Chemical burn management will also require decontamination assets. What if stationary radiological devices are covertly placed in businesses, schools, places of worship, theatres or countless other venues and individuals are irradiated?

Wound healing related to radiation burns, especially if the immune system is compromised and there are other co-morbidities present, becomes delayed and chronic care will be required which may overtax health care resources, including rehabilitative and long term care facilities. The effects of a an explosive radiological dispersal device RDD would cause blast, thermal and, possibly radiation injury by incorporating radionuclides via physiological routes of exposures.