The life cycle of our local (county) All Hazard Mitigation Plans has mirrored the rise—and more recently the decline—of meth in rural communities across America. We classified methamphetamine as both a hazardous substance and a technological hazard because of the unique dangers associated with its manufacture, including devastating impacts on people, property, and the high costs of cleaning up contaminated meth houses.
While the “meth house” threat has moderated in some areas following state legislation restricting access to key ingredients, meth in rural communities continues to emerge in unexpected and often dangerous ways. The National Domestic Preparedness Coalition recently highlighted the following article in its news feed:
‘Shake-and-bake’ meth fills hospitals with burn patients
By Jim Salter
Associated PressST. LOUIS — A crude new method of making methamphetamine poses a risk even to Americans who never get anywhere near the drug: It is filling hospitals with thousands of uninsured burn patients requiring millions of dollars in advanced treatment — a burden so costly that it’s contributing to the closure of some burn units.
So-called shake-and-bake meth is produced by combining raw, unstable ingredients in a 2-liter soda bottle. But if the person mixing the noxious brew makes the slightest error, such as removing the cap too soon or accidentally perforating the plastic, the concoction can explode, searing flesh and causing permanent disfigurement, blindness or even death.
An Associated Press survey of key hospitals in the nation’s most active meth states showed that up to a third of patients in some burn units were hurt while making meth, and most were uninsured. The average treatment costs $6,000 per day. And the average meth patient’s hospital stay costs $130,000 — 60 percent more than other burn patients, according to a study by doctors at a burn center in Kalamazoo, Mich…
Be careful out there.
(cross-posted from All-Hazard Mitigation blog)
