Toward Ecosophy

I've been disquieted over the last few days to hear that quite a few of my readers have had dreams in which mass death has been a major feature. (The discussion has happened in the current Covid open post, if you're curious.) One of the things that's made me most uncomfortable about this is that I had a dream of the same kind. 

In my dream,  I was part of a small group of people who were being given a tour of a brand new hospital. We got into an elevator and started up, and then the elevator stopped suddenly between floors, and started going down much faster. The doors opened on the ground floor and a loudspeaker was blaring that there had been a mass casualty event and every visitor needed to leave at once to get out of the way. I headed for the nearest exit from the hospital, and woke up with the words "mass casualty event" ringing in my ears. 

Now of course dreams are dreams, and they don't always, or often, predict events in the waking world -- but sometimes they do. Precognitive dreams are a known phenomenon among those who don't rule such things out on the basis of sheer dogma. That being the case, it occurs to me that certain simple preparations might be worthwhile. 

One of the main impacts we can expect from any mass casualty situation here in the US, especially if it isn't localized, is an even more complete breakdown of the hospital systen than we've had already, After decades of reckless corporate profiteering, most hospitals are struggling to keep the doors open, and it doesn't help that a great many nurses and other frontline personnel are being treated in ways that are extremely abusive, even when compared to other working-class jobs -- which is saying something. If something causes a wave of sickness or injury, hospital care will be effectively unavailable for quite some time thereafter. 

That's where some simple preparations might help. Until the 1960s, when the medical industry in the US became obsessive about soaking consumers for every last dollar, most people got the majority of their health care at home -- and that included nursing care. The Red Cross offered classes and certification in home nursing, and a great many health conditions were seen to by family members of the patient, in the comfort and privacy of their own homes. You can still find copies of the manual for the Red Cross classes in the used book trade and some other places.

It seems to me that whether or not the dreams in question turn out to be premonitions, this might be something worth keeping in mind -- one more way in which a few simple preparations might make all the difference in the world.