Staying Safe (and Healthy) During #GeorgiaSnow

You may have heard about the #Snowmadgeddon taking place in the South this week. As a resident of Georgia who commutes into Atlanta, I can safely say our fair city is in no way prepared to handle driving in such weather. We’re just not cut out for it. I tend to think in Twitter terms, so I’ll call it an #AtlantaFail. But, I must point out that situations like this, thankfully, bring out the best in most people. I saw many good Samaritans attempting to help stranded motorists during the four and a half hours it took me to get from the office park I was visiting to the closest friend’s house I could find. The friend, a fellow #HITchick, graciously opened her home to me and a friend I made at the networking event I attended earlier in the day.

snowtweet

How does this tie into healthcare? I want to say a big thank you on behalf of patients everywhere to the ambulance drivers and EMTs that attempted to drive through the icy conditions last night to help those in need. I saw several ambulances on our drive last night, and heard many more sirens. Like the new friend I made, there were many folks in Atlanta that assumed they’d be traveling to their home states at the end of the workday. For those out-of-state residents that had health incidents during the #Snowpocalypse (another popular euphemism that has popped up on Twitter), I sincerely hope that digital tools helped their caregivers treat them more quickly and more effectively.

I also want to say a huge thank you to the school staff, teachers and bus drivers who did their best to help ensure Georgia’s school children remained safe and warm, even though it meant spending the night at school for some.  As a room mom, my next move will be showering our teachers with gratitude. As has become so evident over the last few years, healthcare starts at home and in our communities, and it definitely does my heart good to think that our kids were being taken care of while many of us were stuck in cold cars on treacherous roads.

I’ll be back on track with healthcare IT-specific topics next week. Stay safe and warm out there, folks!

About the author

Jennifer Dennard

As Social Marketing Director at Billian, Jennifer Dennard is responsible for the continuing development and implementation of the company's social media strategies for Billian's HealthDATA and Porter Research. She is a regular contributor to a number of healthcare blogs and currently manages social marketing channels for the Health IT Leadership Summit and Technology Association of Georgia’s Health Society. You can find her on Twitter @JennDennard.

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