In 2008 emergency planners predicted that if a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck southern California, 60 percent of hospital beds in Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside, and Orange counties would be knocked out of commission.

To allow aid workers to treat the thousands of potentially injured residents during the quake, first responders are developing alternative medical care policies like emergency tents stocked with medical equipment.

Kay Fruhwirth, the head of the LA County Office of Emergency Management, said the number of available beds “is really dependent on the level of impact, but we have plans and we know in general what hospitals can do to meet increased demands for a lot of people who need medical care.”

To that end, Fruhwirth said surge tents would be put in place for initial triage and the sorting out of patients for short-term care. In addition, thirteen hospitals in ten locations throughout the region have Disaster Resource Centers, which are equipped with tent shelters that are capable of housing at least forty patients for the first forty-eight hours after a disaster.

“All hospitals do planning for disasters, but these centers have additional supplies and equipment, which can also be moved to the impacted area,” Fruhwirth explained.

Research finds that money actually does help, but — when it comes to happiness — our relationships, generosity and gratitude buy a lot more.

Psychologist Robert Emmons has found that acts of gratitude — such as thanking people, volunteering, helping with homework — improve physical health and raise levels of energy. He is the author of the book, Thanks!: How Practicing Gratitude Can Make You Happier (Mariner Books, 2008).

By Clifton B. Parker

Is happiness everything it's cracked up to be?

It depends. Throughout the ages, our greatest thinkers found happiness an inherently slippery thing to measure or define. Ancient Greek philosophers racked their brains in search of the cleverest answer to this question, and the brightest Enlightenment sages deeply pondered one of humanity's most perplexing and popular subjects.

Times change, and today we live in a huge-bandwidth world with learning and growing opportunities unimagined by our ancestors. Still, these two existential questions remain for us as they did for Aristotle: What is happiness, and how do we achieve it?

Peter Douglas, executive director of the California Coastal Commission for 26 years, announced his retirement Wednesday August 10th,  after 26 years as executive director of the California Coastal Commission.

Douglas, age 68, who has been battling lung cancer, told the panel he will go on sick leave Monday and will retire on Nov. 1, planning to hand off leadership of the agency to Senior Deputy Director Charles Lester. However, it is ultimately up to the 12-member panel to choose a new leader.

As reported in the LA Times blog Greenspace,
Douglas began his crusade for coastal protection in the 1970s as a legislative aide and consultant, helping to draft Proposition 20, which voters passed in 1972, and the 1976 state Coastal Act, which created the Coastal Commission. After serving as the agency’s chief deputy, he was named its third executive director in 1985.

A new web tool unveiled by NRDC lets users read how each of the 50 US states might be impacted by climate change. On the site, www.nrdc.org/climatemaps, users can see local data and maps detailing extreme weather patterns throughout California and the nation, see local climate change vulnerabilities and learn about health problems in their own communities that are connected to climate change.

The data for the project was gathered from the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other resources.

For Californians, the report reveals

Locking up his station wagon, the one with the scratched paint and unpaid bills covering the floor mats, Cam Slocum crossed the parking lot and stepped into the kitchen of the swanky French restaurant Mélissein Santa Monica.