A biography for Irwin Redlenerhasn’t been written yet.
“If a severe pandemic materializes, all of society could pay a heavy price for decades of failing to create a rational system of health care that works for all of us.”
“Kids get a lot of lip service in disaster planning, but they tend to get far fewer resources than they need. The mantra of 'children are our most valuable resource' is almost never matched by actual funding.”
“There isn't a single American city, in my estimation, that has sufficient plans for a nuclear terrorist event.”
“There's only so much academic disruption that a young child can deal with before he just can't catch up.”
“No organization should be allowed near disaster unless they are willing to cooperate with some level of established leadership.”
“Poverty leads to hardship and failure.”
“From a population point of view, it's actually very important that as few people as possible get the flu. People getting the flu is not a private matter. The risk for healthy people is really about your friends and neighbors and fellow travelers.”
“Seven million ship cargo containers come into the United States every year. Five to seven percent only are inspected - five to seven percent.”
“Hospitals are about healing.”
“There has been a transition from a nuclear-annihilation scenario to an isolated-terrorist-nuclear-bomb scenario. But we're still locked into a mind-set that nuclear war would be so overwhelming that any kind of preparedness would be futile.”
“Disasters like Oklahoma City and 9/11 were time-limited. The children who were affected psychologically could go to a place of normalcy.”
“President Obama was deeply and clearly affected by the Sandy Hook disaster.”
“Having insurance doesn't guarantee good health outcomes, but it is a critical factor.”
“Fallout shelters are like bell-bottoms. They've gone in and out of favor.”
“Americans do not have a good track record when it comes to preparing for disasters, unless they see a clear possibility of personally being in harms way.”
“There's detailed information on how to assemble a nuclear weapon from parts. There's books about how to build a nuclear bomb.”
“The risks are far greater to your child of not getting immunized than any kind of speculative potential relationship between the vaccine and the development of autism.”
“Very large scale disasters, especially those that have occurred in the developing world, have very long recovery periods.”
“Many low-income children face chronic stress from nutritional deprivation or persistent violence at home or in the community. By addressing their medical, emotional and developmental needs through a comprehensive clinical care model, we can lower their risk of developing long-term physical and mental health issues.”
“Nuclear terrorism is possible - it may be probable - but is survivable.”