Listening to the millennium prophets of doom, I am reminded of those Reader's Digest quizzes where you are given an impossible choice of answers. The quiz goes something like this: "You are a health service manager and next new year's eve electricity and water supplies will be interrupted, all emergency communication centres will crash, traffic will be in chaos, and ambulances suddenly immobilised. Many of your staff call in sick and all of those on call are sloshed. Your usual shortage of hospital beds has been exacerbated by unprecedented cutbacks in social services provision. At long last you experience a winter not previously seen since 1963 and Asian flu sweeps the country. You have six months to prepare for the event—what do you do? (a) Apply for early retirement; (b) lie on the floor with your legs in the air impersonating John Cleese; (c) follow national advice and tell your staff how wonderful they are and that their dedication is not taken for granted, and that this will be demonstrated by the offer of a free meal in the staff canteen; or (d) draw up a fully comprehen- sive contingency plan."
展开▼
