But wait! PLOT TWIST. Two NYPD officers spot Passenger X from the other end of the car and begin to semi-urgently walk toward her to escort her off the train at the next station. The police are on the lookout for anyone looking severely ill and along with MTA staff, have undergone trainings in communicable disease mitigation. The two officers make their way towards Passenger X; mechanically putting on latex gloves. As the train barrels into the 145th Street station the officers mosey up to Passenger X. Calmly, but authoritatively Officer Orange (I’m sick of assigning letters) asks Passenger X to exit the train. Together, Officers Orange and Blue (complimentary colors make better teams) lead Passenger X to the medical department in the train station. Both officers’ faces are covered by NYPD-issued medical masks, designed to be unassuming (like a scarf but made for utility, not fashion). Shaking their heads disapprovingly, they politely provide Passenger X a medical mask which she neglected to pick up when boarding the train. All stations were equipped with medical masks and latex gloves in the last flu outbreak, and all MTA stations increased their announcements concerning washing hands, how to properly cough, and to stay home if feeling sick.
As urban centers continue to grow and thrive, so does Z and any number of similar communicable disease. More than 10 million warm bodies inhabit New York City at any given time. Planes, trains, and automobiles link these human cluster hubs and act as convention centers for contagious organisms. Innovations in transportation and communication better connect people from across the globe, but facilitates the movement of illness. If we consider the many ways disease and illnesses are transmitted from organism to organism, as so lovingly discovered by Pasteur and formally known as Germ Theory, it is easy to see how the transportation system holds the potential to be the harbinger of death (or at least serious illness and potentially death).
The NYCDOHMH should initiate an interagency emergency planning protocol with pre-emptive steps focused on improved communication for an illness outbreak. The MTA implemented a similar practice in posting notices of how to properly cover your mouth when sneezing/ coughing. The steps (could) include (but are absolutely not limited to):
1. Sending an alert using the emergency alert system connected to cell phonescellphones and cable TV. This alert will advise the ill to stay home and warn of potential train delays and possible shutdown of the transportation system. 2. Health professionals observe people at train stations and prompt the police to pull anyone aside who displays serious symptoms. 3. Train and bus closures (equating to shutting down the city), systematically isolating the ill. 4. Empty trains will be used to shuttle medical supplies, blankets, etc. to hospitals and quarantine zones. 23