Sometimes the ripples of a catastrophic event can still be felt
I’m not sure if I’ve shared this story before, but, back in April 2013 (April 15 to be exact), I was headed out to the West Coast for work when I heard that some explosive devices had been detonated during the running of the 117th Boston Marathon. It was a difficult personal moment for me as I had a nephew running the marathon for the first time. I had some anxious moments before my brother called to let me know that his son had finished before the bombing occurred. That work week finished up in Florida and I had to make the return flight to Boston while the manhunt was still in motion and people around Boston were advised to shelter in place. Things had settled down by the time we landed in Boston, but it was a very surreal experience driving home with almost no traffic on the highway—folks were still hunkered down. I wouldn’t see that little traffic again until the pandemic.
Fast forward to April 2025. I was headed to my gate in Denver for the flight back home and I noticed a scrum of TSA folks at the gate (I even mentioned it to my wife when I was updating her on the status of the flight). At first, I wasn’t quite sure what was going on. I didn’t see any “scrums” at any of the other gates. Then I noticed that there were a lot of folks waiting to board who might best be described as “runners,” then noticed some Boston Marathon t-shirts and then remembered what weekend it was—Marathon Weekend! I can only imagine that this was a somewhat purposeful exercise as the TSA folks were checking photo IDs against the names on the boarding passes, which I can only think ties back to the protective measures that can be put in place in the wake of a catastrophic event. Maybe I am falling victim to a combination of memory and trying to find organization in chaos, but I think it’s good when we learn from the past and actually make good on that knowledge to improve the processes through which folks move through spaces (and time). I know as well as anyone that some of these processes are more invasive than we would prefer, but sometimes it pays to make things just that little bit safer.
About the Author: Steve MacArthur is a safety consultant with The Chartis Group. He brings more than 30 years of healthcare management and consulting experience to his work with hospitals, physician offices, and ambulatory care facilities across the country. He is the author of HCPro's Hospital Safety Director's Handbook and is an advisory board member for Accreditation and Quality Compliance Center. Contact Steve at stevemacsafetyspace@gmail.com.