While tracking these things is useful, it is reactive instead of proactive. Being proactive is a LOT harder, but can be a lot more decisive. For example:
The FDA Current Drug Shortages Index (selected drugs).
http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/DrugShortages/ucm050792.htm
(Avoiding “the flying, blunt, sharp and poisonous” things is all well and good, but if you have angina and can’t get your nitroglycerine pills, you are a dead man. And vulnerabilities like this are widespread.)
And it’s not just drugs. Medical equipment is stored in a “push” supply system. For example, the US has only about 102,000 oxygen ventilators. In a typical flu season, it uses about 100,000 of these. No way in heck are there enough for even a bad flu season. This means our medical system is always on a razor’s edge for shortage failure. During Katrina, hospitals in the region were getting resupplied by hospitals four states away.
Food and medicine recalls:
http://www.recalls.gov/food.html
US HAZMAT transportation routes:
http://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=8c665f66734e4933a02c9157ea9d6e61
If you don’t get this app, I am so screwed.