Let me echo what my friend Kevin has to say about Thinking Through the Unthinkable:

For starters, even if you or your loved ones haven’t been hurt in the blast, you can still become casualties if a stampede breaks out. It’s not unheard of for incidents like this to turn into a human stampede that leads to a loss of life far beyond what the first incident causes. Knowing where the exits are and having more than one escape route beforehand helps you avoid the mindless rush to get out if a panicked fear breaks out in a crowd.

Secondly, while you may not have a first-aid kit on you, you can have one nearby. An IFAK (Infantryman’s First Aid Kit) gives you the basics to save a life in a such a situation, and they’re small enough to go just about anywhere. I have one in the back of my car and I’ve got a couple more on-order to toss into range bags whenever I go shooting.

Thirdly, learn how to save lives, IFAK or not. For me, taking a good, solid emergency trauma and first aid class has just shot to the top of my training priorities list since the incident at Boston…

The objective in writing about incidents like the Boston Marathon Bombing is not to scare but to to prepare.  All of us (myself included) can learn and do more that will better equip us for when the unthinkable happens.  Start taking steps now, even if they are small ones, because nobody knows when the next disaster will strike.