Welcome to February! This month we are talking about the incredibly tough places for safety and rescue; Subterranean Spaces. Mining as an industry is performed in almost every country in the world. According to the 2017 World Mining Congress Data 17,269,688,784 Metric Tons of minerals were produced globally in 2015, by 163 countries,valued at approximately $3,584,418,000.00 (Not including diamonds). Subterranean spaces include underground spaces that are not mines as well. Other challenging underground spaces include the subways and tunnels in many of the world's larger cities. Underground spaces can be created through natural or man made disasters. Think earthquakes, mudslides, or the September 11th World Trade Center attack. It is a much overlooked specialty in the first responder world, a specialty with dangerous conditions for firefighting, medical rescue, and law enforcement investigation, as well as the almost obvious high risk for injury and death that comes with working underground.

This month, we want to increase the awareness of subterranean responses to those who do not currently have a large sector of underground industries, and to bring a discussion surrounding the future spaces. Experts have been discussing underground cities as the next location for future development for years. We offer our readers, Injury Trends in Mining , At the Resource: Technical Rescue Awareness, and a thoughtful look forward with, If the Future is Underground, It is Closer Than You Think. This is also the month of love. At the Ready Thought Leader Robert Avsec brings a timely and important mental perspective for our readers in Stop Romanticizing Firefighting.

I also want to use the intro platform I have been given to take a moment and thank our readers and give an update on our reach. At the Ready Magazine is coded to be translatable into any Google language using their translate feature. This allows us to reach first responders everywhere by removing the language barrier as much as we can. We believe that the professions we cover, those that respond first, are without borders. Every place on the map has natural and man-made disasters and dedicated people, whether in volunteer, hybrid organization, or paid positions, who put themselves aside to help those in crisis. We know this. This is the philosophy of why we do what we do, and why we are always free online. Our subscriptions to the RSS feed have doubled in just a few months, and we are continuing to grow globally in great strides. Thank you.

We also want to extend an invitation to our readers, and others who are part of this global network of responding. If you want to write for our audience, send articles to submissions@atthereadymag.com and don't forget to send in your questions and comments at mailbag@atthereadymag.com. Have a safe and wonderful February.

Warm Regards,
Dawn