Disaster Planning in Literature

In Dr. Barbee's Organizational Behavior class we have discussed some of the ways that societies attempt to prevent, prepare for and contend with disasters. Ernest Hemingway had been witness to many traumatic scenes in his time as a war reporter in the First and Second World War and in the Spanish Civil War.
Hemingway's writing and adventure have always appealed to me, but this story in particular has made me wonder what Hemingway's idea of emergency preparedness was. This being a work of fiction, he is likely using the character to allude to many notions, I am thinking Hemingway feels that adventure leads to many unpredictable events, some tragic. His character seems to not have used good judgment on this particular incident, but does that show that he did not plan well on the whole?
The protagonist is dying due to a thorn scratch that he got on his knee that in the course of several weeks of hunting in Africa turned gangrenous and (spoiler alert!!) killed him.
In his last day he is reminiscing and speaking with his life partner about various aspects of "why did this happen to me?" They are at once speaking literally and figuratively, which appeals to me because I am somewhat philosophical and also interested in emergency preparedness.
Summarily- if the main character and his life partner/travel and hunting companion were truly prepared for an African adventure they would know to keep a wound such as this clean. He admitted that his thorn prick did not seem worth bothering much over when it happened, but it is the straw that broke the camel’s back. If they were taking all proper precautions they would have attended to this injury at the first. But as we see in the story he and his partner are serious alcoholics that make a lot of risky decisions and stumble around harming themselves and others. In planning for organizations and in personal decision making, you want the people who are in charge of travel plans, strategic plans and especially emergency plans to be someone who pays due attention to detail, such as treating a small wound and protecting it from infection.
This measure of planning and prevention is entirely necessary in all decision making and definitely needs to be a part of organizational emergency preparedness. Organizations that do not make long-term, strategic decisions are headed for inevitable decline. Hopefully decision makers will look at the all possibilities and look at the big picture when making decisions. Otherwise they could experience a fate such as the man in Hemingway's story dying early from a thorn puncture.

http://books.google.com/books?id=QjgiXnMHHtIC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA23#v=onepage&q&f=false