The following was originally published in response to a classroom forum:
One of the concerns in the emergency preparedness community relates to the ability to rapidly recognize a biological event if it were to occur in a community. This can involve recognition of an unusual cluster of illnesses, such as those spread by contaminated food (salmonella, e. coli, etc). Once recognized, then a determination must be made regarding whether this public health event was a natural occurrence or a man-made, deliberately caused outbreak. Does your community have mechanisms in place for early detection? What are the reporting procedures? Have they been practiced or drilled?
Please note that the majority of this response is speculative and based on assumed or third-hand knowledge, and has not been verified for accuracy…
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To the best of my knowledge, there are not any facilities or agencies within Harrison County equipped or prepared for the early detection of biological terrorism, beyond the normal expectations of doctors and associated clinicians performing general diagnostics and evaluations of symptoms. Our hospital laboratory can process a variety of tests, however many samples are processed at larger metropolitan facilities; I would have to assume that certain biological agents would be amongst these. I will say that I have heard from reliable sources involved in the local medical community that when an initial need for testing occurs, our laboratory evaluates the need for materials and procedures necessary to conduct the tests in house.
Reporting procedures are likely unclear, with respect to alerting the public. Normal procedures of health concerns eventually reach the public in the form of an article published in the weekly newspaper, a memorandum passed along to school-children and discussion on the local radio station’s Monday through Friday morning hour-long talk show. Within recent history our E-911 dispatch center has gained the ability to contact citizens that have opted into an auto-dialing program for notification of varied public concerns; our medical community has not yet had a need to pass along a message to dispatch, though the opportunity exists. All agencies and organizations within the community know that it is possible to contact the broadcast media in Lexington in order to relay the message on their televised newscasts and social media channels. I believe that the medical community knows that notification of the local EM, dispatch center, and government officials are required; whether this would be practiced as policy dictates is unknown—to my knowledge there has never been a drill or exercise related to a bio-terror incident. There have, however been notifications to the public in years past concerning MRSA—notification came in the form of an article in the local paper and memos from the local board of education.
Reporting to higher medical authorities are routinely practiced per policies and regulations; there are, however, frequent hiccups—according to my sources—in the order to which these procedures are to be carried out.
I do know that there are plans in place for possible bio-terroristic events, with the expectation that the event would take place in a different area, and that our community would have to take preventative action. In late 2002, early 2003, our nation became concerned about the possibility of the terroristic release of the variola virus—smallpox—into the population. The entire medical and EM community responded by planning for such an instance, developing plans for distribution centers and prioritizing sectors of officials and the public for inoculation should the President order the release and distribution of the vaccine. In a three-part informational column then Public Health Administrator of the Wedco District Health Department, Dr. Julie W. McKee, described the plans for Harrison County (Barnes, 2003). In the plans, McKee stated that Wedco would initially be responsible for its own staff as would Harrison Memorial Hospital; following the inoculation of respective medical staff, Wedco and HMH would proceed to inoculating members of local emergency services and government. Once the local medical and emergency communities were supplied, two named locations would be opened, staffed by Wedco and HMH personnel, for the purposes of reaching the general public. Fortunately, the need never came; unfortunately—to my knowledge—the plan was never tested.
I do know that this specific plan did bring about discussion amongst emergency services personnel, with many of the agency leaders asking their respective personnel whether they would receive the vaccine should the voluntary inoculation take place—I had been asked if I would partake. Though I cannot remember my exact response, I wouldn’t doubt that I made a joke about the federal cataloging of citizens through smallpox vaccination that had been dreamed up in The X-Files.
Similar plans are in place for other vaccination possibilities—I had heard that the local hospital had established a plan based on the aforementioned smallpox plan during the 2009 H1N1 scare. It would be safe to assume that similar plans would be applied for other incidents, with modifications to include the addition of other vaccination stations—most likely separated by school or voting district.
References
Barnes, B. (2003) Health Officials Plan for Threat of Small Pox. The Cynthiana Democrat. Retrieved October 30, 2012 from: http://harrisonema.com/2003/01/29/officials-plan-for-threat-of-small-pox/
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I have no clue if I referenced the articles properly, considering I pulled the three of them from a single page that I published seven years ago… When I re-published the articles I failed to note the exact date of publication; additionally, the Cynthiana Democrat does not offer an online archive for articles prior to December 2007…
“PBHE413 Biological Terrorism” was originally published on J. Palmer
J. Palmer 