Bioterrorism preparedness: A generic blueprint for health departments, hospitals, and physicians

Abstract

It is next to impossible to prepare for every conceivable bioterror threat. Thus, a generic blueprint is needed that divides possible attacks into categories, including the magnitude of the attack, the location, and the contagiousness of the agent. A very small attack can be handled with current resources and a very large attack cannot be planned for effectively. A mid-sized attack, which stretches current resources, is where we should concentrate our planning. The differing perspectives from the local physician, local Public Health and Emergency Medical Services official, hospital epidemiologist, and federal agency administrator have to be considered. General preparedness efforts should include 1) enhancing the public health, emergency medical services, intelligence, and law enforcement infrastructures; 2) strengthening the on-site medical response capability; 3) maintaining stockpiles of pharmaceuticals & vaccines; 4) having rapid laboratory diagnostic capability to qualify, quantify and fingerprint clinical and environmental isolates; 5) developing programs to educate the physician, public health, and public communities; and 6) gathering good pre-attack intelligence.