EmergencyNet News Service (ENN)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 11/11/96 - 20:00CST
Nance's "Pandora's Clock" All Too Real?
By Paul Anderson, ENN Associate Editor
Chicago, IL, November 11, 1996 (ENN) -- A television mini-series, based on John Nance's best-selling novel,
"Pandora's Clock", and airing on the NBC network tonight, has created quite a stir in both the scientific community and
the
general public. Regular airline passengers have begun to ask questions about the reality of Nance's fictional account of a
potential infectious disease epidemic on a plane in flight.
Scientists, researchers, military planners, and counter-terrorist analysts say that the proliferation of chemical and biological
weapons in the world is a matter of utmost concern to them and that they fear it is only a matter of time before these
fearsome and insidious weapons are (again) used against civilian populations. The experts point to a March 19th, 1995
release of poison gas in the Tokyo, Japan subway system as an example of what could happen tomorrow in any city
in the United States.
In fact, the threat of the intentional use or accidental release of a airborne "class-4" biological weapon (BW) is, in some
ways, far more frightening to researchers than that of a chemical release, for which there may be known specific antidotes
and counter-measures. In the case, for instance, of a mutated or genetically engineered strain of ebola or some
hemorrhagic fever, there may be no known effective treatment. Additionally, infectious disease scientists point out that a
spread of deadly pathogens could take place without any immediate recognition on the part of the medical community,
until after hundreds or even thousands of people had been infected.
An examination of current preparedness levels of emergency service agencies, to deal with a potentially deadly release of a
biological agent, in the United States, might also be pause for concern. Georgia Senator Sam Nunn said, in March of this
year, that the United States had a "remarkable lack of domestic preparedness" to deal with such situations.
Oakland, CA Fire Chief Lamont Ewell, who is also the president of the International Association of Fire Chiefs, on March
29, 1996, told the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, that it would be the responsibility of local
firefighting, police and emergency medical units to cope with a terrorist attack that used nuclear, chemical or biological
weapons. He also said that they were not prepared for the challenge. Ewell affirmed something that the Emergency
Response and Research Institute (ERRI), in Chicago, has been saying for a number of years. The chief told the packed
Senate hearing room, "It will be local fire and emergency service organizations ...who have to pick up the pieces. Of the
overall government efforts to prevent and respond to terrorist incidents, these local fire, law enforcement and emergency
medical services agencies are the least prepared to respond to a chemical or biological terrorist incident."
While some efforts have been begun to develop training programs for emergency response personnel and to develop
military and civilian special teams to deal with the threat of a chemical or biological attack on the United States, experts tell
ENN that, overall, our country is woefully unprepared for such an eventuality.
"If a plane were to land at any number of other airports within this country, with a plane load of dangerously infected
passengers, it is our belief that the local firefighters, police officers, and EMTs would be hard pressed to effectively
manage
the incident or treat the patients...they currently lack the knowledge and equipment to do so," according to Clark Staten,
retired paramedic chief and Executive Director of the Emergency Response & Research Institute (ERRI).
During the first few vital hours of any such an operation, analysts say that many emergency agencies would be suffering
from an "information vacuum." With few exceptions, they would not have immediate access to the needed medicines or
supplies, nor contact with the necessary experts to successfully resolve the situation. It is also probable that they also
would not have the appropriate protective clothing, equipment, nor isolation procedures to protect the rescuers and the
public.
The expert help that local agencies would need must come from the Center For Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta, the
U.S Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) at Ft. Derick, Maryland, or a new specially
trained team of U.S. Marines called the Chemical/Biological Incident Response Force (CBIRF). Unfortunately, it might be
several hours before these highly trained specialists could arrive on the scene of the incident. In the mean time, local fire,
EMS, and police agencies would be responsible for the management of the emergency.
"All of this points out the need for immediate funding of new and different kind training and equipment for local
Police/Fire/EMS personnel," Staten continued. "They are the front-line of defense if the unthinkable happens...and some
fanatic were to attack our country with these weapons of mass destruction(WMD)," he added. "Bottom-line...we need to
develop an totally integrated response against terrorists and terrorism...this must include local emergency agencies, the
military, and the medical research community... if we are to be truly prepared for the threat of a chemical or biological
attack," Staten concluded.
(c) Emergencynet NEWS Service, 1996
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