ERRI DAILY INTELLIGENCE REPORT-ERRI
Risk Assessment Services Thursday, August 14, 1997 Vol. 3 - 226
EMERGENCY ROOM DOCTORS PREPARE FOR
TERRORIST CHEM/BIO ATTACKS...
By Steve Macko, ERRI Risk Analyst
In anticipation of a possible terrorist attack on United States
soil, some of the nation's emergency room doctors are preparing
themselves to recognize little-known chemical and biological
agents that can be used in weapons of mass destruction.
Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Basil C. Doyle, the
supervisor of the FBI's domestic terrorism unit, said,
"Years ago, people were very, very concerned about the
nuclear threat. What we are seeing now is biological
agents."
Doyle said that one possible nightmare scenario involves the use
of ricin, which is a poisonous extract from castor beans that is
deadly if it is inhaled or absorbed through the skin. The
instructions on how to make ricin are readily available from
different sources. He said, "We have a ton of open source
information that's telling everyone how to do it."
Recently, about 50 emergency room doctors from around the United
States spent three days in Philadelphia to learn about emerging
threats. The training program was sponsored by the American
Academy of Emergency Physicians, which has about 2,000 members.
The American College of Emergency Physicians, the nation's
largest association of emergency room doctors, which has more
than 19,000 members, is planning on similar training programs.
The subject matter has taken on a particular concern ever since
the April 1995 sarin nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system.
Sarin, like many other chemical and biological agents, can kill
less than 30 minutes -- which gives emergency room personnel very
little time to respond. And failing to respond correctly can turn
doctors themselves into victims and risk contaminating other
people.
U.S. Representative Curt Weldon, who has a fire service
background, said, "We face a changed world. We face new
threats. We face new materials that most emergency responders
just don't understand."
The subjects covered at the recent conference in Philadelphia
involved possible terrorist weapons -- including sarin and other
nerve agents -- cyanide, nuclear radiation, deadly viruses --
such as ebola -- killer bacteria and toxic fungal infections.
Robert Geller, an emergency room doctor in Philadelphia, said,
"None of us would know how to treat any of these illnesses.
We'd have to go to the literature."
A doctor from Elizabethtown, Knetucky, said that he was most
interested in treatment from conventional explosives. He said,
"I don't feel my threat is as much from some weird thing I
don't know much about as it is from the farmer who wants to blow
up my hospital."
The FBI's Doyle said that there is currently no evidence that a
terrorist group has acquired chemical or biological agents and
intends to use them against the United States, but he added,
"What threat there is ... is from the lone individual."
Uner a new federally funded program, medical "strike
teams" are being formed in the United States in 27 major
metropolitan areas. The first city to receive the special
training was Denver. Other cities that are on the first phase
list that should complete their training this year are:
Philadelphia, Washington, New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles,
San Francisco, Boston and Kansas City. Michael Austin, a top
official with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said that
those cities were chosen first because their large populations
make them prime targets for a terrorist attack.
In each city, highly trained medical teams will know how to use
special test kits that can quickly identify chemical and/or
biological agents. They will have other specialized equipment and
will maintain stockpiles of medicines that can be used as
antidotes to lethal agents.
Representative Weldon observed, "I've been told that a
teaspoonful of sarin, if properly dispersed in the population
now, could kill up to 5,000 people. We are not prepared to deal
with that."
(c) Copyright, EmergencyNet NEWS Service, 1997. All Rights
Reserved. Redistribution without permission is prohibited by law.
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publication specializes in Corporate
Security/Terrorism/Intelligence/Military and National Security
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