Friday, April 4, 2003

Fulton County prepared in case of bioterrorism

By Lewie Dunn
Special to The Citizen

On a day when letters containing mysterious powder was sent to Georgia's two United States Senators, several dozen citizens packed the South Fulton Service Center last week to find out more about bioterrorism. An informational meeting was held March 25 to inform citizens about the Fulton County Department of Health and Wellness role in preparing for a Bioterrorism event.

In opening statements Fulton County District 7 Commissioner William "Bill" Edwards said that in today's environment, his thoughts returned to his days in the Boy Scouts and the Scout motto "Be prepared". He added that the entire Fulton County Board of Commissioners wanted everybody in Fulton County to be safe. Commissioner Edwards stated that Fulton County already have staff on hand to be ready to handle terrorism and that Fulton did not have to do like Dekalb County had to do by hiring new employees to handle terrorism.

The meeting was then turned over to Dr. Adewale Troutman, M.D., M.P.H., Director of the Fulton County Department of Health and Wellness. Dr. Troutman said this was the first time that this presentation had ever been given in Fulton County. He said that with additional federal funds that had become available that his department had been able to bring on additional staff to supplement staff already on hand including a bioterrorism trainer and a crisis communication specialist.

Dr. Troutman said the most important part of public health was to get back to the basic job of what public health does. Because bioterrorism is not a single event, but an acidosis process where an organism is introduced into a population. The department must determine disease patterns in a population and implement control measures.

Troutman said that public health in an emergency must have rapid detection, laboratory diagnosis, investigation, control measures and quarantine if needed. To be able to do this the department works with multiple partners including medical personal, hospitals, pharmacists, EMS, police and fire departments, and today with FBI, GBI, the National Guard and other Military Forces.

The primary job in the event of a bioterrorism attack would fall to first responders. This would be the Fulton County Fire Department. The stations are set up where on the average a response time is only four minutes.

The secondary responders would be the public health department. The overall scene would come under the command of the FBI. Both real and hoax events are federal crimes.

Dr. Troutman said that his department was working closely with Hartsfield Airport and in monitoring travelers who came into the airport and are showing signs of infection. If signs are found then the entire plane may have to be quarantined like the plane which carried the passenger with the mysterious illness was in Germany a couple of weeks ago.

The most attention is being placed on diseases like Anthrax, Smallpox, Botulinum toxin, Plague, Tularemia and viral hemorrhagic fevers.

Smallpox is the one on most people's minds. Smallpox was eradicated over 20 years ago. Only two places in the world had samples for testing purposes the CDC and a lab outside of Moscow.

No one knows what has happened to the samples in Moscow. Iraq as an agent of Russia may have acquired it. With this in mind President Bush has declared that every state must have a plan for immunization of Smallpox. If you received a Smallpox vaccine it is no longer any good.

However in the event of an outbreak there is a four-day window from the time of exposure to get a vaccine. Dr. Troutman stressed that the only way to be exposed is to be within six feet of a person who is actively infected for six hours. An infected person at the stage of most infection would be "sick as a dog" added Troutman. A new Smallpox vaccine will be available in 2004.

Other diseases that might be used on Americans are the Plague, which was known as the Black Death of Medieval Europe or E-Bola, which is a viral hemorrhagic fever, could also be used in an attack.

Routes of exposure are aerosol, food, water, medications, devices, blood, or person-to-person (Smallpox and Plague). Recently a reported case of Salmonella was reported where a terrorist sprinkled the Salmonella on a salad bar as they fixed their own salad and then set down and watched as other customers fixed their own salads and ate them and became infected. Dr. Troutman added that this is why we must all be observant to acts of terrorism. Dr. Troutman said that water treatment plants are another area of concern to citizens but that it would take a dump truck load of most agents to contaminate a reservoir.

Dr. Troutman urged all citizens to prepare now. Each family in Fulton County should have an emergency plan. Each family should have an emergency kit in their home, work and car. This kit should allow each person to be able to survive for a minimum of three days.

The idea that South Fulton is a target for Bioterrorism is small but still possible. However, other events such as tornados and earthquakes are more likely. Above all in the event of an attack you and your family should remain in your home until you are given official information as to what to do. Establish a family communication plan. Have both local and long distance numbers available to each member of your family and keep these numbers near your phone. These out-of-state numbers could be a friend or relative.

Select a "safe-room" in your home. This is a place that all members of your household can gather in the event of an emergency. This room should be an interior room above ground with few windows or doors.

Also find out where in your community that churches or schools would be used in the event of an emergency.

Dr. Troutman stressed that "If your family knows what to do in an emergency, they will be calmer when that emergency happens." He added that every citizen should take first aid and CPR classes. This is so that in the event of an emergency you can provide help until professional help arrives. Review your insurance policies now to help reduce the economic impact on your family in the event of emergency.

For more information about preparing for an emergency the following websites are available at www.ready.gov, www.CDC.gov, www.naccho.org. Or by calling 1-800-BE-READY.